Madison

How 1 play to start the game set the tone for the shorthanded Packers’ win over the Lions

A.Hernandez3 months ago

Matt LaFleur sent the text early Thursday morning before the Green Bay Packers had even departed their Detroit-area hotel for Ford Field.

The Packers coach had been planning for days to start his underdog team’s huge, prove-it Thanksgiving Day matchup with the Detroit Lions with an aggressive mentality — and an even more aggressive play call: A Jordan Love-to-Christian Watson deep ball on the first play from scrimmage.

But now, LaFleur was having second thoughts. So, he pinged his quarterback’s iPhone to share his reluctance.

“I was kind of mulling it over quite a bit, (so) I texted Jordan this morning and told him I was going to change it to something else,” LaFleur confessed after his team’s signature 29-22 victory over the Lions — a win that began with a 53-yard deep strike from Love to Watson that set the tone for the entire day.

“And he said he wanted this call. So I said, ‘OK.’”

As it turned out, it was more than OK. Not only did Watson fight to come down with the ball — in stark contrast to the off-his-fingertips drop on the first play of the 2022 season — but the message-sending first play led directly to Love’s 10-yard touchdown pass through the tiniest of windows to Jayden Reed four plays later for a 7-0 lead.

Game on.

“I wasn’t quite sure where the ball was going to go,” LaFleur continued. “I was kind of concerned that we didn't have the checkdowns that we might need. But our protection was phenomenal — it was kind of a later developing play to throw a post — and I told Christian right before the game, ‘Hey, there’s a good chance this play’s going to go to you. Just go up and attack the football,’ And he did exactly that.”

Love said LaFleur had told him about the play on Wednesday, and that the call was part of a more overarching plan to take the fight to the Lions — the same team that had gotten out to a 27-3 lead and trounced the Packers 34-20 at Lambeau Field on Sept. 28.

That’s why the Packers took the ball — instead of deferring as they normally do — when they won the opening coin toss, and why they played so fearlessly despite being so shorthanded because of a spate of injuries.

“We wanted to start fast. We wanted to put the offense out there and set the tone. And that’s what we did,” said Love, who completed 22 of 32 passes for 268 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions for a passer rating of 125.5 — his highest of the season.

“(On) a short week. I think coaches did a really good job scheming stuff up, game-planning. And obviously we went out there and executed and brought the plan to life.

“This is a huge win that we needed.”

There’s no denying that. After a four-game losing streak during which the Packers (5-6) looked every bit like a team in rebuilding mode, they’ve now won three of their last four and are within one win of the .500 mark. More importantly, they’re one game back of the Minnesota Vikings (6-5) for the seventh and final playoff spot in the NFC.

With six more games to play — starting with a visit from the defending Super Bowl LVII-champion Kansas City Chiefs on Dec. 3 — and more growing pains they’ll surely endure, the Packers can’t get ahead of themselves. The Lions (8-3) are still atop the NFC North standings. Given the Packers’ youth, their ups-and-downs will almost certainly continue.

But only willfully blindness would prevent someone from recognizing the dramatic shift that has happened with this green-and-growing team over the past month.

“It definitely feels different,” said Love, who over his past four games has completed 90 of 138 passes (65.2%) for 1,107 yards with eight TDs and two INTs (103.1 rating). “I think it’s just part of the process. We’re just taking it week by week, focusing on what we can do throughout the week to get better, focusing on the areas that we can improve on.

“It’s just a testament to everybody showing up working, staying committed to the process, not complaining that things aren’t perfect so far, but just showing up with that mindset every week that we’re going to work.”

As impressive as that opening play might’ve been, it took far more than that — and the Packers got contributions from everywhere.

On offense, the line kept the Lions’ front seven at bay, not allowing Love to be sacked even once; Watson (five receptions for 94 yards, including a crucial 16-yard third-quarter touchdown catch), Reed (four catches, 34 yards, one TD), Malik Heath (four catches, 46 yards) and Tucker Kraft (two catches for 15-yards, including his first NFL touchdown) all stepped up with tight end Luke Musgrave (lacerated kidney) and wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks (concussion) sidelined; and AJ Dillon, Reed and Patrick Taylor (70 combined rushing yards) did enough on the ground with Aaron Jones (knee) out.

On defense, outside linebacker Rashan Gary earned a game ball (and burst into tears of joy) after a game in which he recorded three sacks — in the same stadium where he’d suffered a season-ending torn ACL in his right knee the last time the Packers played there on Nov. 6, 2022; fill-in starting safety Jonathan Owens had 12 tackles and returned one of Jared Goff’s three fumbles for a 27-yard touchdown; and the defense as a whole stopped the Lions on three fourth-down attempts.

And on special teams, the punt return unit stopped a Lions fake on a fourth down deep in Detroit territory (leading to Watson’s touchdown); punter Daniel Whelan’s four punts all ended inside the Detroit 20-yard line, putting the Lions at a field-position disadvantage; and Reed recovered the Lions’ last-ditch onside kick to seal the win.

“I just think these last couple weeks, as a team, we’ve got the ball rolling a little bit. Found that energy we’ve been looking for all year,” said rookie first-round pick Lukas Van Ness, who helped stuff Jalen Reeves-Maybin on the Lions’ fake punt. “You can feel it in the locker room between the guys. That energy is contagious.”

Photos: View the Packers' win over the Lions on Thanksgiving Day

Packers 29, Lions 22

Key: Green Bay recovers all three Detroit fumbles, returning one for a touchdown.

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