Backs against the wall, losers of three straight games, the Detroit Lions had to take care of business against a depleted Green Bay Packers team on Monday Night Football.
Take care of business is exactly what the Lions did.
Detroit scored on their first possession of the game and never trailed in an eventual 30-17 victory at Lambeau Field.
Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford was terrific all game long. He threw two touchdown passes to Marvin Jones Jr. (25 and 11). Running back Ameer Abdullah added a 4-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, and Matt Prater's three made field goals totaled more than enough scoring for the Lions to improve to 4-4 on the season, and break their three-game losing streak.
Defensively, the Lions held the Aaron Rodgers-less Packers without a touchdown until the fourth quarter. The Packers finished with 311 yards of offense, but had just 153 after three quarters. More than half their yards came in the fourth quarter with the Lions up big.
QB Comparisons: Stafford was brilliant on the national stage. He completed passes to eight different pass catchers and finished 26-of-33 passing for 361 yards with two touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 132.4.
Starting his second game for the injured Rodgers, Packers quarterback Brett Hundley did a admirable job leading the Packers' offense. He completed 26 of his 38 passes for 245 yards with no touchdowns or no picks for a passer rating of 86.0. He ran four times for 22 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Jones vs. Green Bay: Stafford's favorite target on the night was Marvin Jones Jr., who finished with seven catches for 107 yards and those two scores.
Since joining the Lions via free agency before the 2016 season, Jones has played the Packers three times now – twice last year and once this year. In those three games, Jones has caught 18 passes for 386 yards with four touchdowns.
Dual 100's: Not to be outdone, Lions receiver Golden Tate also caught seven passes for 113 yards.
The last time the Lions had two 100-yard receivers in the same game was Calvin Johnson (166) and Lance Moore (106) vs. Chicago in 2015.
Key stat(s): Last week the Lions were 0-for-5 in the red zone and 2-of-12 on third down in a 20-15 loss to Pittsburgh.
This week was much better for the Lions in both categories. The Lions scored two of the four times they reached the red zone Monday night. Detroit was 8-of-13 (62 percent) on third down.
Fumbling issue: Abdullah entered the game having not fumbled in more than 180 carries dating back to the 2015 season. He fumbled twice vs. the Packers, losing one. He was lucky on the second fumble. It was knocked out at the Packers' 1-yard line, but right tackle Rick Wagner recovered it.
