Thanksgiving and football. They’ve gone together in Detroit, Michigan since 1934. The Green Bay Packers played twice on the holiday before even joining the National Football League in 1920. Five straight years in the 1930’s they traveled to Frankfort on turkey day for a game with the YellowJackets. They accepted the invitation from the Lions for the first time in 1951 and made it an annual affair through 1963. Frequent trips since, with a side trip to Dallas one year and hosting the Bears not long ago, but it’s another Thanksgiving in the Motor City for the Packers here in 2023.
For generations of Lion fans, outside of their championship hey day in the 1950’s, football in Detroit was the side dish to the main meal. Not anymore. The Lions are closing in on their first division title in 30 years. They enter this game 8-2, the second best record in football. They’ve already laid a whipping on the Packers this season, an ugly, 34-20 rout at Lambeau Field on another Thursday back in September. Even though they’ve lost 6 straight years hosting the Thanksgiving Day game, they have a chance to beat Green Bay for a fifth straight time and all but slay the the division’s standard bearer once and for all, stamping themselves as the new king of the North.
The Packers’ confidence is peaking after winning two of their last three games but it’s hard to know if they’ll be able to take 53 healthy players on the trip. Even with just walk through practices this week, the injuries just keep piling up with 17 players listed on the injury report.
Two of those players won’t be back for a while. Before leaving for Detroit, General Manager Brian Gutekunst today placed rookie tight end Luke Musgrave and free agent rookie running back Emmanuel Wilson on the injured reserve list. They are required to miss the next four games. Musgrave spent Monday night in a Green Bay possible after suffering a lacerated kidney against the L.A. Chargers last week. Wilson left the game with a shoulder injury. The team replaced those two with wide receiver Bo Melton and running back James Robinson who were elevated from the practice squad to the active roster. Safety Benny Sapp III and fullback Henry Pearson will be game day promotions from the practice squad to the roster.
A host of other key players got little or no real football work in this week. Kenny Clark, Jaire Alexander, Rudy Ford, De’Vondre Campbell, A.J. Dillon, Dontayvion Wicks, Josiah Deguara and as of Tuesday afternoon, Jayden Reed were all considered limited. If might be hard to field a full squad for the divisional showdown but play on they must.
When the Packers have the ball.
Just when Jordan Love and his collection of playmakers are showing signs of life, down goes Aaron Jones with an MCL sprain that will shelve him into December. The Packer offense looks so different without the running back. He didn’t play in the first meeting either and the offense barely could get out of it’s own way in a dreadful first half, one of several early in the season. The Lions brought a lot of pressure with Aidan Hutchinson and company in week four. Green Bay seems intent on rotating left tackles Rasheed Walker and Yosh Nijman until one clearly takes control of the position. Detroit’s aggression has gotten them into trouble too, the Chargers and Bears have hit big plays on them in each of the past two games. Dillon and plug-in backup Patrick Taylor will try and soften the middle and hopefully it will be effective enough to create space for receivers in the second and third level. Offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich feels the key will be staying on schedule, they can’t afford a replay of third and long play calls from the first meeting.
When the Lions have the ball.
Detroit likes to lean on defenses and then exploiting them downfield. They ripped the porous run defense to the tune of 211 yards in the first meeting. David Montgomery piled up 121 with three touchdowns by himself. The front seven knows what’s coming behind a physical, very good offensive line. Both Matt LaFleur and Joe Barry called Detroit’s front five the best in the league. The Packers know they need a big performance against the rush. Jared Goff has gotten a little loose with the ball in recent weeks, three picks last week against the Bears but he’s also fired 16 touchdown passes this season. The kids in the secondary have relished the challenges of Cooper Kupp and Keenan Allen in recent weeks and they won’t shy away from Amon-Ra St. Brown. Goff has two other very good targets in tight end Sam LaPorta and running back Jahmyr Gibbs who has been very good in the pass game out of the backfield. The powerful run game sets up Goff’s play action game and they will take deep shots.
The bottom line.
Unless Detroit self-destructs or the Packers play their game of the year, I’m afraid it’s pretty clear who has the best team in the NFC North this year. The Lions are getting closer to ending three decades of misery and they should make the holiday miserable for the visitors.
I like Detroit 27-17. Happy Thanksgiving!
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