After a flawless day in Green Bay, the Lions are in control of the NFC North

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Amon-Ra St. Brown, a habitual activist, stepped off the team bus wearing a black “GREENBAY SUCKS” sweatshirt. He later jumped into a sea of ​​Honolulu Blue at Lambeau Field. Potential All-Pro safety Brian Branch threw double birds as he exited stage right. Then he watched his defense hold on without him. And finally, Jared Goff, the man who might as well say on his Wikipedia page, “Can’t play in cold weather,” completed his first 11 attempts and 18 of 22 overall. To no one's surprise, the crowd chanted his name.

All in all, the Detroit Lions feel comfortable here in Green Bay.

Really everywhere these days.

“We know we’re killers, man,” defensive back Amik Robertson said after the Lions’ 24-14 win over the Packers. “Kill kills. That’s what we do.”

Before we talk about Sunday's game, let's talk about the game where the Lions learned they were made for this. On a cold January evening in 2023, the Lions announced their arrival on the national stage. A season finale in Green Bay had playoff implications. A Packers win with Aaron Rodgers still up in the air would put Green Bay back in the playoffs. Detroit's playoff hopes were dashed by a Seahawks victory over the Rams, rendering the game meaningless. At least that's what you would think.

“I think anyone who expected anything different doesn’t know the Detroit Lions,” left tackle Taylor Decker said after that game. “I think it’s that simple.”

Go deeper

The Lions appear to belong to the class of the NFC North with their 24-14 win over the Packers: Takeaways

That evening, the Lions, who had won seven of their last nine games at the time, wanted to leave no doubt about it. They believed that their run was no coincidence. One of the youngest rosters in the NFL had figured out how to play at this level. They had figured out how to play together. Most importantly, they had figured out how to win. They set an example and won 20:16 in the 2022 final. The next time, they would follow up with a convincing 34-20 win in September 2023.

Look around the dressing room and you'll see some faces who were there in those early moments – when everything was fresh and new – and some who have since been added to ensure this remains the standard. They are all cut from the same cloth and brought here to play balls and achieve victories. Therefore, results like these are now expected.

Detroit has paid its debts. And the NFC North is paying the price.

Jared Goff didn't have great numbers, but he played well enough to lead the Lions to victory. (Junfu Han/Imagn Images)

“First of all, you have to give Detroit a lot of credit,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “They played a clean game. Much cleaner than us. I was disappointed with the number of penalties and self-inflicted wounds we had. You can’t do that against a really good football team.”

The Lions have made a habit of chasing teams out of the stadium. They defeated the Cowboys 47-9 in their own building. They put up 52 against the Titans last week. But in this game, in which it rained heavily for three hours, the Lions won by simply not defeating themselves.

Detroit was outscored 411-261. The trick games were kept under control. They didn't get to 50, 40 or even 30. But the Lions played a clean, efficient game. They knew they had to do it.

“That was great,” coach Dan Campbell said. “We knew that when we came in here. There were a number of things we talked about: Superiority in the run game… whoever had the most explosiveness, field position and turnover percentage. … We've been preaching it all week. We made it. Wetball drills every day while training outdoors. Our guys really did a great job. Goff cared deeply about the football and that was the difference. It was a big difference.”

Goff completed 18 of his 22 attempts for 145 yards and a touchdown. Not the most mind-blowing numbers, but he threw the ball confidently, delivered it cleanly to his playmakers in the pouring rain, didn't turn it over, and got the Lions into good situations and out of bad ones at the line of scrimmage. He scored on his No. 1 target, St. Brown, seven times for 56 yards and a touchdown instead of settling for a field goal. The kind of game that shapes some narratives.

I have sunshine, on a cloudy day 😎#DETvsGB 📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/ZuMG3uJuMa

— Detroit Lions (@Lions) November 3, 2024

Detroit's offense had a strong day against the Packers' good defense. This gave Goff time to throw and paved the way for David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs to run for a combined 138 yards and a touchdown – with Gibbs' score again being the result of a successful fourth down attempt. Check out this piece by Penei Sewell and then remember to thank Brad Holmes for designing it.

Sonic goes BOOM 🎇#DETvsGB 📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/xYTJjsHnED

— Detroit Lions (@Lions) November 3, 2024

As Campbell mentioned, the Lions had no turnovers against a team that led the league in forced turnovers. They also had no offensive penalty. What you saw on Sunday was a mature, composed team that performed in a way that their opponents did not.

“I think we showed a couple of times that we can win in different ways,” Goff said. “We are chameleons and whatever it takes to win, in whatever way, we will do.”

Detroit's defense has it too. Let’s take a look at how undermanned Aaron Glenn’s defense is. Who the Lions were without on Sunday: DE Aidan Hutchinson, DE Marcus Davenport, DE Josh Paschal, DE John Cominsky, DT Kyle Peko, DT Mekhi Wingo, LB Derrick Barnes, LB Malcolm Rodriguez, CB Emmanuel Moseley, S Ifeatu Melifonwu and even Branch from the second quarter. A mix of starters and key rotation players. Injuries are part of the game, but when you look at the full list, it's eye-opening. Detroit's defenses in the past simply wouldn't have been able to overcome such a long injury list. You would pray for the offense to score 40 points just to have a chance.

And yet that group held the Packers' offense — a unit that averaged 27 points per game — to 14 points. Things got tighter near the goal line, leaving the Packers 1-for-4 in the red zone. Without Branch it could have collapsed.

Go deeper

Russini is what I'm hearing about the NFL trade deadline: 13 players, 18 teams to watch closely

“Our job on defense is to limit the points,” said safety Kerby Joseph, who gave the Lions points with a pick six in the second quarter. “The more we can limit the points, that helps our offense and that helps the team win. So call the defense, man. It wasn't perfect, but we really got the job done. Takeaways are simply important for defense. … We’re just going to keep getting better, watch this film, learn from it and keep getting better.”

“We’re just resilient, man,” defensive tackle DJ Reader said. “We have a lot of people who not only believe in themselves, but also in the man at their side. We practice together. We know what we have. … We just play together. We talked about it when it happened – that you need to distribute the load, and our DBs on the backend definitely did their thing. It was a blessing, man, just being able to fight and get us back to where we needed to be.”

With the win, the Lions are 7-1 – their best start since 1956. They are on a six-game winning streak, the first time they have done so since 1995. Detroit has won three straight road games in Green Bay for the first time since 1986-88. And the Lions are 11-3 in their last 14 NFC North contests.

Every week the Lions remind you that everything was right. Linear success is hard in this league, but everything about this development has been just that. They have arguably the best offense in the league. They have a defense that gets the job done regardless of who is on the field (and could get some much-needed help by Tuesday's deadline). They can throw explosives at you, play the slow and methodical game, play flawless football and make you beat yourself, force you to play a brand you're not cut out for and be the last one left remains when the clock strikes zero.

A little strange, sure. But it's the new norm for this franchise.

“I’m not shocked at all that we came here and played some pretty good football in the elements,” Campbell said. “We’re made for this, man, and it doesn’t matter just because we’re playing inside. It doesn't matter. We can play anywhere. We can play in the snow. We can play in the rain. Play in the mud. It’s just us, and we’re built to win, man.”

(Top photo by David Montgomery: Jeff Hanisch / Imagn Images)