According to stats (from 2015, I could not find newer ones) then on average an NFL team gets 12 offensive possessions PER GAME. Lets assume that is really a little higher - so lets go with 16. That equals 4 per quarter.
Detroit outscored GB 6 - 3 in the third quarter. In the 4th quarter Green Bay was gifted two extra possessions (taking them away from Detroit) and had a 3rd possession stopped by a non-call DPI.
So Green Bay got a 75% increase in scoring opportunities in the 4th quarter. Meanwhile Detroit saw a 75% drop in scoring opportunities (one that was actually in scoring position) in the 4th quarter.
Spread across an entire game this would be difficult to overcome but all in the final quarter of the game and it is actually pretty amazing that the final score was determined by 1 point as the clock expired. And in reality this is even more skewed because these calls were all actually within the last 10 minutes.
I get that good teams overcome bad calls all the time. I get that not taking advantage of your opportunities can bite you late in games. But I don’t think any team in the NFL could overcome this type of advantage. At some point it is just too much to overcome even by the best teams.
So I choose to applaud the Detroit Lions players for almost overcoming a near impossible situation created by the referees rather than bash them for not making enough plays. This team showed toughness and character and had the game they were winning decided by poor officiating. That is not always the case but anyone that cannot see the significance of shifting 3 possessions in the last 10 minutes of a game from one team to the other and think that it does not impact the final score either just does not want to see it or wants to argue for arguments sake.
Detroit outscored GB 6 - 3 in the third and Green Bay was given possession of the ball for almost the entire 4th quarter because of officiating. Yet somehow Detroit failed to play well enough in the second half. Not a bucket big enough to carry that much BS.