Green Bay will travel to Detroit to take on the Lions in Week 7.
Packers offense vs. Lions defense
Green Bay’s offense picked up right where it left off against the Chicago Bears on Sunday night against the Dallas Cowboys. The Packers moved right down the field on a 14-play drive that totaled 90 yards and a touchdown.
Quarterback Jordan Love was excellent on third down on the opening drive with completions to Christian Watson, Savion Williams and Matthew Golden, the last of which was on the receiving end of Love’s touchdown pass to open the scoring.
The second drive was a different story. Love was sacked on the first play following a Dallas punt and intercepted on the second. The pass was returned for a touchdown by linebacker Dee Winters but overturned after replay review.
Either way, the turnover gave the Cowboys a chance to get back into the game after the Packers had a chance to put a stronghold on the game early.
Love and the offense got a mulligan from their own turnover when Evan Williams picked off Dak Prescott in the red zone. They paid that drive off with a chip shot from Trey Smack to take a 10-0 lead. Brandon Cisse’s interception was paid off with a 1-yard sneak from Jordan Love to give the Packers a 17-0 lead at halftime.
The biggest key to Green Bay’s success on offense was third down, where the Packers converted nine of their first 10 attempts of the game.
The second half was a different story, at least at the beginning. The Packers essentially lost their first drive of the half on the first play when they were flagged for a holding penalty.
Their second drive resulted in a field goal but should have been a touchdown. Drops have been an issue all season in Green Bay, and that reared its ugly head again on Sunday. Golden dropped two passes that would have been touchdowns. Watson dropped one.
Love has been largely excellent each of the last two weeks, but his stats do not fully show that.
Green Bay is facing some interesting opponents each of the last two weeks. Both teams are all offense with little semblance of defense. Detroit’s defense is led by Aidan Hutchinson, who is one of the top pass rushers in football.
Alim McNeil has done some nice things for them up front as well, but otherwise the Lions have really struggled on that side of the ball. The secondary is in tatters as their top safety tandem has missed all of this season with different ailments. Brian Branch may be able to return soon, but there is nothing imminent with Kerby Joseph.
Terrion Arnold, their first round pick in 2025, was released before the season started due to a legal matter that has yet to be resolved. D.J. Reed has struggled as a marquee free agent pickup.
The Lions are ranked at the bottom of the NFL in passing yards per game. They’re ranked near the bottom of the league in points allowed. They don’t stop the run either, as they’re allowing around 114 yards per game there.
The Packers offense found a rhythm against Chicago and faced off against a bad Dallas defense.
They should feel confident about their ability to move the ball this week.
Packers defense vs. Lions offense
For what Detroit lacks on defense, their offense makes up for. For all the fanfare that surrounds Ben Johnson’s exit from Detroit and heading to Chicago, Detroit’s offense is still a force to be reckoned with.
They have two top receivers who can hurt opposing defenses. Their running back is one of the best players in the league at his position, and their tight end has returned to form after missing most of last season with injury issues.
Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams and Jahmyr Gibbs allow the Lions to attack all three levels of a defense in their passing game. Jared Goff is their trigger man. While he’s not as physically gifted as some other quarterbacks, he’s capable of dicing up a defense if he’s given time.
Goff has yet to throw an interception this season, which could be a challenge against Green Bay’s secondary that was banged up last week against Dallas.
Green Bay’s defense came out swinging early against the Cowboys offense. Jonathan Gannon was aggressive on early third downs as the Packers were able to shut the Cowboys down on their first two possessions of the night.
Gannon’s aggression paid off with an Evan Williams interception after Jordan Love threw one of his own on Green Bay’s second possession.
Williams looked like he was going to blitz Prescott on a third down as Dallas was in the red zone. Instead, he dropped at the last minute and undercut a Prescott pass that he intercepted, killing Dallas’ chances of scoring.
Green Bay would get a second takeaway in the first half when Brandon Cisse picked off Prescott after CeeDee Lamb fell down on his route. That interception would result in a touchdown for the Packers to take a 17-0 late in the second quarter.
The Packers defense would hold that shutout through the end of the first half.
After an ugly sequence by the offense to open the first half, the defense surrendered its first scoring drive of the night with a 1-yard run from Javonte Williams to pull the Cowboys within 17-7.
Whenever it felt like the Cowboys had momentum, Green Bay’s defense had answers. Gannon has been a godsend to this Packers defense. He’s been more aggressive than either of his predecessors. He’s weaponized his best players. Green Bay’s defense is in a good spot coming into this game.
Special teams
From a special teams’ perspective, the Lions have some stability at both kicker and punter. Jake Bates has been perfect on field goals this season, and Jack Fox is averaging 47.2 yards per punt.
There is a slight transition in their return game with Tom Kennedy taking over for Kalif Raymond , who joined Johnson in Chicago.
Green Bay’s special teams entered the Dallas game struggling. Trey Smack missed three kicks against Chicago, and Skyy Moore is missing from their return game thanks to a high-ankle sprain that landed him on injured reserve.
Coleman Owen was elevated from the practice squad last week to return punts in Moore’s place while J. Michael Sturdivant and Bo Melton returned kickoffs.
Smack shook of some struggles with a perfect first half and carried that into the second half as well.
There were 22 penalties in the Green Bay vs. Dallas game. Carrington Valentine’s interception was nullified due to a roughing the passer call against Lukas Van Ness. (Greg Mellis | Green & Gold Express)
