On a rain-soaked Sunday, the Packers slipped big time to NFC North rivals Detriot Lions. The Packers had gotten away with some sloppy performances in recent weeks against the likes of Houston, and Jacksonville, but their mistakes proved to be costly against a strong Lions team. Their poor play was reflected when returning Jordan Love threw a disastrous pick-six to leave them trailing 17-3 at halftime.

Understandably, this didn’t go down well with Head Coach Matt LaFleur. What was billed as a high-profile encounter between two giants of the division, turned out to be a case of men against boys. While the Lions were well-deserved winners, it doesn’t hide the fact that the Packers made life miserable for themselves.

Following the 24-14 loss, LaFleur reflected on his team’s performance and was critical of their schoolboy errors against a well-oiled Detroit team.

“They [Lions] played a clean game, much cleaner than we did. I was disappointed with the number of penalties and just self-inflicted wounds that we had and you can’t do that against a really good football team,” Matt LaFleur said in the post-game presser.

The Packers dropped the ball six times and had 10 penalties that cost them 67 yards or so. Chris Brooks dropped the ball in the red zone on a third down. Tucker Kraft and Dotayvion Wicks were among the few who lost the ball at crucial points of the game as well. Moreover, the team had three botched snaps, a dismal pick-six, a missed field goal, and a turnover on downs after the Packers couldn’t gain 1 yard on three consecutive plays. LaFleur’s comments about self-inflicted wounds is putting it nicely.

The HC further added how the pick-six toward the end of the second quarter changed the momentum. “When you look at the sequence in terms of them kicking three points right before the 2-minute drive, then we have a pick-six and then they come out in the second half and score a touchdown. I mean that’s a lot to overcome right there and obviously we didn’t do a good enough job to be able to overcome that.”

The Lions were already up by seven in the second quarter. The Packers had the possession and Jordan Love faced some pressure on the 2 and one play. Love chucked the ball in the air and the short pass landed in the hands of Kerby Joseph, who replied with a 27-yard TD run. Love registered 23 of 39 for 273 yards with an interception, a week after he had to leave in the third quarter of a 30-27 win at Jacksonville with a groin strain.

But against the Lions, the Wisconsin team couldn’t score a touchdown through three-quarters of the game but then Emmanuel Wilson scored in the last quarter with 3:49 remaining on the clock. The Packers were scoreless in the second quarter too.

The Packers committed a fourth down penalty before the Lions’ first touchdown. They had another one on a third down in the second half of the game. What’s more concerning is the fact that the Packers were 1-4 in scoring a TD inside the 20-yard line and they weren’t as strong on offense either.

Astonishingly, the Packers had more total yards (411) than the Lions. More passing yards (273), more rushing yards, (138), and more yards per play (6.6), but still failed to dominate their divisional rivals.

“It’s disappointing when you have a big game like this against one of the best teams in the league and you don’t feel like there was just too many mistakes,” LaFleur further added. Compared to the Packers, the Lions had only five penalties as they marched to 7-1 in the division while their rivals dropped to 6-3.

Meanwhile, LaFleur’s comments about self-inflicted wounds were echoed by running back Josh Jacobs.

Josh Jacobs said they have been getting away with a lot of mistakes

Just at the start of the game, Keisan Nixon returned the opening kickoff to the 40-yard line but clocked his right hand in Lions cornerback Kindle Vildor’s face on the sideline. This resulted in a roughness penalty and set the tone for the rest of the game.

The overall poor play by the Packers was also addressed by Josh Jacobs. “A lot of self-inflicted wounds, a lot of momentum-killers, a lot of drive-killers. That’s just on us, man. I feel like we’ve been getting away with a lot of it because we’ve been kind of masking it with the wins, but when you play a good team, all the little things catch up to you,” he said.

Similar errors were found against the Jacksonville Jaguars but the Packers won 30-27. However, it seems they will have to improve a huge margin in order to challenge in the division. They had come into this game on somewhat equal footing with the Lions, but on the evidence of the recent outing, the gap between the two teams isn’t as close as it seemed.