It wasn’t long ago that the Detroit Lions were the face of fourth downs in this league. The team has spearheaded a wave of aggression across the league with their high percentage of money down attempts. For the past few years, that aggression has led Detroit to having one of the highest-scoring offenses in football.
But on Thursday afternoon in their Thanksgiving Day clash with the Green Bay Packers, it was fourth down that betrayed them… on both sides of the ball. The Packers were a perfect three-for-three on fourth downs, including two touchdowns scored on fourth down.
The Lions, meanwhile, went 0-for-2.
Detroit’s first failed conversion was on the opening possession of the second half—a fourth-and-3 run that was stuffed for a 2-yard loss. The Packers promptly scored on a 51-yard touchdown pass two plays later.
The second failed attempt was a back-breaker. With the Lions down 10 points with 10:55 left in the game, Lions coach Dan Campbell passed up a 38-yard field goal to go for it. Jared Goff rolled to his right and found an open Jameson Williams, but the pass was slightly behind him and Williams dropped it.
Detroit was able to get a defensive stop and eventually kick a field goal to make it a one-score game late. But, again, the Packers were able to execute on the most important plays of the game. Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur took a big risk at the end of the game. With the Lions out of timeouts and 1:55 remaining, the Packer went for it on fourth-and-3 from Detroit’s 45-yard line. If they failed to convert, and the Lions would have had plenty of time to move just 55 yards downfield for the game-tying score.
But Jordan Love, who finished the game with four touchdown passes and a 124.2 passer rating, connected with Dontayvion Wicks on a jump ball just barely out of Brian Branch’s reach for the game-ending score.
Going 3-for-3 on fourth down vs. 0-for-2. That’s the difference between a win and loss.
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