It’s another Thanksgiving Day game for the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions. The game begins at noon at Ford Field.
Packers’ offense vs. Lions’ defense
Green Bay’s offense has been a tale of two situations this year.
At times, they look unstoppable.
Other times, they cannot get out of their own way.
The first time the Packers played the Lions, they displayed both of those qualities.
Their first series of the game was a march right down the field that finished with a touchdown to Tucker Kraft.
They also had a touchdown drive that was two plays long aided by explosive pass plays to Romeo Doubs and Jayden Reed.
Other times, they could not find their way down the field. That day ended with 27 points on the scoreboard, which was more than enough as their defense dominated the day.
Jordan Love has been the constant in Green Bay’s offense, oftentimes being let down by those around him.
He is unlikely to find his way into the MVP conversation, but he’s been that caliber of player this year.
Christian Watson’s return has been a spark the offenses has needed, particularly in the passing game.
His two-touchdown game against the Giants equaled his scoring total from a season ago.
The receiver situation will be something to monitor as they start getting healthy.
The first time these two teams met, the Lions were missing a plethora of impact players, none greater than defensive end Aidan Hutchinson.
Hutchinson, the former second overall pick was ascending into stardom, with potential to be the defensive player of the year before breaking his leg in October, causing him to miss the rest of the season.
He played the last time these two teams met but clearly was not himself, and the Packers kept him quiet.
Hutchinson will be back, and unlike last time, he’ll be full-go when the two teams face off this time.
Their secondary has been hampered by injuries but still is anchored by their star safety tandem of Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch.
Branch had a big interception in the first matchup between these two teams that was nullified by a defensive holding penalty.
Joseph leads the team in interceptions with three. Branch does not have an interception on the year. Both players are hard hitting players that border on the line of tough as opposed to dirty.
The cornerback room for the Lions is in flux. It does not seem likely D.J. Reed, their big offseason acquisition is going to play. Terrion Arnold has been in and out of the lineup with injuries.
Packers’ defense vs. Lions’ offense
On Aug. 28, news broke that the Packers acquired Micah Parsons in exchange for two first round draft picks and Kenny Clark.
Parsons is a star and one of only two players to register 12 or more sacks in each of his first four seasons. The other of which would be former Packers’ great Reggie White.
He’s been a star for the Packers this season as well. It did not take him long to establish himself as one of the leaders of the team and the best player on the defense.
Parsons has needed to find more help recently as teams have tried to take him out of the game by getting rid of the ball quickly.
Rashan Gary, Kingsley Enagbare, Lukas Van Ness, and Devonte Wyatt need to step up as this season moves into the stretch run.
Parsons makes the whole defensive front better.
Quay Walker and Edgerrin Cooper were effective as blitzers a season ago, but Jeff Hafley has not deployed them as often as he did a season ago.
Cooper and Walker were some of the biggest stars of the game the last time these two teams met, keeping star running back Jahmyr Gibbs under wraps.
The biggest concern for this team is the lack of takeaways.
Coming into Week 12, the Packers had just four interceptions, and none of them from their cornerbacks.
Detroit’s offense, much like Green Bay’s, has gone through its ups and downs this season.
From a personnel standpoint, they also lost the heart and soul of their offensive line when Frank Ragnow decided to retire this offseason.
Their offense can still be dangerous at a moment’s notice.
Amon-Ra St. Brown was relatively quiet the first time these two teams met, and Jameson Williams did not make any impact plays, either.
In fact, the Lions’ most dangerous offensive player from opening day was tight end Sam Laporta.
Laporta will be sidelined for this game after being placed on injured reserve with a back injury.
The Lions will likely want to get their run game going to set up their play action game with Jared Goff.
The key for the Packers is going to be to get pressure on Goff. He’s a different quarterback when he has to move off of his spot.
The Packers did a good job of that the first time these two teams played and will need a repeat performance.
Special Teams
The special teams unit has been up and down for most of Rich Bisaccia’s tenure as the special teams coordinator. Despite that, the Packers have shown an unwavering faith in Bisaccia’s acumen as a coordinator, even making him the assistant head coach.
The up-and-down nature of this unit has been the case for most of the year.
Their punting situation is good. Daniel Whelan has been one of the top punters in the NFL.
Savion Williams has started to acclimate nicely to being the team’s primary kickoff returner.
The punt return game has been in flux all year with Romeo Doubs taking the reins only after it became obvious Matthew Golden was not ready to do so.
The situation at kicker has been equally tenuous. After being mostly automatic a season ago, Brandon McManus really struggled and has battled through injuries.
Lucas Havrisik had done well in his absence in October but missed two extra points in a 27-20 win against the New York Giants.
The Lions’ special teams hurt the Packers a season ago, notably with their kicker Jake Bates nailing a game-winning field goal at Ford Field last December.
Bates has not been as good this year as he was last year, coming into Week 12 with four missed field goals and two missed PAT’s.
Kalif Raymond is the Lions’ primary return man. He’s been good in the past and returned a punt for a touchdown earlier this season.
Green Bay’s special teams was not a problem the first time these two teams met, and they always need to be wary of potential fakes with Dan Campbell at the controls.
