Green Bay (7-3-1) at Detroit (7-4)
Thursday, 1 p.m. EST, FOX
BetMGM line: Lions by 3.
Against the spread: Packers 4-6-1; Lions 6-5.
Series record: Packers lead 107-78-7.
Last meeting: Packers beat Lions 27-13 on Sept. 7 in Green Bay.
Last week: Packers beat Minnesota Vikings 23-6 at home; Lions beat Giants 34-27 in OT at home.
Packers offense: overall (13), overall (15), pass (14), scoring (13)
Packers defense: overall (4), rush (5), pass (6), scoring (5)
Lions offense: overall (4), overall (3), pass (8), scoring (2)
Lions defense: overall (10), rush (11), pass (15), scoring (12)
Turnover differential: Packers plus-4; Lions plus-5
Packers player to watch
QB Jordan Love. Although Love hasn’t thrown a TD pass in three of four games for the first time since 2022, this is the time of the season when he generally starts heating up. He also has a knack for feasting on defenses each Thanksgiving. Two years ago, Love threw for 268 yards and three TDs without an INT on the holiday in Detroit. Last season, Love passed for 274 yards and two TDs without getting picked off in a win over the Miami Dolphins on Thanksgiving.
Lions player to watch
DE Aidan Hutchinson. He didn’t have a tackle at Green Bay in Week 1, playing for the first time in nearly 11 months after breaking his leg. Hutchinson has been much more productive after his rough start. He sealed Sunday’s win over the Giants with a sack, giving him 8 1/2 sacks this season. He had a team record six QB hits against against New York. Hutchinson and Pittsburgh edge rusher T.J. Watt are the two players in NFL history with at least 37 sacks and four INTs through the first 50 games of a career.
Key matchup
Lions RBs Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery against Green Bay’s run defense: During the Packers’ season-opening win, the Packers limited the Lions to 46 yards rushing on 22 carries. Montgomery had 11 rushes for 25 yards and Gibbs had nine carries for 19 yards. Gibbs has been much more productive since and rushed for 219 yards and two TDs while catching 11 passes for 45 yards and another score against the Giants for a franchise-record 264 yards from scrimmage for a RB. Montgomery has a history of performing well against the Packers.
Key injuries
Packers: RB Josh Jacobs (knee), LB Quay Walker (neck) and WR Matthew Golden (shoulder) didn’t play last Sunday and CB Nate Hobbs (knee) has been out for a few weeks. CB Keisean Nixon (neck) left the last game in the first half and didn’t return. DL Lukas Van Ness was active Sunday after missing five games with a foot injury, but played just six defensive snaps.
Lions: S Kerby Joseph (knee) will miss a sixth straight game. … DE Marcus Davenport (chest) is nearing his return after being injured in Week 2. … WR/R Kalif Raymond (ankle) left last week’s game. … C Graham Glasgow (knee) and TE Brock Wright (neck) were held out of practice Monday and Tuesday. … CB Terrion Arnold (concussion) was cleared to practice on a limited basis after missing two games.
Series notes
This is the 23rd time the Packers and Lions are facing off on Thanksgiving, making this the most-played matchup on the holiday. The Lions are 12-9-1 against the Packers on Thanksgiving. The Lions have won six of the past eight meetings. The previous time these two teams faced off in Detroit, the Lions won 34-31 when Jake Bates made a 35-yard FG as time expired. In this year’s season opener, Love passed for 188 yards and two TDs while Green Bay’s defense kept Detroit out of the end zone until the final minute. The Packers sacked Jared Goff four times in the opener.
Stats and stuff
This is the first time the Packers have played on Thanksgiving for three straight seasons since 1951-63, when they matched up with the Lions every year on this holiday. … Green Bay is 3-0-1 in its past four road games. … The Packers have won two straight and five of seven. … The Packers gave up 4 yards and forced three turnovers in the second half against the Vikings. It was the first time a team had forced at least three turnovers while allowing fewer than 5 total yards in a half since Buffalo’s win over Cleveland in 2004. … The Packers have allowed just 202 points so far, the fewest they’ve given up through the first 11 games of a season since 2010. … Packers RB Josh Jacobs has 11 TD runs to rank second in the NFL, behind Indianapolis’ Jonathan Taylor has 15. … Packers RB Emanuel Wilson had team season highs in carries (28) and yards rushing (107) on Sunday while filling in for the injured Jacobs. … Packers DE Micah Parsons has 10 sacks this season. Parsons and Reggie White are the two NFL players since 1982 to have at least 10 sacks in each of their first five NFL seasons. … Packers S Evan Williams has an INT in each of his past two games. … Packers K Brandon McManus has made only 70% of his field-goal attempts this season, but went 3 of 3 in the Vikings game. … Detroit is the NFL’s first team with at least 24 passing TDs, at least 15 rushing TDs and eight or fewer turnovers through 11 games. … Gibbs is the NFL’s first player with at least 10 rushing TDs and at least one receiving TD in each of his first three seasons. … Gibbs and Jim Brown (1963) are the two players in league history to average 9.5 yards from scrimmage with the ball in their hands with at least 60 touches in a three-game span. Gibbs is the only NFL player since the 1970 merger to have at least 400 yards rushing, four rushing TDs, 18 yards receiving and two receiving TDs in a three-game span. … WR Amon-Ra. St. Brown had seven catches for 120 yards in the second half on Sunday. … LB Jack Campbell is the first Lion with at least 100 tackles, four sacks and two forced fumbles since at least 1994. … Bates made a career-high and franchise-record-tying 59-yard field goal with 28 seconds left in the fourth to force overtime against the Giants, improving to 5 of 5 on go-ahead and game-tying FGs in the last two minutes or overtime.
Fantasy tip
Goff has been really good on Thanksgiving, and against Green Bay at home. In his four starts on the holiday, he has thrown two TDs in each game and hasn’t been picked off once. In his past four games against the Packers at home, he has thrown at least two TD passes.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
The Associated Press
