The Detroit Lions have been eliminated from the playoffs. The Rams and Seahawks put on a show and gave Lions fans hopes that they would be playing for their postseason lives on Sunday night. But in a cruel twist of fate, an interception from former Lions safety Quandre Diggs helped set up the Seahawks game-winning field goal in overtime to keep Seattle’s playoff hopes alive and send Detroit home.
But the Lions aren’t home yet. Sure, playoffs are now out of the question, but there is still plenty on the line on Sunday night against the Green Bay Packers. Detroit could send the Packers home themselves, post a winning season, and finish with a ridiculous 5-1 record within the division. A win wouldn’t mean playoffs, but it would definitely signify a changing of the guard coming in the NFC North. The Lions would undoubtedly enter the 2023 season with a lot of believers and could even be considered favorites in the division.
Even if Detroit loses, it’s been a wild and fun season. Hopefully there’s one more awesome moment waiting for us on Sunday night.
We’ll update this post live with all the happenings in the game, including the latest score, drive-by-drive analysis, and any injury news.
Come hang out with us when the game kicks off at 8:20 pm ET, and refresh to get the latest updates.
We’ll see you at kickoff.
firstquarter
The Lions won the toss and deferred, giving the Packers the first opportunity to get on the board. Green Bay picked up a couple of first downs on some misdirection plays to get to midfield. Aaron Rodgers then targeted Allen Lazard deep, and Jerry Jacobs got flagged for a 46-yard pass interference call. But Detroit held strong inside the 5-yard line and held the Packers to a field goal. 3-0 packers.
The Lions couldn’t respond on their opening drive, quickly going three-and-out after two wobbly Jared Goff throws fell incomplete. But then the Lions offense got a little help from their defense.
The Packers got a little aggressive, going for it on fourth-and-inches from their own 29-yard line. Alex Anzalone read the play like a book, and took down Lazard for a loss.
The Lions would pick up a first down, but that’s it. Michael Badgley was good from 37, resulting in an early 3-3 tie.
The Packers continued to word the ball slowly on the ground. However, they connected on a big 27-yard gain to Christian Watson down to the Lions’ 25-yard line. However, the Lions defense would again stand tall, with Aidan Hutchinson notching sack 8.5 on the season to end Green Bay’s drive.
Mason Crosby was good from 49 yards to make it 6-3 packers.
The Lions offense looked like they finally were getting things going, but an Amon-Ra St. Brown 15-yard catch was reversed upon replay, and Detroit was forced to punt.
second quarter
The Packers converted a key third-and-4 by finding Robert Tonyan for 20 yards, putting Green Bay in field goal position.
But Hutchison tallied his second sack of the game—again on third down—forcing another long field goal from Crosby. 9-3 packers.
The Lions hit on a 66-yard flea flicker to Jameson Williams, but it was called back to a pretty obvious holding call on Matt Nelson. But Detroit was able to still get the ball moving. Josh Reynolds picked up 16 on a nice pass play, and then D’Andre Swift picked up a third-and-6 with a nice draw play. But a negative play from Swift got them behind the sticks, and Michael Badgley missed a 46-yard field goal to keep the Packers ahead 6.
Green Bay drove to midfield, and it appeared the Lions got a stop. But Lions rookie James Houston jumped offsides on a fourth-and-6 attempt, and the Packers easily converted on fourth-and-1 to keep the drive alive.
However, the Lions got a key turnover after John Cominsky punched the ball loose from Aaron Jones with 1:16 left in the half.
Detroit methodically picked up a couple of first downs thanks to St. Brown and Caliph Raymond. A pass to Swift gained another 19 and moved into Packers territory, but it bled the clock all the way down inside 10 seconds, as Dan Campbell opted not to use the team’s final timeout in that moment. A quick pass to St. Brown gave Badgley an opportunity to redeem himself with a 48-yard field goal. But a personal foul on Green Bay on the field goal gave Badgley a much easier attempt, which he made. 9-6 packers.
Comments are closed.