Jordan Love acknowledges that Lions are team to beat in NFC North after TNF loss

Jordan Love didn’t use the same colorful language as his head coach, but the Packers quarterback was realistic about the results of Thursday’s game with the Lions.

Detroit is the team to beat in the NFC North. That’s after the Lions overwhelmed the Packers at Lambeau Field, 34-20. Detroit, at one point, owned a 24-point lead. From there, the Packers never cut got closer than 10 points.

Jordan Love told reporters after the game that the Lions (3-1) are “for sure” the favorite in the division.

“Credit to them, they played really good,” Love said. “Yeah, I think it was us and them going into this game. Obviously we haven’t played the Vikings yet, but every time we play a North opponent it’s a huge game, going forward to the end of the year. It’s a game that we’ll be looking forward to next time we play them. We’ve got to be better and go win.”

The next time the two teams meet will be Thanksgiving, but it’ll be at the Lions’ place. By then, we’ll know if the 0-3 Vikings, the defending divisional champs, will have righted their season. The winless Bears seem to be a lost cause.

It was how the Lions beat the Packers that was so surprising. They overwhelmed Green Bay with terrific line play on both sides of the ball. When the Packers drew within 10 at and the Lambeau crowd was on its feet, Detroit strolled down the field on a nearly 9-minute touchdown drive. It was old-school, smashmouth football at its finest.

For the evening, the Lions outrushed the Packers 211-27. Both teams got back their starting running backs from injury. But it was Detroit’s David Montgomery who dazzled with 120 yards. Meanwhile, Aaron Jones ran five times for 18 yards. The Packers only had 12 runs. The score got so lopsided that Green Bay went to its catch-up mode offense. Jordan Love completed 23 of his 36 passes for 246 yards. But the Lions, with 43 attempts, had almost four times as many running plays as the Packers.

Meanwhile, the Lions sacked Jordan Love. five times as they easily found the holes in a patched-up Packers offensive line missing two starters. Detroit has 12 sacks in its last two games.

“It’s hard to throw on your back,” said Packers coach LaFleur. “We’ve got to protect him better.” That comment was tame compared to the other stuff LaFleur stuff. He summed up the game by saying the Packers got their “ass kicked.”

The Packers placed left tackle David Bakhtiar on injured reserve before the game. There is a fear that he’ll miss the rest of the season as he deals with a knee issue that’s plagued him since he tore his ACL on Dec. 31, 2020. Green Bay also needed to start Royce Newman for an injured Elgton Jenkins at left guard. It’s no wonder Love ended up on his back for so many pass attempts.

“They’ve got a good D-line and we didn’t do good enough,” Love said. “I think it takes all 11. It’s not just the O-line. It’s me not getting the ball out quick enough on some plays. Reads were open. It goes back to just not executing. It’s all offensively as a whole.”