Discussion: What part of the Lions victory over the Packers impressed you the most?

In Week 4, the Detroit Lions took down the Green Bay Packers in front of a sea of fans in blue and behind several impressive individual and team performances. The Lions did a lot of things right, especially in the first half, and while things weren’t perfect, it was a game they controlled throughout.

Today’s Question of the Day is:

What part of the Lions victory over the Packers impressed you the most?

I debated several things when considering my answer.

David Montgomery had 32 carries for 121 rushing yards and three touchdowns, and when the Lions needed to drain the clock, he was there to move the sticks. He also added two receptions for another 20 yards through the air. Awfully impressive for a player returning from injury.

I also considered the fact that the team had another five sacks on the day. Aidan Hutchinson earned a sack and a half, while Alim McNeill, John Cominsky, and Isaiah Buggs all got sacks of their own, and Charles Harris was credited with a half-sack. These five players also accounted for 11 quarterback hits.

Of course, the secondary also had some impressive performances. Jerry Jacobs had two interceptions on the night, the unit as a whole had six pass breakups—another two being credited to Jacobs—Tracy Walker forced a fumble, and Brian Branch led the team in tackles for the second week in a row.

But I arrived at another answer.

My answer: The Lions run defense held the Packers to 27 total rushing yards.

The Packers are very much a run-first team and were getting their top back, Aaron Jones, from injury but they only ran the ball 12 times during the game. Now, some of that is because they were trailing by two or three scores throughout most of the game forcing the Packers to throw the ball more, but their overall efficiency was also terrible.

Jones managed just 18 yards on five carries (3.6 yards per attempt), AJ Dillon produced only 13 yards on his five carries (2.2 ypa), and quarterback Jordan Love lost 2 yards on two scrambles. Overall, 27 yards on the ground and a paltry 2.3 ypa.

This was clearly the weakest part of the Lions defense in 2022, but they have yet to allow a team to rush for 100 yards in a game this season and are averaging just 60.75 rushing yards allowed on the ground per game—that’s a top 5 run defensive mark.

Alright, your turn. Let us know what impressed you the most in the comments below.