An uncharacteristically sloppy Green Bay Packers team on Sunday allowed the Detroit Lions to put their foot on the gas from the get-go, and the Lions never really looked back.
Detroit forced three fumbles, scored three touchdowns and watched the Packers miss three field goals, all in the first half, as Detroit jumped out to a 24-0 lead and went on to beat Green Bay 31-23.
The Lions now head to the bye week feeling much better about themselves at 2-3, and 1-0 within the division. The Packers fall to 2-2-1 with the loss, their third straight to the Lions.
Defensive end Romeo Okwara, defensive lineman Da'Shawn Hand and Detroit's special teams forced three first-half fumbles the Lions turned into 17 points.
Running back LeGarrette Blount had a pair of 1-yard touchdowns runs, wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr. caught an 8-yard touchdown pass at the end of the first half, and wide receiver Kenny Golladay got into the end zone from five yards out for the Lions' only score of the second half.
Everyone at Ford Field knew quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the Packers wouldn't just lie down and go away. Rodgers threw three second-half touchdowns, and finished with over 400 passing yards, but it wasn't enough to make up for the Packers' turnovers and missed kicks, which ended up totaling four missed field goals and an extra point.
QB comparison: Stafford was efficient in this one, completing 14-of-26 passes for 183 yards with two scores and no turnovers for a solid 101.9 passer rating.
Rodgers completed 32 of his 52 passes for 442 yards and three scores, but he also lost two fumbles. He finished with a 108.0 rating.
Play of the game: Golladay showed in one play why the Lions are so excited about his potential this season.
On a 2nd-and-6 from Detroit's 35-yard line, Stafford threw up a 50-50 ball to Golladay, who has terrific size at 6-foot-4 and good leaping ability. Golladay out-leapt Green Bay cornerback Josh Jackson for the ball, and managed to keep his feet along the sideline.
Golladay was then off and running down the left sideline. He stiff-armed Pro Bowl safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix along the way before cutting back to the middle of the field down to the Packers' 5-yard line before finally being dragged down.
The play led to a Blount touchdown run.
Golladay finished with four receptions for 98 yards and a touchdown.
Honorable mention: Talk about doing it all yourself. Late in the second quarter with the Lions already holding a 17-0 lead, Hand sacked Rodgers at the Green Bay 29-yard line, stripped the ball from him and had the wherewithal to jump on it at the Packers' 29-yard line.
The Lions turned the turnover into a touchdown.
Hand finished the game with four tackles, one sack, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and a quarterback hit.
Trifecta plus one: Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who entered the game 10-of-11 kicking field goals on the season, missed four of his field goal attempts from 41, 42, 38 and 56 yards.
Crosby had never missed three field goals in a game before Sunday, let alone four.
He also missed an extra point in the fourth quarter.
He did make a 41-yarder late in the contest to trim the Lions' lead to eight, but there were only two seconds left in the game at that point.
Bad break, good break: A 46-yard touchdown strike from Stafford to Golladay in the first quarter was negated by an illegal use of hands penalty by rookie offensive lineman Frank Ragnow. The penalty set up a 3rd and 22. The Lions eventually were forced to punt.
But on the ensuing punt, the ball deflected off the back of Packers cornerback Kevin King and was recovered by the Lions at the Packers' 1-yard line. Blount took it into the end zone the very next play.
Talk about a momentum-shifting play early in the game.
Injury report: Running back Kerryon Johnson had a big 24-yard run to set up the Golladay touchdown, but he had an awkward step as he was pushed out of bounds. He limped off the field and was attended to by trainers. He received a new tape job on his right ankle, but didn't return.
The Lions also lost cornerback Jamal Agnew to a left knee injury late in the game. He did not return.
Cornerback Teez Tabor left the game with a groin injury and also didn't return.
Next up: Bye week
