With their 11th straight victory, the host Detroit Lions defeated the Green Bay Packers 34-31 on Thursday night, setting a franchise record with a 35-yard field goal from Jake Bates on the game’s last play.
The Lions (12-1) gained 283 yards and three touchdowns off Jared Goff’s passes, including two to Tim Patrick. Along with scoring a touchdown, David Montgomery amassed 84 yards from both running and receiving.
Josh Jacobs led Green Bay with three rushing touchdowns. After finishing with 206 passing yards and a score, Jordan Love was limited to 31 yards in the first half.
With their two losses versus Detroit, the Packers (9-4) are 7-2 in their previous nine games.
The Lions led 17–7 at the half.
With a 3-yard scoring run to cap off an 11-play, 70-yard march, Detroit scored on its first drive of the game.
Christian Watson fumbled Love’s second game completion on the opening play of the second quarter. Bates’ field goal from 43 yards out gave the Lions three points after they recovered the ball at their own 46-yard line.
Jacobs’ 1-yard scoring run with 5:35 left in the half put the Packers on the board.
But in the last seconds of the half, on fourth-and-goal, the Lions restored their double-digit lead. To finish the 70-yard drive, Goff connected running back Jahmyr Gibbs across the middle on a 2-yard pass.
Love’s 12-yard scoring pass to tight end Tucker Kraft was set up by his 59-yard completion to Watson on the first possession of the second half. Detroit’s lead was now 17–14 as a result.
The Packers had the ball at the Lions’ 16-yard line when Keisean Nixon intercepted a Goff pass a few seconds later. With 11:15 left in the quarter, Jacobs’ 6-yard run gave Green Bay the lead.
In response, Goff and the Lions went on a 13-play drive. Goff put Detroit ahead 24–21 when he found Patrick on fourth-and-goal from the 3.
Detroit gambled on fourth-and-1 from its own 31 after forcing a punt, but it backfired as Gibbs was thrown for a loss. The Packers took the lead again in the first minute of the fourth quarter when Jacobs scored from 4 yards out.
With a 10-play drive that culminated in Goff’s 1-yard pass to Patrick with 8:39 remaining, the Lions stormed back. Brandon McManus’ 32-yard field goal with 3:38 remaining gave the Packers a 31-point lead.
During its subsequent possession, Detroit ran out of time. Montgomery’s 7-yard run on fourth-and-1 (with Goff collapsing as he passed the ball off) and a 16-yard pass from Goff to Amon-Ra St. Brown in the final minute put Bates in position to attempt the game-winning kick.
