The Detroit Lions beat the Green Bay Packers 20-17 at Ford Field on Sunday 25 October 2026, sealing a tense NFC North win with a last-second Jake Bates field goal, according to the Week 7 scoreboard and theScore’s Sunday rundown. The win moved Detroit to 4-2 and kept the pressure on division leaders Minnesota.
It was, by common consent, a comedy of errors — and a thriller. Detroit and Green Bay combined for 739 yards of offence, according to theScore, but both teams made the kind of mistakes that kept the game in the balance until the final kick.
Goff efficient, Gibbs relentless
Detroit’s game plan was clear: run the ball and keep quarterback Jared Goff clean. Goff completed 22 of 32 passes for 303 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, according to the game recap, while Jahmyr Gibbs carried 29 times for 116 yards. Amon-Ra St. Brown caught nine passes for 153 yards, including a long gain of 40.
Green Bay, by contrast, asked Jordan Love to carry the offence. Love threw 45 times for 274 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, while lead back Josh Jacobs managed only 11 carries for 36 yards. That imbalance told the story of the afternoon: Detroit controlled the line of scrimmage, Green Bay chased the game through the air.
Campbell gambles, Packers miss chances
Lions coach Dan Campbell nearly cost his team the win, according to theScore, with two failed fourth-down gambles in critical moments. The second handed Green Bay the ball at Detroit’s 22-yard line with less than five minutes left in a tie game. The Packers could not take advantage, settling for a 35-yard field goal attempt that rookie kicker Trey Smack missed.
Smack also missed a 26-yard attempt in the first quarter. Those are two of only three field goals missed from inside 35 yards by any NFL kicker this season, according to theScore — a brutal statistic for Green Bay, and the difference between a win and a loss in a three-point game.
A win Detroit had to have
Officials also played a part, with two roughing-the-passer penalties aiding Detroit drives, including the one that ended with the winning field goal. Green Bay will feel aggrieved, but Detroit will point to a defence that, according to FOX Sports analysis carried after the game, finally showed it can make big plays against good teams when it matters most.
The Packers fall to 4-3, still firmly in the divisional race but now looking up at both Minnesota and Detroit. The Lions, meanwhile, have a win that strengthens their case as genuine Super Bowl contenders — even if the red-zone efficiency, with 303 passing yards producing only 20 points, remains something Campbell will want to fix before the next big test.
