Detroit Lions punch themselves in the face again with turnovers vs. Green Bay Packers

Jared Goff had another one of those “punch himself in the face” games.

When the Detroit Lions quarterback wasn’t punching himself out of frustration — after two painful first-half fumbles — the Green Bay Packers were happy to do the hitting themselves, in a 29-22 victory Thursday at Ford Field.

“He never got frazzled,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said of Goff last week after the Lions rallied to beat the Chicago Bears. “More than anything I think he just wants to punch himself in the face sometimes … he gets frustrated with himself.”

Yes, Campbell said that after Goff threw three interceptions against the Bears — the Lions fell into a 12-point hole — then led the Lions back to an improbable win.

And on Thanksgiving Day the turnovers returned — and the hole was even bigger — as the Packers took a stunning 23-6 first-half lead.

The Packers turned Goff into a human piñata. Under constant pressure, Goff didn’t look like himself. The offense didn’t have any rhythm — thanks to those fumbles — and he was getting whacked around, both from the Packers as well as himself.

Goff was hit five times in the first half, with two sacks and an intentional grounding — essentially another sack.

“This game is not over,” Jack Harlow, the halftime performer, said after a completely unmemorable halftime performance. “This game is not over!"

The Lions came out in the second half and tried the comeback thing.

They started moving the ball.

But more than anything, they held onto the ball.

They didn’t make it easy on themselves, though.

"Gamblin’ Dan" came back, as Campbell called for a fake punt deep in his own territory.

Which failed miserably.

The Packers turned it into a touchdown and a 29-14 lead.

And that was key in this game, because the Lions just couldn't get over that two-score hump.

Twice, the Lions got to the Green Bay 35 and went for it on fourth down — one field-goal try would have been a 52-yarder, the other from 47.

You can argue why he went for it: The Lions were down two scores in a game in which they hadn't really stopping the Packers.

But you can also argue the opposite: Take the points. Keep climbing back.

But, ugh, that fake punt. That's hard to overcome. You live with Gamblin' Dan, you die with him, too.

The Lions missed opportunities and left points laying all over the place.

But there is a bigger lesson here.

What did we say after the Chicago Bears game? They can’t keep winning if they keep turning it over.

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Just hanging on

Still, you can clean up turnovers.

But the most concerning part of this was how easy it was for the Packers to complete passes.

The Packers won the coin toss and elected to receive. It was like they couldn’t wait for their first play. Couldn’t wait to throw the first punch, and they came out slinging it.

On the first play, Jordan Love threw a bomb to Christian Watson — it was underthrown it or else it could have been a touchdown. Four plays later, Love hit Jayden Reed, the rookie from Michigan State, for a 10-yard touchdown.

And just like that, the Packers had the lead, less than 4 minutes in.

The Packers had figured out the way to beat this team: Chuck the ball all over the place.

Love started on fire, completing 12 of his first 15 passes for 175 yards and two touchdowns. More importantly, he wasn’t sacked and didn’t have any turnovers in building that 23-6 lead.

Remember how the Lions beat the Packers in Green Bay?

On Sept. 28, the Lions jumped out to a 27-3 halftime lead. The Lions sacked Love five times, as he completed 23 of 36 for 246 and a touchdown. He was also picked off two times.

But in this game, the Packers protected Love.

He didn’t throw any interceptions.

Wasn’t sacked.

And he had a fantastic game, throwing three touchdowns.

Meanwhile, Goff was hit 12 times.

A double-edged sword

Is this Lions team perfect?

No. That defense remains hugely concerning.

And the Lions, frankly, are not good enough to keep turning the ball over and still win consistently.

Few teams are.

But definitely teams that have a hard time stopping the pass aren't.

It's a double-edged sword that turned painful in the end.

HOLIDAY CHEER: You might be thankful for the Detroit Lions but what are they thankful for?

Contact Jeff Seidel at jseidel@freepress.com or follow him @seideljeff.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions punch themselves in face again with too many turnovers