Jake Bates kicked a 35-yard field goal on the final play of the game, and the Detroit Lions beat the Green Bay Packers 34-31 on Thursday night, extending their franchise-record winning run to 11 games.
For the Lions (12-1), Jared Goff passed for 283 yards and three touchdowns, two of which went to Tim Patrick. David Montgomery had 84 yards rushing and receiving and scored one touchdown. Josh Jacobs had three running touchdowns for Green Bay. Jordan Love, who was restricted to 31 yards throwing in the first half, finished with 206 yards and one touchdown.
The Packers (9-4) are 7-2 in their previous nine games, with their two losses coming to Detroit. The Lions had a 17-7 halftime lead. Detroit scored on their first possession of the game, with Montgomery completing an 11-play, 70-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown run. Christian Watson fumbled Love’s second completion of the game on the first play of the second quarter. The Lions recovered the ball at their own 46-yard line and converted the turnover into three points with Bates’ 43-yard field goal.
However, the Lions regained their double-digit advantage in the final seconds of the half on fourth-and-goal. Goff completed the 70-yard drive with a 2-yard pass over the middle to running back Jahmyr Gibbs.
Love’s 59-yard completion to Watson during the opening possession of the second half set up his 12-yard scoring pass to tight end Tucker Kraft. That cut Detroit’s lead to 17-14.
Keisean Nixon picked off a Goff pass moments later, giving the Packers the ball at the Lions’ 16-yard line. Green Bay took the lead on Jacobs’ 6-yard run with 11:15 remaining in the quarter.
The Lions came back with a 10-play drive capped by Goff’s 1-yard touchdown to Patrick with 8:39 remaining. With 3:38 remaining, Brandon McManus’ 32-yard field goal knotted the game at 31-31. Detroit ran out the clock on its next possession. With less than a minute remaining, Goff’s 16-yard completion to Amon-Ra St. Brown and Montgomery’s 7-yard run on fourth down (with Goff tumbling to the ground as he handed the ball off) put Bates in position to attempt the game-winning kick.
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