Revenge game against Lions seems inevitable for 9-4 Packers

Matt LaFleur and his Packers players said all the right things after a heartbreaking, 34-31 loss to the Lions Thursday night. But the between-the-lines feeling that Green Bay wasn’t done playing the Lions was prominent on the postgame quote sheet.

“Like I told our team, we have to earn the right to potentially come back here,” LaFleur said after the game. “It’s not going to be easy and we have to put in the work but I’m confident in the resiliency of our group.

“They’re going to continue to fight and push each other to get better and stay connected because I do think we have a pretty good football team.”

The Packers (9-4) proved that immediately in the second half, down 17-7. Detroit is now 11-0 when leading at half, but Green Bay almost put the first blemish on that record. First, Jordan Love hit Christian Watson on a 59-yard pass to set up Love’s 12-yard touchdown toss to Tucker Kraft, cutting the Lions’ lead to three. On the ensuing series, Keisean Nixon intercepted Jared Goff and returned the ball to the Lions’ 16. Three plays later, Josh Jacobs pinballed his way into the end zone. Green Bay needed just three minutes and 45 seconds to erase that halftime deficit.

Later in that third period, Green Bay also capitalized on Dan Campbell’s only significant mistake. After the Packers’ defense stuffed the aggressive head coach on fourth-and-1 from the Detroit 31-yard line, Jacobs cashed in his third touchdown of the night, another go-ahead score to give Green Bay a 28-24 lead 40 seconds into the fourth quarter. Jacobs reached 1,000 yards on the season and hit three touchdowns in a game for the fourth time.

“If it’s one guy or two guys, I still like me,” said Jacobs. “I was just trying to come in and give Coach the confidence to keep handing me the ball in the red zone.”

Green Bay scored four touchdowns on five red-zone trips. And on the road against arguably the league’s best team, the Packers proved to themselves they can remain in the fight. Thursday featured four lead changes and a tie, all in the second half.

The Packers face a daunting path to earn another game at Ford Field. Their final four games consist of road trips to Seattle and Minnesota, and home contests against spoiler-minded New Orleans and Chicago. At least after Thursday’s loss, Green Bay knows its mission the rest of the way.

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