Goff, St. Brown and a Bold Fourth-Down Call Carry Lions Past Packers 20-17

Three home games, three finishes that came down to the final possession. The Lions have now won all three at Ford Field, and Sunday's 20-17 win over the Packers required a last-second field goal to finish. It was Detroit's first divisional win of the season and moves the team to 4-2. It also felt like the kind of game that could have gone either way at several points.

This was a tight game from start to finish. The Lions fumbled the ball more than once, and they also gave Green Bay a short field late in the fourth quarter after a turnover on downs. Detroit survived those moments and came out with the win, which is what separates a good team from a team that simply gets lucky.

Jared Goff is playing like the league's best quarterback

Goff's season has been strong enough that the MVP conversation should be easy to start, and my read is that it's already there. He isn't leading the league in touchdown passes or passing yards, but he sits in the top five or ten in nearly every major category. That kind of consistency matters more over a full season than one standout week.

Against a Packers pass defense ranked ninth in the NFL, Goff completed 22 of 32 passes for 303 yards and two touchdowns. He has heard the "let's see how he does against a good defense" line for a while now, and the answer keeps coming back the same way. Goff is also one of the most sure-handed passers in the league this year. He is fifth in passing yards, fourth in touchdown passes, and first in interceptions, with zero. Those numbers are hard to argue with.

There were moments late in the second half where Goff put the ball in risky spots. He still delivered when Detroit needed a game-winning drive. Quarterbacks who finish close games like that tend to build the kind of trust that carries a team through a long season, and that's the part that stands out here.

Dan Campbell's fourth-down call was the biggest swing of the day

Dan Campbell has built a reputation as one of the most aggressive coaches in football, and he regularly goes for it on fourth down when the situation calls for it. Most of those decisions come deep in opposing territory. This one came from deep in his own, and it was tied game in the fourth quarter.

Facing a fourth-and-short at their own 24-yard line, the Lions lined up to go for it. The formation suggested a possible hard count designed to draw the Packers offside. Goff took the snap, but Jahmyr Gibbs was stopped at the line, and Detroit turned the ball over on downs.

The call didn't backfire, because Green Bay missed a go-ahead field goal from close to PAT range. That's a lucky break, and it's worth saying plainly. Had the kick been good, Campbell would have taken the bulk of the criticism, and the discussion afterward would have been very different. Some former coaches did praise the decision, though, and the debate over it will likely continue for a while.

Some former coaches loved it, though.

Detroit's receivers are as good as any duo in the league

Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams combined for 14 catches, 244 yards and two touchdowns against the Packers. They made the work look easy, and that's a big reason the offense held up when the game tightened.

The Lions' top two receivers don't get the same national attention as CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens or Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. They should. My read is that Detroit's pair belongs in the top three in the league, and it's arguably just as productive.

Williams has been heating up. Over the past three games he has 13 catches for 240 yards and four touchdowns. St. Brown has been the model of consistency. This season he has 46 catches, which ranks sixth in the NFL, 525 yards, which ranks ninth, and five touchdowns, which ranks third. He posted his second 100-yard game of the year on Sunday and has caught at least six passes in every game but one.

Put those two together and you have a receiving duo that makes life easier for Goff on every down. That's a big part of why Goff's MVP-caliber season looks sustainable and not like a hot streak. Detroit's next challenge is keeping this offense firing with the same balance, because a team that wins three straight one-score games has to keep finding ways to finish. Watch whether the Lions can close out their next close game without needing a last-second kick.