The NFL’s late-afternoon window on Sundays continues to rack up big audiences.
For Week 7, Packers-Lions on Fox averaged 24.67 million viewers.
While not as big as the Sunday night audience for Chiefs-Seahawks (26.3 million), it’s a big number.
The bi-weekly Fox slot at 4:25 p.m. ET is averaging 24.749 million viewers through the first seven weeks of the 2026 NFL season.
This week, CBS has the late-afternoon broadcast, featuring a Denver rematch of the Week 1 game between the Chiefs and Broncos. Given that the Chiefs are 5-1 and the Broncos are 5-2, it should do very well.
The early window should do well, too. It features the 5-2 Browns at the 5-2 Steelers, the 4-3 Ravens at the 5-1 Bills, and the 6-0 Vikings at the 4-2 Lions.
The Lions went for it on fourth-and-1 in a tie game with 4:53 left, and Jahmyr Gibbs was stopped for a 2-yard loss. Lions coach Dan Campbell has faced questions about his unconventional decision.
Campbell explained that the Lions had more confidence in their ability to gain 1 yard than risk Jordan Love executing a 4-minute, game-winning touchdown drive. Campbell added that, even if Detroit’s fourth-down gamble failed, the Packers would not be able to run the clock out, leaving the Lions time to respond.
It worked out as D.J. Wonnum blocked the chip-shot field goal of Packers rookie kicker Trey Smack, and the Lions won on a last-play field goal.
Quarterback Jared Goff said he didn’t “even think twice” when he heard the Lions were going for it deep in their own end.
“I think it’s so -- I don’t know the right word — exposing of people who think it’s not the right decision just because it’s in our territory,” Goff said Tuesday on 97.1 The Ticket. “It’s guaranteeing us a chance to win the game no matter what. Whereas, if we punt it, they can do exactly what we did to them on the final drive, and I’m sure they wish they had another chance to touch the ball.
“So it’s funny. I think back to a few years ago where we went for that fourth down against Green Bay in a similar situation, fourth-and-1, and we got it with David Montgomery. There was backlash on that, and we converted. I guess no matter what, there will be backlash, so who really cares at this point, right?”
In 2024, the Lions went for it on fourth-and-1 at the Green Bay 21 with 43 seconds left. David Montgomery ran for 7 yards, and Jake Bates kicked a 35-yard field goal on the final play for a 34-31 win.
“I think when we’re in those situations, we’re so much more comfortable in them than the other teams because we do them more often,” Goff said, “and it is an advantage for us. It’s something that we practice and something that we spend a lot of time on, and we feel very comfortable in those situations.”
The Lions lead the NFL in fourth-down conversions (89) over the past five seasons and rank second in attempts (154), according to 97.1 The Ticket. Their conversion rate of 57.8 percent over that stretch ranks seventh.
The Lions have converted 61.5 percent of their 13 fourth-down attempts this season.
“Again, unfortunately we didn’t convert this one,” said Goff. “We want to get the first down and keep the game moving and finish the game on that drive, but Dan knew that if we were not to get it, OK, they’ll either kick a field goal or they’ll score a touchdown, and then we’ll get the ball back. Now, thankfully, they missed the field goal, and everything was great, but by every measure of everything, it’s the right decision.”
Lions head coach Dan Campbell offered updates on Monday about a couple of players who emerged from Sunday’s win over the Packers with ankle injuries.
Campbell said there was optimism that wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and cornerback Ennis Rakestraw will both be able to play in next Sunday’s home game against the Vikings, but that their practice work will be managed to keep them on track.
“I think those guys will probably sit Wednesday,” Campbell said. “The plan is to get them going Thursday and I think they’ll be fine. They should be good, we’ll see when we get there.”
St. Brown had nine catches for 153 yards while playing 78 percent of the offensive snaps. Rakestraw was limited to 21 snaps and recorded two tackles.
Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs had 29 carries for 116 yards on Sunday against the Packers, and added five catches for 27 yards. For most running backs, that’s a huge workload. For Gibbs, it was nothing out of the ordinary.
After trading David Montgomery this offseason and then making Gibbs the highest-paid running back in the NFL, the Lions have been trying to get their money’s worth by giving Gibbs the ball more than any player in the league. By a lot.
Gibbs has 134 carries and 32 catches this season, for a total of 166 touches. He leads the league in that category, even though the Lions have already had their bye and have only played six games this season, while most teams have played seven.
If Gibbs keeps to his current pace of 27.7 touches per game for the entire 17-game season, he’ll finish this season with a whopping 470 touches. That would be the second-most in a season in NFL history, second only to former James Wilder, who had 492 touches with the 1984 Buccaneers.
Wilder played in a different era of the NFL, when teams loved feeding the ball to their workhorse backs. More recently, teams have become more cautious about not wanting to give their starting running back such a big workload that he breaks down. That has to be a concern in Detroit, but through six games, it’s not a concern great enough to keep the Lions from doing what they’ve been doing, and making Gibbs the focal point of their offense.
Whenever Matthew Stafford decides to retire, he’ll go down as arguably the best quarterback in franchise history for two teams.
That was true before his performance on Sunday, as the Rams beat the Raiders. But Stafford helped solidify that status by passing Roman Gabriel as the team’s all-time leader in passing touchdowns.
He’s now the first player in the modern history of the league to hold a franchise record in passing TDs for two separate franchises, as he left Detroit as that team’s all-time leader in the category.
“Just super appreciative of all the guys that have helped me do that,” Stafford said in his postgame press conference on Sunday. “Catching touchdowns and throwing touchdowns isn’t a one-man job, it takes a lot of people to block and get open, and coaches to draw plays. A cool thing, didn’t really know that was going to happen today, but fired up.
“It just means you’re old and you’ve played a lot of ball,” Stafford later added. “You wore yourself thin enough at a certain place where they moved on. No, but it’s a cool thing, and I touched on it a bit earlier. My name’s in there, but so many coaches, players, teammates just had so much to do with that, and so I appreciate all those guys. It’s been a heck of a ride, enjoy doing what I do, still love it, and look forward to doing some more.”
When Stafford departed the Lions in early 2021, he had 282 touchdown passes, well ahead of Bobby Layne, who was No. 2 at that time with 118. But since then, Jared Goff has advanced to No. 2 in Lions franchise history with 163. It stands to reason that Goff could surpass Stafford eventually if the quarterback’s career continues on its current path.
Goff is No. 6 in Rams passing touchdowns at 107. Roman Gabriel (154), Jim Everett (142), Marc Bulger (122), and Norm Van Brocklin (118) are between Stafford and Goff on the franchise list.
