Inside the Article:
The Detroit Lions season ended tonight in Green Bay. While about an hour before the game, their playoff hopes were still alive, Baker Mayfield and the Los Angeles Rams made sure that died. And, so, the Lions had to play spoiler against the Packers.
Quick Takeaways from Detroit Lions win against the Packers
There are plenty of things that could be pointed to as takeaways from this game, but here are some of the ones that stood out the most.
Jared Goff did enough, despite a very slow start
The Lions’ offense got off to a very sluggish start. Much of that was due to Goff’s inability to throw the ball well. The ball wasn’t coming out of his hand the right way, he didn’t look comfortable and it wasn’t pretty. Even on the flea-flicker that was called back due to holding, the ball looked like it could’ve (and probably should’ve been) picked.
It’s been well-documented throughout the season that Jared Goff is not the same quarterback on the road. Bad reads, missed reads, bad throws.
He finished the first half 13-21 for 115 yards. He came out in the second half doing much of the same. Throwing the ball low, behind the sticks on the third down, and causing the offense to stall. On the second drive of the second half, Goff did find Kalif Raymond with a 43-yard bomb and it seemed to turn things around for him in the second half. He did enough in the second half, including two huge fourth-down conversions to secure the win, finishing the game 23-34 for 224 yards and no scores.
Aidan Hutchinson deserves Defensive Rookie of the Year
Listen, you can’t call it bias when it was predicted earlier in the week, and the stats back it up. Hutch just causes havoc. He’s disciplined, has an unending motor, and does his job extremely well. Two huge sacks in the first half helped keep the Packers just only field goals on the scoreboard.
All Hutchinson has done this season is exceeded what everyone expected him to do. He’s the best rookie edge, and it’s not close and has even contributed in coverage, getting three interceptions on the season as well. If he’s not the clear-cut winner of the Defensive Rookie of the Year, then it’s a pure scam.
This team is headed in the right direction
It started 1-6, and all hell was breaking loose. But then, a gritty 15-9 win against the Packers at Ford Field set a different tone for the season. The Lions went on to rip off seven of their next nine, leading up to this matchup tonight. And, though their season was ending tonight, regardless of the outcome, they fought hard and set a tone for next season.
There are no moral victories in sports, they simply just don’t exist. But this isn’t a moral victory. What fans saw over the final ten games of the season, is exactly what we should in 2023. With five picks in the top 75 of next year’s draft, the NFC North needs to be on notice because the Detroit Lions are going to make some noise.
