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DETROIT – When the NFL regular season ends in early January, the outcome of the Green Bay-Detroit game could be proven on Thanksgiving.
According to BetMGM Sportsbook, the Packers (7-3-1) are the favorites to win the NFC North and the Lions (7-4) are just behind them, although both teams trail Chicago (8-3) in the division.
That seems to raise the stakes at Ford Field, where the league concludes its holiday tripleheader.
Green Bay can increase its chances of winning the NFC North for the first time since 2021 by defeating the two-time defending division champion Lions and sweeping the season series to win a potential tiebreaker.
“We’re going to the end here, so to speak, and I think every game is a little bit more intense,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said.
Detroit has a chance to improve its chances of winning three straight division titles for the first time since 1952-54, when the franchise won two NFL titles and lost in the championship game.
“You can’t ask for anything better,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said.
The loser could end up eliminating the NFC’s seven-team playoff in a conference race that currently has eight teams with a winning record with a little more than a month left in the season.
Green Bay’s Micah Parsons had his 10th sack of the season in Sunday’s win over Minnesota, joining Hall of Famer Reggie White as the only players since 1982 to have at least 10 sacks in each of their first five seasons.
Parsons had a sack in his Packers debut in a 27-13 Week 1 win against Detroit.
“He’s a great player,” Campbell said. “I like our group.”
Detroit will try to keep Parsons away from Jared Goff with offensive tackles Penny Sewell and Taylor Decker.
The Packers held Jahmer Gibbs to a career-low 2.1 yards per rushing attempt in the first matchup, the first of four losses to Detroit when the dynamic running back was held to less than four yards per carry.
Gibbs is in a group recently.
He had 264 yards from scrimmage, the most by a Detroit running back, and a game-winning, 69-yard touchdown in overtime against the New York Giants on Sunday.
“Home run hitter in the truest sense,” Packers safety Evan Williams said. “Just a guy who’s really explosive when he gets the ball.”
“He makes some guys miss and he’s got game-breaking speed to get it out of the gate.”
Anthony Belton, a second-round pick out of NC State, played the majority of the snap at right guard against the Vikings ahead of 2024 first-round draft pick Jordan Morgan.
LaFleur would not say which of them would start Thursday but praised Belton’s performance.
Detroit edge rusher Eden Hutchinson was rusty at Lambeau Field, failing to make his first game in nearly 11 months after breaking his leg in two places.
Hutchinson has regained his form. He had the game-ending sack against the Giants, giving him eight and a half sacks this season, and finished with a team-record six quarterback hits.
“This road trip this year for recovery, my comeback season, it’s just a blessing,” he said.
Packers cornerback Keisean Nixon left the Vikings game with a stinger, putting his status in question for Thursday with a secondary already missing cornerback Nate Hobbs due to a knee injury.
If Nixon is unavailable, the Packers are likely to turn to Kamal Haden, who grew up in the Detroit area and played his first 31 defensive snaps of the season on Sunday.
“As a young kid, we played at Ford Field, drank and things like that,” Hayden said. “It was always a dream. I haven’t played there in a long time.”
Detroit All-Pro safety Kirby Joseph will miss a sixth straight game with a knee injury and cornerback Terrence Arnold has missed two straight games with a concussion.
Both teams are unsure about the status of several players in the short week, particularly Packers running back Josh Jacobs, who missed the Vikings game with an injured knee, and Detroit receiver and punter Cliff Raymond, who left the Giants game with an ankle injury.
