DETROIT — Jared Goff threw three touchdown passes, Jake Bates made a 35-yard field goal as time expired and the Detroit Lions clinched a playoff spot with a 34-31 victory over the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night.
“This will be one of those you’ll never forget,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said.
The NFC-best Lions (12-1) broke a franchise record with their 11th straight win — including two over the Packers (9-4) — to stay ahead of the Minnesota Vikings (10-2) in the highly competitive NFC North.
Campbell went for it on fourth down five times, including with 1 yard to go at the Packers 21 with 43 seconds left, and his gambles backfired only once.
David Montgomery ran for 7 yards, barely getting a handoff from Goff after the quarterback got his feet tangled up and was falling toward the turf.
“I just got tripped up there a little bit,” Goff said. “It’s a bad feeling when you’re a quarterback.”
That ensured the Lions could try a field goal without giving the Packers the ball back, and Bates hit his third-game winning kick this season.
“I just felt like we needed to end it on offense,” Campbell said. “I did not want to give the ball back and I believed we could convert. I trust the O-line. I trust David.”
Goff threw two touchdown passes on fourth-and-goal, one to Tim Patrick, who had two TD catches. Goff also threw an interception in the third quarter to set up one of Josh Jacobs’ career-high-matching three scoring runs.
Goff found Jahymr Gibbs open in the end zone for a 2-yard pass on fourth down with 11 seconds left in the first half to put the Lions ahead 17-7.
Goff later connected with Patrick on a go-ahead, 1-yard touchdown pass midway through the fourth quarter.
The Packers took advantage of the only time Campbell’s aggressiveness didn’t pan out, denying Gibbs on a fourth-down run late in the third quarter from the Lions 31. Jacobs scored for a third time on a 3-yard run on the ensuing drive.
Brandon McManus made a 32-yard field goal with 3:38 left to pull the Packers into a 31-all tie in a game that had four lead changes earlier in the second half.
“That’s exactly the kind of game we expected,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “It was tough and it went back and forth. There were just a couple plays that didn’t go our way.”
The Lions’ final drive began with Goff’s 19-yard pass to Jameson Williams. He also connected with Amon-Ra St. Brown for 16 yards on the decisive possession. Goff finished 32 of 41 for 283 yards, and six Lions players had at least five receptions.
Jordan Love was 12 of 20 for 206 yards with a touchdown pass to Tucker Kraft early in the third quarter.
Injuries
Packers: S Evan Williams (concussion), S Javon Bullard (ankle), DE Lukas Van Ness (thumb) were hurt during the game.
Lions: DL Alim McNeill left with a head injury after he was evaluated for a concussion and returned to play briefly.
Up next
Packers: At Seattle in a Sunday night game on Dec. 15.
Lions: Host the Buffalo Bills on Dec. 15.
Originally Published:
