Halftime analysis: Lions hanging close thanks to Aidan Hutchinson, defensive effort

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Aidan Hutchinson is doing his best to keep this thing close.

The defensive rookie of the year candidate is finishing off his first season in high style, racking up two huge sacks in the first half against Green Bay. Both came on third downs inside Detroit’s 25-yard line too, forcing Green Bay to settle for field goals.

So while the Lions trail 9-6 at the intermission, it could be much, much worse.

Their offense has been disjointed all night, going three-and-out twice and scoring just three points — on a 12-yard drive — until Michael Badgley pounded in a second field goal as time expired on the half. Green Bay committed a persona foul on the field goal, with a defender reaching across the line to swat away the football, giving Badgley a chip shot to draw Detroit within three points.

Given all their mistakes and lack of rhythm on offense, Detroit is fortunate to trail by just three points coming out of the break. Among those miscues: Offensive lineman Matt Nelson drawing a holding penalty that nullified a 66-yard touchdown catch by Jameson Williams, quarterback Jared Goff failing to see Williams running wide open for a touchdown just moments later, cornerback Jerry Jacobs getting flagged for a pass interference 47 yards downfield, and pass rusher James Houston jumping offside to set up a fourth-and-1 that Green Bay converted.

With that, Detroit is struggling to find a spark in the Wisconsin cold. Lucky for them, Hutchinson’s motor isn’t having an issue. He beat left tackle David Bakhtiari for one sack before putting a nasty spin move on right tackle Yosh Nijman for a second sack, and still got home despite getting held on the play.

Hutchinson now has 9.5 sacks on the season, which wrestles the NFL rookie lead away from teammate James Houston (8.0). This is the first time in NFL history a team has ever had two rookies with at least 8.0 sacks.

Lions rookies have accounted for 20.5 sacks overall, an NFL record since sacks became an official statistic in 1982.

If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation.