Instant observations: Lions take over control of NFC North with rout of Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Who’s going to stop the Detroit Lions now?

The Minnesota Vikings are 0-3, and their season is on life support. The Chicago Bears are 0-3 too, and already look dead. Their coach might not be long for this world, either.

The only viable competition for the Lions in the NFC North was supposed to be Green Bay, a team they had already beaten three straight times heading into a first-place showdown on Thursday Night Football. Only the game wasn’t much of a showdown at all, as the Lions scored 27 unanswered first-half points en route to a decisive 34-20 victory on Thursday Night Football.

So again, I ask: Who is going to stop the Detroit Lions (3-1) now?

Because Green Bay (2-2) doesn’t look up for the challenge, either.

The Lions have won four in a row in the series, matching their most dominant stretch against their biggest rival since 1949-55. They’ll look to make it five straight in the rematch on Thanksgiving, when they’ll play on national TV for a third straight time against Green Bay.

For now, Detroit put on a show for the nation in the first half on Thursday night. Amon-Ra St. Brown gave them an early lead with a 24-yard touchdown catch, while running back David Montgomery pounded in two early touchdowns and then tacked on a third late in the game to put away Green Bay for good. In his first game back from a thigh injury, he finished with 121 yards on 32 carries.

The Lions had a 206-1 edge in total yards at one point, and moved the chains 10 times before Green Bay got around to doing it once. Aidan Hutchinson, Alim McNeill, Isaiah Buggs, Charles Harris and John Cominsky all got home for sacks on defense, while Jerry Jacobs picked off Jordan Love twice.

Jacobs’ first pick came in the second quarter on a carom off linebacker Alex Anzalone. Jacobs raced back the other way 20 yards, not only making him Love’s leading receiver at the time, but accounting for more yards than the entire Packers offense combined.

All told, it was the most dominating first-half effort by Detroit in the 187-game history of the rivalry.

It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for the Lions, who came out sluggish in the second half, punting on their only two possessions of the third quarter while allowing Green Bay to score twice on its first three series. That tightened the lead to 27-17, and the Packers could have pulled within a single score if they converted on a two-point conversion. But John Cominsky made a nice stop, preserving the two-score advantage.

Then Detroit went back to work in the fourth quarter, putting together a 14-play drive that consumed nearly 9 minutes of the final frame. That basically killed any chance Green Bay had to turn its momentum into actually threatening the lead.

Montgomery once again was key to salting away the win, just like he did in the Week 1 win against Kansas City. He caught two passes for 20 yards to get the drive going, then finished it off by running three straight times at the goal line, the last of which came on a critical fourth-down play on the 1.

Montgomery barged into the end zone for his third touchdown of the day, and a 34-17 lead.

Not a bad way to return from injury.

Let’s get to some more observations:

— There was some hand-wringing about the Lions losing Jamaal Williams in free agency. But David Montgomery is a younger, better version of Williams, a tough runner between the tackles who has always broken more tackles than Williams. Through the first month of the season, he’s been as good as advertised. He scored go-ahead touchdowns in the second half of his first two games, and helped put away the Chiefs with some tough running in the fourth quarter. He didn’t play in Week 3 against Atlanta because of a thigh bruise, but returned in Green Bay and picked up right where he left off, running 32 times for 121 yards and three touchdowns. The first two scores came during the offensive onslaught that put Green Bay out of reach, while the third put away the Packers for good in the fourth quarter. And when the Lions needed to drain the rest of the clock, well, Montgomery was up for that too.

— For as much as the offense balled out, the defense was nearly as good. The pass rush continued its tear by sacking Jordan Love five times, just four days after it took down Desmond Ridder seven times. That’s 12 sacks in eight quarters, after getting just one in their first eight. Aidan Hutchinson has led the charge with 3.5 sacks during that stretch, while Alim McNeill, Isaiah Buggs, Charles Harris and John Cominsky all got home in Green Bay too.

— If you know Jerry Jacobs, then you already know he wasn’t going to give up his spot without a fight. That guy’s a pitbull, and with Emmanuel Moseley closing in on a return — and presumably taking Jacobs’ place on the field — the third-year cornerback showed his teeth in Green Bay. Jacobs played his best game to date, picking off Jordan Love twice, both of which came at critical junctures. The first pick came on a carom off a tip by Alex Anzalone, and Jacobs returned it 20 yards the other way to Green Bay’s 7-yard line. The second came in the fourth quarter, when Green Bay was driving inside the red zone in a 34-20 game. Jacobs ran along the Lions fans behind the bench at Lambeau Field, then into the far end zone to celebrate a pick that finally put this one away for good.

— The Lions have climbed to the top of the North, but it came at a cost. Brian Branch was carted to the locker room with an ankle injury in the third quarter, then crumpled to the field again when he tried to return in the fourth. With 10 days to heal up before Detroit is back in action against Carolina, there is hope he plays again soon. But his absence was felt in Green Bay. Branch has not only been one of the best defensive rookies in the league, but perhaps Detroit’s best defender, period. He was leading Detroit in tackles at the time of his injury (five) and also broke up a third-down pass for Christian Watson. He was replaced by Will Harris, who has always struggled, and struggled again in Green Bay, including allowing a 44-yard catch by Jayden Reed at the end of the third quarter. Two plays later, Jordan Love raced into the end zone for a touchdown that drew Green Bay to within 27-17.

— Worth noting that bomb to Reed happened with 0:00 showing on the game clock. I don’t know offhand the official rules, but seems like if the game clock shows 0:00, the whistle should blow. Crazy, I know.

— The Lions scored 20 points for the 12th straight game, matching a franchise record that had stood untouched since 1995.