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Detroit Lions fall to Green Bay Packers, 35-17: 'I put this on our offense'

GREEN BAY, Wis. — He’s the reigning MVP for a reason, and when his team needed him Monday, Aaron Rodgers put on a show.

Rodgers repeatedly dug the Green Bay Packers out of long down-and-distance situations, leading three second-half touchdown drives as the Packers handed the Detroit Lions their second straight loss of the Dan Campbell era, 35-17, at Lambeau Field.

Rodgers, coming off the most lopsided loss of his career, completed 22 of 27 passes Monday for 255 yards and four touchdowns. He finished with a near-perfect passer rating of 145.6.

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As good as Rodgers was, Campbell said after the game his offense needs to be better. The Lions (0-2) turned the ball over twice and did not score in the second half after scoring on three of their first four possessions to start the game.

"Look, he made some plays. He’s going to make some plays," Campbell said. "And for me, I put this - there again, defensively we’re going to improve and we did improve in small areas, but I put this on our offense. Offensively we have to be able to outscore a team like this. That’s just how I see it, because why? Because it turned into that type of game again, that’s why. And so to me, the onus is on your offense."

The Packers broke open a close game in the third quarter when Rodgers completed a 50-yard pass to Davante Adams on third-and-12. He followed with a laser of a 22-yard touchdown pass to Robert Tonyan on third-and-6 three plays later to give the Packers their first lead of the game, 21-17.

The Lions failed to make a fourth-and-1 on their next possession, and Rodgers converted two more third downs while leading the Packers to another touchdown on the ensuing drive.

Jared Goff fumbled the opening snap on the next series, and the Packers scored six plays later, on a 1-yard Aaron Jones touchdown run, ending any hopes of a Lions upset.

Goff got off to a brilliant start, completing 13 of his first 14 passes for 137 yards and two touchdowns in a well-played first half.

But he and the Lions fell apart in the third quarter.

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Along with his fumble, in a pouring rain, Goff threw just wide of Quintez Cephus on the Lions’ failed fourth-and-1 play, had the ball slip out of his hand as he cocked to throw on a third-and-3 play that went for a 10-yard loss early in the fourth quarter, and threw an interception in the waning minutes, his second in as many weeks, as he tried desperately to lead a Lions comeback.

Goff finished 26 of 36 passing for 246 yards and two touchdowns.

The Lions, who started slow but nearly mounted an amazing comeback in their season-opening loss to the San Francisco 49ers, scored on the game’s opening drive Sunday, a seven-play, 75-yard match highlighted by a 46-yard Goff pass to Quintez Cephus on third-and-1. Cephus capped the drive with a 5-yard touchdown catch.

Green Bay answered with an 11-play, 75-yard drive in which it did most of its damage on the ground. The Packers ran the ball eight times on the drive, and scored on a 4-yard shovel pass from Rodgers to Jones.

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The Lions committed four penalties on their next possession, but scored the final two times they touched the ball in the half. Goff made a perfect throw to T.J. Hockenson for an 8-yard touchdown midway through the second quarter, and Austin Seibert made a 43-yard field goal with 7 seconds left in the half after Goff narrowly missed touchdown throws to Cephus and Amon-Ra St. Brown.

Jones caught a 1-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter for the Packers and matched his career-high with four touchdowns

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions lose to Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers, 35-17