Defense helps Lions edge Packers in NFC North showdown

DETROIT — Just when it looked like the Detroit Lions would make easy work of the Green Bay Packers, they fumbled to end the second quarter, fumbled to start the third, and allowed Green Bay to take a lead as Ford Field went silent.And in a critical fourth-down spot, the offense failed tremendously, handing what appeared to be a sure-fire lead to the Packers after turning the ball over on downs from their own 22-yard line. But this team still has some old-school resiliency (and a little bit of luck), as it turns out. Behind a defense that played its best game of the season against quarterback Jordan Love and a dangerous Green Bay receiving corps — and a Packers kicker who missed a pair of chip shots — the Lions escaped with a 20-17 victory at Ford Field on Sunday, Oct. 25, on a 22-yard, walk-off field goal from kicker Jake Bates.It was the first time Detroit has won back-to-back games since going on a four-game winning streak from Weeks 2-5 last season.With the game tied 17-17, the Lions turned the ball over on downs at their own 22-yard line with 4:50 remaining when Jahmyr Gibbs ran for a 2-yard loss on fourth-and-1. But after the defense picked up a three-and-out, Lions defender DJ Wonnum got a finger on the would-be go-ahead field goal from 35 yards out, keeping the game tied with 3:21 left.The Lions kickstarted their ensuing drive with an 18-yard completion to Sam LaPorta, one of the best throws of the season from quarterback Jared Goff, and got the Packers to jump offsides with a hard count on a critical third-down out of the two-minute warning. Moments later, Gibbs ran for 8 yards on third-and-6 to allow the Lions to run the clock all the way down to one second remaining, where Bates made the try.The Lions' offense stumbled at several critical points, and not just by fumbling. Goff and Jameson Williams couldn't connect on a critical fourth down in the red zone that would have put Detroit up two scores; after an interception by Brian Branch early in the fourth quarter, the Lions went three-and-out — and nearly threw an interception of their own — to give the ball right back.But the defense, led by a rotating cast of characters at cornerback, continued to get stops. Reserve Khalil Dorsey made several critical breakups. D.J. Reed, too. The run defense held Packers running back Josh Jacobs to 36 yards on 11 carries. And for the second straight game, a strong defensive performance helped spearhead a victory. Love threw the ball 45 times, completing 27 passes for 274 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Goff was 22-for-32 for 303 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions for Detroit (4-2).Even after allowing a 27-yard completion to Savion Williams on fourth-and-5, the Lions' defense was able to recover on its opening drive. Tyleik Williams flushed Love on a third-and-goal situation, resulting in an incompletion. After a delay-of-game penalty on Green Bay during the field-goal attempt, the Packers backed up 5 yards and kicker Trey Smack missed the field goal, wide right. The Lions were explosive to begin the game and scored a touchdown on their opening drive for the first time all season. St. Brown (28 yards) and Jameson Williams (24) recorded big gains on back-to-back plays to reach the red zone, where Jameson Williams caught a pass in the flat and ran it in for a 16-yard touchdown, his third of the season.Aidan Hutchinson nearly made a huge play when he read a screen that ultimately bounced off his hands for an incompletion. The missed opportunity bit Detroit. Linebacker Jack Campbell tripped trying to keep up with Packers tight end Tucker Kraft, leaving him wide open for a 14-yard score that tied the game, 7-7, with 0:58 to go in the first quarter.The Lions regained their lead with 12:36 to go in the second quarter. After a promising drive stalled because of a negative run followed by a false start on Penei Sewell, the Lions settled for a 40-yard field goal from kicker Jake Bates to go up 10-7.The Packers converted their first three fourth-down attempts for a total of 77 yards, but Detroit finally got a fourth-down stop at its own 7-yard line when cornerback D.J. Reed tackled Packers receiver Matthew Golden short of the line to gain on fourth-and-4, resulting in a turnover on downs with 4:15 left in the second quarter.Detroit was poised to extend its lead late in the first half and got deep into Packers territory when Gibbs fumbled at the 8-yard line of Green Bay with 19 seconds left in the second quarter. Center Cade Mays knocked the ball out with Gibbs' arm, and the Packers recovered before running out the clock.The Lions gaffed again to begin the third quarter to put Green Bay in the driver's seat. Mays and Goff fumbled the exchange on Detroit's second play, resulting in a Packers recovery at the 42-yard line of Detroit. Five plays later, the Packers took a 14-10 lead when running back Josh Jacobs caught a pass and ran up the sideline for a touchdown with 12:14 to go in the third. The Lions went back on top, 17-14, with 6:33 to go in the third quarter. After an unnecessary roughness penalty put Detroit into the red zone, Sewell ran a route and served as a perfect decoy for a throw that ultimately went to Jameson Williams for a 10-yard touchdown pass, making it back-to-back two-touchdown games for the Lions receiver.The Lions tried to throw a knockout punch after twice benefiting from Packers penalties, first on a drive-extending roughing-the-passer call and then on a pass interference flag that wiped out an interception. But Jameson Williams couldn't get two feet down on a caught throw to the back of the end zone, resulting in a turnover on downs at the Green Bay 6-yard line.After the Lions went three-and-out following Branch's interception, the Packers made their way down the field but had their drive derailed by a holding penalty and wound up settling for a 43-yard field goal from Smack to tie the game, 17-17, with 7:10 left in the game.nbianchi@detroitnews.com@nolanbianchiThis article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Defense helps Lions edge Packers in NFC North showdown