It may be bittersweet to miss out on the postseason with such a late-season rampage run, but nothing comes close to upsetting a division rival in their building with every football fan outside of Wisconsin pulling for your team. The Detroit Lions defeat the Green Bay Packers, 20-16. Detroit completes their season at a solid 9-8, while Green Bay stumbles their way out of the playoffs and into an 8-9 record. History was made, interesting calls were made, and the Lions proved that they’re absolutely legit.
Offense is first, and congratulations have to be given to Jamaal Williams for setting a new franchise record for rushing touchdowns in a season, besting Barry Sanders! He also had a strong game overall with over 70 yards on the ground. Nothing else was truly showstopping in terms of stats, but everything was solid. Jared Goff did fumble (which was horrifying in the moment), but fell on top of it. A unit I really want to mention is our offensive line. Against a defensive line known to be game-changers at times, they routinely plowed over and through them with brute force. There aren’t any more crazy things to mention, but Detroit did what was necessary to get it done. That’s what matters above all else.
Defense is next up, and they showed up in a massive way. Aidan Hutchinson had two sacks, Will Harris recovered a fumble, and Kerby Joseph came up with a clutch interception and ran it back 23 yards. Outside of Christian Watson’s 104 yards, no other Packers receiver hit even 50 yards. There also wasn’t a Green Bay rusher to hit 50 yards. Holding Aaron Rodgers to just over 200 yards is no small feat, and this defense should be incredibly proud. They made what could very well be A-Rod’s last game in the NFL an embarrassing one.
Special Teams is last, and, like the offense, they were solid. Michael Badgley missed a field goal, but had a decent rest of the game. Jack “Big Sack” Fox puts together another solid punting performance, averaging 47 yards per punt. It really can’t be understated how important this win is for Detroit as a franchise. This is the flashy symbol that demonstrates how far this team has come in such a short time. A quote from one of my favorite shows describes a bit of the Lions attitude as a whole: “The ball is rolling up.”
