But replays made clear that Love was very obviously whacked in the facemask by Lions defensive end Za’Darius Smith on the play. No flag was thrown though, and the Packers had to punt the ball away after Love’s pass fell incomplete.

Take a look at the clip.

According to NFL rules, a roughing-the-passer penalty should be called if a defender “forcibly hits the quarterback’s head or neck area with his helmet, facemask, forearm, or shoulder.” The hit by Smith clearly met that criteria but still went uncalled. As a result, the Packers were denied a fresh set of downs and an extra 15 yards that would have put them in field-goal range.

Thursday night games have become notorious for missed calls on shots to the facemasks of quarterbacks. In Week 8, Minnesota QB Sam Darnold got his facemask grabbed at a crucial moment with no call, and then in Week 10, Cincinnati star QB Joe Burrow was smacked in the facemask on the game-deciding two-point attempt and failed to get a flag too. Though the hit on Love’s facemask this week wasn’t at nearly as pivotal of a point in the contest, it was an equally bad whiff no less.

Detroit escapes with 34-31 win after going 4-of-5 on 4th down

The Green Bay Packers gave the Detroit Lions all that they could handle on Thursday night, but this time there was no Motor City Miracle to be had for the Packers coming out of the Thanksgiving holiday. A back-and-forth second half saw the teams trade the lead four times, but in the end it was the Lions who ran down the clock and kicked a game-winning field goal with no time left to finish off the season sweep over Green Bay.

Detroit’s 34-31 victory clinches a playoff berth for the Lions, while the Packers will remain in the 6th spot in the NFC playoff picture. However, this effectively closes the door on Green Bay’s NFC North hopes, as they would need to win out and for the Lions to lose out to have a chance at a title.

The Packers managed to put up 30-plus points for the third straight game, and they did it on just 45 offensive plays. But the defense allowed Detroit to put up five separate drives of at least 10 plays, four of which lasted at least five minutes on the game clock and all of those ended in scores. The biggest difference was the Lions’ performance on third and fourth downs; they went 7-for-15 on third down, then picked up four of five fourth-down attempts, including one in the final minute inside of field goal range. That allowed Detroit to run off the rest of the clock rather than kicking a field goal with time left on the clock for Jordan Love and the Packers to try to go down and tie or win the game.

Green Bay got a big game from Christian Watson, who had four catches for 114 yards, but he also made two crucial mistakes. First, he coughed up the football in the second quarter, leading to a Lions field goal, then committed an offensive pass interference penalty in the end zone that erased a go-ahead touchdown and forced the team to settle for a late game-tying field goal.

Meanwhile, Green Bay’s defense was gassed in the second half as Jared Goff carved up the banged-up secondary. Missing Jaire Alexander, Corey Ballentine, and Evan Williams (who left this game early), the Packers let Goff go 32-for-41 for 283 yards and three scores.

The Packers fall to 9-4, and while they are still virtual locks for the postseason, they will all but assuredly be playing their first game (or two) on the road after this loss. Meanwhile, the Lions further solidified their standing in the North and as the NFC’s top seed with four games to go.

The Lions took an early lead on a short David Montgomery touchdown. Detroit got a big gain from Jameson Williams for 28 yards to move into the red zone before Montgomery punched in from three yards out for an early 7-0 lead.

Green Bay drive to midfield, helped in part by a pass interference penalty on Brian Branch, but had to punt after pressure forced an early throw from Jordan Love off his back foot on third down. The Packers forced a punt deep in Lions territory however, forcing a three and out thanks to a Rashan Gary sack on third down and taking over near midfield.

The Packers returned the favor, pinning the Lions again deep in their own territory and forcing a Detroit punt with a big stop by Colby Wooden on a 3rd-and-5 run by Jahmyr Gibbs.

On the first play of the second quarter, Christian Watson looked to have a big play with a 20-yard gain up the right sideline. But as he was going to the ground, Carlton Davis managed to jar the ball loose and linebacker David Long recovered for the game’s first turnover. Quay Walker took a flag for an unnecessary roughness penalty to push Detroit into field goal range, but Green Bay’s defense locked down and held the Lions to a field goal to push their lead to 10-0.

The Packers struck back with a long drive, taking nearly 7 and a half minutes off the clock. Josh Jacobs was the bellcow on the drive, which saw the Packers establish the run with nine running plays to just two passes. After Christian Watson drew a pass interference call in the end zone on 3rd-and-goal, Jacobs punched the ball across the goa line for a short score to get the Packers on the board and cut the Lions’ lead to 10-7.

Detroit ran the rest of the clock out on the second quarter and found the end zone with just 11 seconds remaining in the first half. The Packers nearly had a goal-line stand late in the quarter, getting a tackle for loss from Kenny Clark on 3rd-and-goal from the 1, but Goff found Gibbs on an angle route on 4th down, beating Isaiah McDuffie in coverage to go into the half with a 17-7 lead.

Coming out of the half, the Packers got a huge play from Watson to jump-start their opening drive. Love hit Watson with a bomb as he sped past Carlton Davis and hauled in a rainbow for 59 yards. Love then found Kraft over the middle for a touchdown on 3rd-and-10, giving the Packers their second touchdown and cutting the Lions’ lead to three points.

Green Bay then took its first lead of the day after a sudden turnaround. Keisean Nixon picked off Jared Goff early on the Lions’ first drive of the half, returning the football to the Detroit 15. Three plays later, Josh Jacobs spun through the Lions’ defense for a six-yard touchdown, his second of the day, giving the Packers a 21-17 advantage early in the second half.

The Lions retook the lead on the ensuing series, a six-minute, 13-play drive that featured a pair of fourth-down conversions. Jared Goff picked up one on a sneak from midfield, then he hit Tim Patrick on 4th-and-goal from the 3-yard line for the score with the Packers’ defense unable to get set up in time.

After a Packers punt, Dan Campbell made another gutsy decision near his own 30-yard line. He kept his offense on the field on 4th-and-1, but this time the Packers made a big stop on Gibbs’ rushing attempt off the right end. Four plays later, Jacobs finished a hat trick, finding the end zone for the third time in the game to give Green Bay another lead change with a 28-24 advantage. But the trading of touchdowns continued as Detroit drove straight down the field once again. Another 10-plus play drive for the Lions finished with Goff hitting Patrick for a second short scoring pass to make the score 31-28.

The Packers tied the game with 3:38 left on the clock, as Brandon McManus pulled the two teams even at 31. Another big gain from Watson and a pair of big catches from Dontayvion Wicks set them up inside the 10, but Watson was flagged for offensive pass interference, pushing them back to the 14-yard line and leading to a game-tying field goal.

Detroit picked up big gains quickly, however, getting a pair of first downs on the first two plays to reach the edge of field goal range before the two-minute warning. Although Frank Ragnow got flagged for holding, pushing them back to the 40-yard line, Goff found Amon-Ra St. Brown for a 16-yard gain on 2nd-and-17. The Packers got a stop on third and short, but instead of Jake Bates coming on for a game-winning field goal with 40 seconds left, Campbell kept his offense on the field yet again, this time for the most controversial attempt, and they converted on 4th down to effectively win the game. One kneel-down and a timeout set up Bates for a 35-yard attempt, which he drilled straight down the middle to send Detroit to 12-1 on the season.