Lions Continue To Control Division Despite Loss, But Future May Belong To Packers' Jordan Love
The only disappointment Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love suffered on Thanksgiving Day came when there was no postgame turkey leg offered him by the FOX television crew who spent the entire afternoon lionizing John Madden.
Madden, you'll recall, was the former coach and broadcaster who introduced the celebratory "turducken" as the reward for players of the game doing postgame interviews on Thanksgiving.
Love was that guy this Thanksgiving Day game in Detroit. Because he was simply outstanding in leading his squad to a 29-23 victory over the Lions.
"They were ready, man, they played really well and we did not," Lions coach Dan Campbell said of the Packers afterward. "Even in tight coverage I thought Love made some really good throws and those receivers, man, made some really good catches.
"They functioned at a high level."
Lions The Team Now But Love And Packers Are Coming
So what does this all mean? The Packers upset victory over the Lions isn't likely to determine the direction of the NFC North race this season because, well, the Motor City squad still enjoys a two-game lead.
So this victory for the Packers didn't make a huge statement about the current state of affairs.
"I really, honestly felt pretty good going into this game, I thought we would play well and we just didn't," Campbell said. "We just did not. The easy thing is to get in panic mode. And I know what it looks like. It wasn't good enough out there, but I'm not panicked. We've got the right guys here. We know how to play.
"We've got six to go when we get and the fight's on, man."
But what about the future?
The years to come?
This game spoke volumes.
Because one team has the youngest roster in the league and its quarterback, with only 12 career starts, seems to have found himself the past two games spanning a total of four days.
And the other team is the Lions.
And their quarterback is Jared Goff.
Advantage Packers.
Jordan Love And Packers Are Improving
That was clear from the first play of the game. The Packers took the opening kickoff and Love launched a 55-yard completion to Christian Watson on first down.
"We wanted to start fast," Love said in obvious understatement. "We wanted to put the offense out there and set the tone. And that's what we did."
The tone this game was set by the entire Packers team, sure. But the primary tone setter was Love because he outplayed everyone else.
He completed 22 of 32 passes for 268 yards. He threw 3 TD passes without an interception. And he delivered something of a dagger on a 37-yard run that churned the clock and made a Detroit comeback next to impossible.
"I thought Love came out and played really well," Campbell said.
The problem for the Lions and the rest of the division is we have trend now. In his last game, only four days ago, Love delivered a 322-yard passing performance that included 2 touchdown passes without an interception.
In his last four games, three of which the Packers have won, Love has completed 65% of his passes, amassed 1,107 passing yards, and thrown 8 TDs and 2 interceptions.
Love seems to be figuring it out. And the entire young Packers offense is following along.
"It definitely feels different," Love said. "...Obviously you see the growth, it's starting to show every week. It's a testament to everybody showing up working, staying committed to the process, not complaining that things aren't perfect so far. But showing up with that mindset every week to get better, improve, keep stacking days."
Jared Goff And Lions Struggle Against Packers
The flipside of all that optimism in Green Bay is where Goff currently finds himself in Detroit.
Campbell said Goff remains the same quarterback. And he didn't play terribly. At least the statistics don't suggest that. Goff completed 29 of 44 passes for 332 yards, with 2 TDs.
But dig a little deeper and the picture could be worrisome.
Goff was generally not dynamic and in no way consistent this game until the Lions pieced together a touchdown drive in the final two minutes to score their final TD. The touchdown made the actual game seem closer than it was.
And it made Goff's day seem better than it actually was. Goff passed for 97 yards on that final drive against what was generally a defense looking to merely protect a big lead.
Goff also fumbled three times this game. And lost all three.
And his three turnovers combined with three he had Sunday in a win against Chicago present an ugly picture: Goff, who accounted for only five turnovers the first nine games, has six turnovers the last two games.
That leaves us with two quarterbacks seemingly pointed in different directions. And that bodes well for the Packers while the Lions have work to do.