In Week Three, the Packers spotted the Saints a 17-point halftime lead before rallying back for an 18-17 victory.
They tried something similar on Thursday night, but it didn’t work out nearly as well. After the Packers took a 3-0 lead off an early interception, the Lions scored 27 straight points before halftime. The Packers were able to close the gap to 10 points early in the fourth quarter before a Lions touchdown pushed things back out of reach.
Once the Lions were in the lead, they ground down the Packers run defense with David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs and they were able to send pass rushers after Love without fear. After the 34-20 loss, Packers quarterback Jordan Love said the team has to figure out how to avoid those situations by putting a better product on the field from the jump.
“We’ve got to find out what that is,” Love said, via Steve Megargee of the Associated Pres. “And I think everybody just has to play better at the start of the game, me included. I’ve got to be able to come out and start fast and put points up so we’re not playing from behind and making it harder on the defense.”
Identifying the problem is the first step toward fixing it and the Packers will have to take the second one soon if they’re going to stick around the NFC playoff race.
