Playing in front of their home fans, the Detroit Lions clinched a playoff spot after defeating the Green Bay Packers 34-31 in a back-and-forth Thursday night affair.
Detroit has swept the season series versus Green Bay and has a game-and-a-half lead over the Minnesota Vikings in the division.
The Packers, Lions and Vikings all entered Week 14 with at least nine wins. The 2024 NFC North is the first division in 39 years to have three teams with nine or more wins coming into Week 14.
Here are the winners and losers from Thursday night’s Packers vs. Lions battle:
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Winners
Lions earn playoff berth
Thursday’s victory earned the Lions a playoff spot for the second straight season. The last time Detroit earned a playoff berth in back-to-back years was when they went three straight seasons from 1993-1995.
Lions continue win streak
The Lions have now won 11 straight games, the longest active win streak in the NFL. It’s also the longest win streak in franchise history.
Jared Goff
Goff threw a bad interception in the third quarter, but overall he was efficient.
The Lions QB completed 32-of-41 passes for 283 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. He finished with a 109.7 passer rating.
Goff completed 13 straight passes to finish the contest.
Tim Patrick
Patrick had two touchdown catches in the win. It was the first time the wideout entered the end zone since 2021.
Patrick missed the 2022 and 2023 seasons due to injuries. Thursday night was a good bounce-back story for the wide receiver.
Patrick’s six catches were tied for the game-high.
Losers
Defense
The Packers and Lions combined for 38 points in Week 9.
There was 41 points scored in the second half alone Thursday.
Both defenses provided little resistance, especially in the second half.
The Lions had a better excuse for their defensive shortcomings because they have 13 defensive players on injured reserve.
Yellow laundry
Thursday games are often sloppy with both teams playing on a short week. This game only had one turnover, but there were 14 total penalties.
Dan Campbell’s fourth down decisions
The Lions’ head coach is known for being aggressive, but sometimes he’s too belligerent on fourth down. With under two minutes to go in the third quarter, Campbell’s Lions got burned on a fourth-and-1 on their own 31-yard line. Running back Jahmyr Gibbs got stuffed for a negative 1-yard run.
The Packers scored a go-ahead touchdown four plays later.
Campbell’s most controversial fourth-down call came with under a minute left in the fourth quarter with the team already in field goal range. The Lions successfully converted the fourth down to win the game, but it was a reckless decision that could’ve backfired.
Campbell deserves credit, however, for staying true to his aggressive identity. The Lions converted four of five fourth-down attempts overall.
