8.4 Yards per pass for Jordan Love

Jordan Love put together a masterful performance on Thanksgiving Day. He finished the game completing 22-of-32 passes for 268 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Love also averaged 8.4 yards per pass, which for context, over the course of the season, would be the third-highest rate in football. He was confident, decisive, accurate, and made a variety of different throws. Outside of the numbers, what makes this performance truly special was that Love did it without a run game to lean on. Green Bay has struggled to generate consistent push in the run game this season. They also found themselves short-handed at the position and up against one of the best run defenses in football. The Packers knew they had to move the ball through the air, and I’m guessing the Lions were expecting that as well. However, even though Green Bay came into the game somewhat one-dimensional, giving Detroit somewhat of an advantage, the Lions still didn’t have much of an answer for Love and the Packers’ passing game.

3-for-4 in the red zone on offense

The offense has done a better job moving the football over the last month but still struggled once they got to the red zone. In the last four games, Green Bay had converted just four of their 15 red zone trips into touchdowns. However, against the Lions, and in a game where taking advantage of every opportunity was a must, the Packers were very efficient in the red zone, scoring a touchdown on three of their four trips. Matt LaFleur has said recently that the offense’s red zone issues stem from not having a strong run game to lean on. In a condensed part of the field where there is less space to operate, moving the ball through the air is naturally more difficult. Green Bay’s running backs averaged barely over three yards per rush in this contest, which again, is a credit to Love and the young pass catchers for being able to find success in this part of the field passing the ball.

0 Sacks allowed by Packers offensive line

In Week 4, the last time these two teams met, the Packers offensive line was bullied. In that game, Love was pressured on nearly 50 percent of his dropbacks–an absurd amount. Along with being pressured at a high rate, the Lions converted those opportunities into five sacks and 11 hits. However, on Thursday, Love wasn’t sacked at all, and he was hit just four times. It was a night and day difference in performance from the offensive line. With time in the pocket, Love was able to go through his reads, didn’t need to force anything in an effort to speed things up, and the receivers had additional time to create separation. Along with the Lions having several really good players up front, they also do a really good job of utilizing stunts, blitzes, and different personnel groupings to cause chaos for the offensive line, but the Packers handled that well.

Packers win the turnover battle 3-0

The Packers entered this game with the second-fewest takeaways in the NFL. In fact, in recent weeks, LaFleur has mentioned on a few occasions how the defense has to be better in that regard to not only help themselves by getting off the field but also to give the offense additional possessions. Detroit, despite their overall success, has been turnover-prone at times this season, and Green Bay was able to take advantage with three forced fumbles and three recoveries. The first resulted in a scoop and score for Jonathan Owens. On the other two, the Packers offense failed to take advantage by putting points on the board, but nonetheless, it swung momentum, and limited the Lions’ scoring opportunities. When the Packers win the turnover battle this season, they are 3-1. When they lose it, they are 1-4.

2 sacks, 12 hits and 3 forced fumbles for Packers pass rush

The Packers pass rush did an excellent job of getting after Jared Goff, totaling three sacks, 12 quarterback hits, and three forced fumbles. When kept clean this season, Goff has been very efficient, completing nearly 75 percent of his passes at 8.2 yards per attempt, but when under pressure, that completion rate drops to just 53 percent and 6.1 yards per pass. Disrupting Goff’s timing and getting him off his spot is a must, or he will pick defenses apart. Goff would complete 29-of-44 passes for 332 yards in this game, but most of that damage was done too little, too late. Helping the Green Bay pass rush out was that the Packers played with a multi-score lead for much of the day, forcing the Lions to be more dependent on throwing the ball. Green Bay also didn’t let Detroit dominate in the run game like last time either.