The Green Bay Packers will be an angry and disappointed football team on the way home from Detroit. Matt LaFleur's team had a golden opportunity to steal an important win over the Lions at Ford Field on Sunday, but common issues for this Packers team -- missed scoring chances, drops, missed field goals, penalties and questionable officiating decisions -- led to a frustrating 20-17 defeat. After the Packers had a field goal blocked, Lions kicker Jake Bates hit the game-winning field goal as time expired.
Both teams made numerous mistakes and didn't play particularly well, but it was the Lions who got the job done late, and now the Packers are 4-3 with two division losses through seven games.
The good, the bad and the ugly coming out of Sunday's
loss at Ford Field:
The Good
Jordan Love on fourth down early, and the Packers defense gets stops: The Packers converted their first three opportunities on fourth down, with Love hitting explosive plays to Savion Williams (27 yards), Tucker Kraft (22 yards) and Christian Watson (28 yards). Those 77 passing yards on fourth down set up one touchdown and put the Packers in position to score two others, although Green Bay only got seven total points over the three drives. While the Lions gained 415 yards, had a 300-yard passer, 100-yard rusher and 100-yard receiver, the Packers defense allowed only 20 points and got four big stops via takeaway or turnover on downs. At several points, the game appeared to be slipping away, only for the Packers defense to make a stop and stem the tide. Giving up 20 points to the Lions at Ford Field is a winning performance.
The Bad
More crucial drops. Evan Williams dropped what could have been a tide-turning interception in the fourth quarter, and Josh Jacobs dropped what could have been a game-winning touchdown with 3:30 to go. Jacobs' drop on third down forced the Packers into a field goal situation, and Trey Smack promptly missed. Matthew Golden had another deep completion knocked out of his hands. The Packers are letting far too many game-changing plays fall harmlessly to the ground. Oh, and the run game is still stuck in neutral, even with Jacobs back. The Packers rushed for only 60 yards and averaged 3.2 yards per carry.
After the game, Josh Jacobs said he apologized to his team for dropping Jordan Love’s TD pass on third-and-5 with 3:30 left. Big turn in the loss.
— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) October 26, 2026
“That’s a play I’ve got to make. So I said, ‘If you want to blame anybody, put it on me.’” pic.twitter.com/6DqSxyw5bb
The Ugly
The officiating, the red zone and the rookie kicker. The officials took over the game in the second half, calling a questionable unnecessary roughness penalty on Devonte Wyatt during a Lions touchdown drive and questionable roughing the passer penalties on a pair of fourth quarter drives, including one on Karl Brooks that put the Lions into Packers territory on the game-winning drive. The Packers finished with eight penalties for 81 yards. The officiating was terrible, but the Packers red zone offense was equally as ugly. The Packers converted four red-zone trips into all of seven points after Trey Smack missed two field goals under 40 yards and Matthew Golden was stopped well short of the sticks on fourth down inside the 10-yard line. Smack's miss on a 26-yard field goal to end the Packers' first drive ended up being the difference in the game, but the Packers left so many points on the field overall. Missed opportunities, missed field goals and questionable officiating killed Matt LaFleur's team.
This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Good, bad and ugly coming out of Packers' Week 7 loss to Lions
