The Detroit Lions are in sole possession of first place in the NFC North - and ready to take on the world, in the words of quarterback Jared Goff - after a statement win over the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night.

The Lions are 3-1 after going to Lambeau Field and beating the Packers 34-20, a scoreline which could have been more emphatic but for a second half rally by Green Bay.

Detroit is -190 to win what would be their first-ever NFC North title - their last division championship was the NFC Central in 1993 - as they bid to take the next step in the Dan Campbell-led revolution in Motor City.

The Packers are +240 for the division after a fourth straight loss to the Lions and it’s clear Green Bay is no longer the king in the north.

Primetime is Detroit's time

The Lions has now equalled a franchise record for successive divisional wins with a sixth straight victory over an NFC North opponent with its second big victory in primetime this season.

Detroit may have been a little fortunate to come away from Kansas City with the W on the opening night of the new NFL season, but this latest victory in front of a national TV audience was thoroughly deserved.

The Lions dominated the first half and led 27-3 going in at half-time with Amon-Ra St. Brown grabbing the first touchdown of the night before a fit-again David Montgomery ran for two more scores.

Detroit tied the largest lead for a road game in franchise history by taking a 24-point advantage into the locker room having been outgained Green Bay 284-21.

Green Bay did improve after the interval, scoring the next two touchdowns of the game to get within 10 of the Lions, only for Montgomery to make sure of the win with his third TD of the night in the third quarter.

Packers pushed around by Lions

Montgomery finished the night with 121 rushing yards on 32 carries, with rookie Jahmyr Gibbs gaining a further 40 yards as Detroit enjoyed its best rushing performance of the year so far.

It’s not news that Green Bay struggle to stop the run and its defensive line was largely dominated as the Lions picked up 13 first downs and gave quarterback Jared Goff a clean pocket to work from.

The reverse matchup didn’t go well for the Packers either, with Detroit’s Aidan Hutchinson posting a career-high eight quarterback pressures and 1.5 sacks as he ran wild.

The hosts' offensive line, which was missing both David Bakhtiari and Elgton Jenkins from the left-hand side, ended up allowing five sacks in total.

And there’s a fear Bakhtiari’s season could be over after he underwent knee surgery, spelling trouble for quarterback Jordan Love, who faced a difficult night at the office.

Goff getting all the love

Love opened the game going one-for-seven for nine yards on passing downs as he struggled to get into the flow and, while his eventual stat line of 23-for-36, 246 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs and a rushing TD, looks decent on paper, a lot of that came after the game was effectively over.

Love threw a killer interception in the fourth quarter that ended any hope of a Packers comeback and was guilty of holding on to the ball for too long.

It’s easy to forget this was just his fifth NFL start and he’s shown plenty to be positive about in the main, including a connection with his top receiver Christian Watson, who made his season debut on Thursday.

But right now, Love is no match for an experienced quarterback in a great system, like Goff.

Goff’s night got off to a rough start when he threw an interception but it was plain sailing from that point on and he would finish the night 19-of-28 for 210 yards, one touchdown and one interception, as he improved to 5-1 in his career against the Packers.

LaFleur facing some tough questions

Goff was helped out a lot by Detroit’s running game, with Love not getting the same assistance despite Green Bay’s top rusher, Aaron Jones, returning from a hamstring injury for this game. 

Jones had to wait until the second quarter to get his hands on the ball, while his stand-in AJ Dillion registered just five attempts for 11 yards.

For a team that usually has such a strong offensive line, it was a curious decision of head coach Matt LaFleur to be so one-dimensional.

Green Bay now sit at 2-2 after an emotional rollercoaster of a first month and have something of a mini-bye before heading to Las Vegas to face the Raiders on Monday Night Football in Week 5, in a game they are -115 to win.

The Lions head to Carolina next to face the Panthers and are 7.5-point road favourites to improve to 4-1.

There appear very few weaknesses in Detroit’s game right now and the sky’s the limit for a franchise that has for so long felt like the sky has been falling.