Lions Come Back to Earth in Disappointing Loss to Packers

The Detroit Lions entered the Week 17 finale in Green Bay with destiny in their hands. A win would give the long-suffering franchise its first-ever NFC North division title and just the third home playoff game in the Super Bowl era. With a top-notch defense and playmakers on offense, Detroit had every reason to believe it could win. 

Alas, the Packers proved why they are the reigning division champs—now for the fourth season in a row. Green Bay was the better team in holding off the less poised, less focused Lions in the 30-20 home win. 

The Lions would be wise to take lessons from how Green Bay handled itself in achieving the victory. The Packers made fewer mistakes and did a better job preparing for the opponent. 

The signs were present early on. Green Bay came out pounding the pigskin offensively with smartly designed run plays for powerful back Eddie Lacy. 

"

Lions playing Cover 2. Eddie Lacy running through them. Gains of 22, 5, 8 to start.

— Tyler Dunne (@TyDunne) December 28, 2014"

Packers coach Mike McCarthy correctly anticipated Detroit's initial defensive attack. Lions coach Jim Caldwell and his rookie coordinators were once again beaten to the punch in the first handful of drives. That is a recurring theme from the 2014 that must change going forward in Detroit. 

It wasn't just this game. Sputtering out of the gates was a problem all season, as MLive's Kyle Meinke noted back in October: 

"

Detroit has managed just one first-half touchdown in the past four games, and averaged 4.8 points before halftime.

Even its vaunted defense has occasionally struggled out of the gates. That includes spotting Arizona 14 points on its first two series Sunday, and spotting Atlanta 21 early points in London.

"

Green Bay wasn't perfect, but it made fewer crippling mistakes. One series in the first quarter perfectly illustrates this concept. 

After a fantastic goal-line stand by end Ezekiel Ansah and the defense, the Lions offense and special teams couldn't match the effectiveness.

Fullback Jed Collins was flagged for illegal procedure on the first play. After Joique Bell ran hard to pick up a first down, the Lions running back was slammed for a four-yard loss when the line forgot to block Clay Matthews. Ignoring one of the best defensive players in the game is probably not a wise decision. 

"

Kellen Davis whiffs on Clay Matthews, who stuffs Bell for -4 on second down.

— Josh Katzenstein (@jkatzenstein) December 28, 2014"

On the third-down play, Matthew Stafford badly missed Corey Fuller with a throw down the right sideline. The off-target toss landed well beyond the sideline, never giving his young receiver a chance even though he clearly had a step on his defender. 

Then came the punt from Sam Martin. While the Packers may or may not have committed an illegal block or two, the Detroit coverage was terrible. Linebacker Julian Stanford ran past return man Micah Hyde giving up containment on one side without even being blocked. Collins barely touched Hyde on a juke move, and it was off to the races. 

"

Special teams hurts the Lions for a second week in a row. 55-yard punt return TD by Hyde. Packers lead 7-0. #DETvsGB

— Tim Twentyman (@ttwentyman) December 28, 2014"

On the ensuing kickoff, Collins once again got penalized (rightly) for a hold on a Jeremy Ross run-back that barely made the 15. It was a poor decision to run it out, a poor effort on the return and earned a penalty to boot. 

On this same drive...

• Joique Bell fumbled but recovered it.
• The Lions were (rightly) flagged for 12 men on the field.
• Eric Ebron dropped a great throw from Stafford.

Sloppiness like that doesn't win big games against playoff-caliber opponents. The Lions weren't done digging, however. And Stafford was often the man with the shovel in his hand.

"

Stafford was throwing terribly that drive… …decision making was worse…so, so bad

— Michael Schottey (@Schottey) December 28, 2014"

Even though No. 9 came back with aplomb with some successful throws, the missed early opportunities made keeping up with the probable MVP in Aaron Rodgers nearly impossible. 

"

At half, #Lions Stafford 10-21, 114 yds, 1 TD, sacked 1X, 80.3 rating; #Packers Rodgers 6-9. 97 yds. 1 TD 139.6. GB up 14-7. #DETvsGB

— Paula Pasche (@paulapasche) December 28, 2014"

The gap between Rodgers the great and Stafford the merely good has never been more evident. While Detroit's quarterback was sporadically brilliant, Green Bay's was consistently more accurate, smarter with the ball and more poised under pressure. 

These two tweets came within about 90 seconds of one another, and they perfectly illustrate the disappointing paradox that is Matthew Stafford:

"

Can't help but think this drive right here is a pivotal chapter in the story of Matthew Stafford's career... either way.

— Ty Schalter (@tyschalter) December 28, 2014"

"

Fumble officially credited to Matthew Stafford.

— Josh Katzenstein (@jkatzenstein) December 28, 2014"

Seeing what Stafford offers directly in comparison to the greatness of his counterpart is incredibly discouraging for Lions fans. Their guy is better. Detroit's guy still needs to get better, though, at this point in his six-year career, it's right to wonder if he's already hit his ceiling.

He's still doing things playoff-winning quarterbacks don't do. He misses wide-open receivers, like Eric Ebron on fourth down in the second quarter or Reggie Bush on a swing pass. He also doesn't react well to the pass rush like Rodgers or Peyton Manning or other quarterbacks with multiple notches in their playoff belts.

"

Stafford simply can't handle pressure - real or perceived. All he had to do was step up/left and he's fine. Scrambled right into it.

— Josh Liskiewitz (@JoshLiskiewitz) December 29, 2014"

There was also a great divide in the coaching battle, and it extended beyond formulating the game plan. Coach Caldwell made a baffling challenge on a play where Green Bay's receiver gave up the football while lying on the ground when hit. The shaky officiating clearly got the call correct, and they appeared to even be trying to talk Caldwell out of the challenge during a lengthy sideline discussion. 

The reaction on social media was duly harsh and typically less civil than Brandon Alisoglu's measured critique here:

"

I have no words for that challenge by Caldwell. You just threw out a timeout. #Lions

— Brandon Alisoglu (@BrandonAlisoglu) December 28, 2014"

There was also an alarming lack of pressure on Rodgers from the defense, which looked even worse considering he left the game in the second quarter after aggravating his calf injury. When asked about it after the game, Caldwell got unusually defensive:

"

Caldwell asked why Lions didn't blitz more with Rodgers hobbled. Tells reporter he's not qualified to ask that question.

— Josh Katzenstein (@jkatzenstein) December 29, 2014"

Given the circumstances of how the game played out, that's a perfectly legitimate and necessary question. His caustic reaction indicates the first-year Lions coach knows he was bested by Green Bay counterpart Mike McCarthy. 

There's no shame in that. The Packers have been winning games like this for years now. Their experience in the pressure situations showed. 

Instead of getting mad about it, Caldwell, Stafford and the rest of the Lions need to learn from it. Glean from the loss what worked and what did not. Avoid the dumb penalties and mental errors. Capitalize when the opponent makes them. 

Green Bay showed them how it's done. It's time for these Lions to go out and do it against a good team, to once and for all bury the Same Old Lions and this rather inglorious statistic:

"

#Lions lost all four games on the road against playoff teams this season (CAR, ARI, NE, GB). Margin: 102-39.

— Zach Kruse (@zachkruse2) December 29, 2014"

There is a lot of talent on this 11-5 Lions team heading for a winnable playoff game in Dallas next weekend. The Lions will not be favored, but they absolutely have the ability to knock off the Cowboys. In order to make that happen, they must play a sharper 60 minutes of football than they did against the Packers.