The annual Thanksgiving Day game is always a big deal for the Detroit Lions and their city as a whole, but this year’s matchup with the Green Bay Packers is one of the most important we’ve ever seen.
That’s because, with the Packers at 7-3-1 and the Lions at 7-4, it has massive implications for the NFC North.
According to The Athletic’s NFL Playoff Simulator, the Lions have a 52% chance to win the NFC North if they beat Green Bay Thursday. A loss would drop those odds all the way down to 12%.
And for Green Bay, a win would give them a 73% chance at taking the division, while a loss would put them at a 32% chance.
Now of course, whoever wins this one will still be behind the 8-3 Chicago Bears. But if the Bears lose on the road to the Philadelphia Eagles on Friday, the Lions or Packers could leapfrog them in the standings.
So that makes this as important of a divisional matchup as you can get before Week 18.
Lions-Packers is beyond a must-win for Detroit
“Right now, we are just head down, grinding these wins out and really just focused on the next game, and that's the Packers,” edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson said. “Focused on being 1-0 this week, and I think if we adopt that mentality it will serve us in the end. When we are hitting our stride going into the playoffs, that's the most ideal time to do that.”
The NFC North crown is poised, once again, to be a battle to the bitter end after it took Detroit until Week 18 last year to clinch the division even after a franchise record 15-2 season.
That’s how these Lions like it.
“It's an opportunity,” head coach Dan Campbell said. “This one's about to be on us again, which that's exciting. You ramp it back up. You only got a few days. You're trying to get everything in that you can to help your guys get ready to go. They're in the right mindset and then you just cut them loose, man.”
Green Bay and Detroit last met in Week 1, where the Packers put on a 27-13 shellacking where the Lions’ only touchdown came in garbage time with the game well out of reach. The Packers looked like the cream of the NFL crop after that one, while the Lions received all kinds of talk about how their offense had fallen off and things of that sort.
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Since then, both teams have had their ups and downs.
Detroit went on a four-game winning streak that included a 52-point outburst against Chicago and a primetime win over the Baltimore Ravens, but have gone just 3-3 since then amid a flurry of inconsistency on both sides of the ball (but especially offense).
Green Bay had another big win over Washington in Week 2, but also dropped games against the Carolina Panthers and Cleveland Browns. Both teams are guilty of putrid offensive showings in primetime losses to the Philadelphia Eagles.
So, since their Week 1 contest, it’s been difficult at times to judge how good either of these teams really are. Perhaps the best barometer is to see them square off yet again, this time with major divisional stakes on the line and no “lot of football left to play” excuse to fall back on in the event of a loss.
This Thanksgiving in Detroit will have major implications for the NFC Playoff Picture. The Lions snapped an eight-year Thanksgiving losing streak last year with a win over Chicago, and could really use their second straight.
“Big-time opponent, really good team, division game, Thanksgiving, first game on,” Campbell said. You couldn't ask for anything better.”