Slow start, crucial third downs cost Packers in 34-31 loss to Lions

GREEN BAY – A 35-yard field goal as time ran out squeaked out a 34-31 Detroit Lions win over the Green Bay Packers on Dec. 5 at Ford Field in Detroit and gave the Lions their 11^th win in a row and secured the team a playoff spot.

Had it not been for a slow start, the result may have looked very different, as would the Packers’ ranking in the division standings.

“I feel like we just started — especially on the offensive side of the ball — too slow,” said Packers Head Coach Matt LaFleur during a post-game press conference at Ford Field. “I mean, we go, punt, punt, fumble, then we score a touchdown. So, you know, it's only a handful of plays that separate these types of games. And like I told our team, we're going to have to earn the right to potentially come back here. It's not going to be easy, and we’ve got to put in the work but I'm confident in the resiliency of our group and that they're going to continue to fight and push each other to get better and stay connected.”

Packers Quarterback Jordan Love said that “especially offensively” the team wasn’t playing at the level that they wanted to in the first half.

 “We liked where we're at, and we just had to go make those plays. It wasn't like they were doing anything that was really stopping us. I think we were just hurting ourselves and not executing,” he said.

“We just, obviously, didn't start fast enough, you know. [We] didn't convert on those third downs, those crucial third downs early on is something that we've been trying to focus on the past couple weeks, and I think it's something that we've been better at. But yeah, anytime you can't stay on the field right there, it's not going to be good.”

LaFleur added that “it's tough to come into somebody else's building.”

“I mean, you’ve got to play better, so I think there are some areas that we can really look at, where we have to improve upon, you know, situationally, like third down — that was critical.

“And then not coming away with the touchdown there at the end in the red area, that was tough as well, but I think really offensively and defensively, the third and fourth down was probably the difference in the game.”

While the Lions moved to 12-1 in the NFC North, the Packers fell to 9-4, but are still looking at a shot at the playoffs and possibly meeting the Lions again, after two losses to them this season.

LaFleur said looking at the playoffs  was a “long way away.”

“And if we don't look at what we have right in front of us, then we're doing ourselves a disservice. Like you’ve got to keep your eyes down and just continue to work and grind and get better. Stay together in just all these games from here on out,” LaFleur said.

 “Like I told our team, they're going to come down to situations like this. And I do think we have a really good football team. I think we're going to get everybody's best shot; just like we're going to give everybody our best shot. You know, it's just a few plays here and there that really separate these types of games.”

 “We’ve just got to continue to take it a week at a time,” Love said.

“We got a couple of games left here, and, you know, we're trying to finish on the right note and win out these last couple games and handle business, take one game at a time and, obviously, we'll see what happens postseason time.”