Getty Jordan Love looks to pass in a game against the Detroit Lions.
After a resounding loss in their first meeting, Jordan Love was ready for his Thanksgiving rematch with the Detroit Lions.
The Green Bay Packers quarterback led the team to a 29-22 win over the Lions on November 23, going 22-of-32 for 268 yards with three touchdowns. After falling behind by 24 points by halftime of their first meeting against the Lions, the Packers got off to a fast start on Thanksgiving with a 53-yard pass on the first play from scrimmage and a 20-6 lead by the end of the first quarter.
After the game, Love had a strong message for the Lions.
Jordan Love Ready for His Rematch
Speaking to reporters after the game, Love said he was confident his team could go into Detroit and leave with an upset over the NFC North division leaders.
“We had their number,” Love said, via Bleacher Report. “We’ve been waiting for this game for a while.”
The Packers had a bold start to the game, with Love finding wide receiver Christian Watson on a deep pass on the first play from scrimmage. Love said after the game that coach Matt LaFleur had second thoughts about the big swing to start the game, but Love talked him into sticking with the scripted play.
“It was something we put in this week that we thought was going to work,” Love said, via The Associated Press. “We were confident in it.”
The Lions tried their own bold play later in the game, but got a disastrous result. Trailing by nine points in the third quarter and facing a fourth down from their own 23, Lions head coach Dan Campbell dialed up a fake punt that was snuffed out by the Packers.
The Packers took over and scored three plays later, giving them a 29-14 lead.
Failed fake punt on their own 22-yard line 😳
“It’s a bad call,” Campbell told reporters after the game. “I shouldn’t have done that to those guys.”
Jared Goff Struggled
While Love had a career-best three touchdown passes, Lions quarterback Jared Goff struggled against an aggressive Packers defense. The veteran quarterback had a career-high three fumbles in the loss, and said after the game that he wasn’t quite sure what went wrong.
“No rhyme or reason,” Goff said, via The Associated Press. “I tend to look at them individually and see what I could have done better and sometimes there’s an answer and sometimes there isn’t. But overall, yeah, it’s my job to take care of the football and I have to do a good job of it.”
Goff also had three interceptions in Sunday’s comeback win over the Chicago Bears.
The loss dropped the Lions to 8-3. While they still hold a two-game lead over the Minnesota Vikings atop the NFC North, the Lions also fell a game and a half behind the Philadelphia Eagles for No. 1 overall seed in the NFC and a bye week to start the playoffs.
They will have a chance to rebound against the 5-5 New Orleans Saints on December 3. Heavy projections powered by Quarter4 give the Lions a 66% win probability and an expected point spread of -5.