It’s hard to categorize the Green Bay Packers as contenders or pretenders in the NFC. Coach Matt LaFleur’s team has won three in a row and seven of the last eight; it’s third in the NFC North with a 9-3 record and sixth in the Conference seeding.
The Packers have the third-best offense in the NFL, fifth on the ground, eighth through the air and rank eighth in the league with 26.5 points per game.
The biggest challenge so far
Green Bay visits the Detroit Lions (11-1) this Thursday, who in Week 9 defeated the Packers 24-14 at Lambeau Field.
In that game, Green Bay dominated Detroit in practically every statistic. For example, they had almost double the yards with 411 against the Lions’ 261, with a balance of 138-124 in rushing yards and 273-137 in passing yards.
The game-changing play was a Jordan Love’s interception that safety Kerby Joseph took 27 yards for a touchdown to make it 17-3 in favor of the visitors with 32 seconds left in the first half. The Packers’ only touchdown came with 3:49 left in the fourth quarter, when Emanuel Wilson scored on a 2-yard run.
That was the Lions’ fifth win in the last six games in this rivalry, but the Packers have won three of the last five visits to Detroit.
Jordan Love, the key
To beat the Lions at home, Love must maintain the pace he has shown since that Week 9 loss. Since that day, Love has thrown five touchdown passes and just one interception in the next three games, including four touchdown passes in wins over San Francisco and Miami. That’s three straight games in which the Packers quarterback has finished with a 100-plus rating, something he’s done in only one of his first seven games of the season.
While Love has started to play at his best, Green Bay’s ground attack needs to be more consistent, particularly Josh Jacobs, who has just one 100-yard game in the past four. Last week against Miami, he generated just 43 rushing yards on a season-low 2.3 per attempt.
If the Packers are going to be a factor in December and January, they need the best version of Jacobs, because Wilson is just a complement and has just one 50-plus rushing game this season.
The good news for Green Bay is that Jacobs has at least 100 combined yards and a rushing touchdown in each of his five Thursday games.
When the Lions have the ball, the Packers will have to deal with the league’s best offense, at 31.6 points per game.
Green Bay’s defense, meanwhile, hasn’t allowed more than 19 points during the three-game winning streak, the first time the Packers can do so in a three-week span since the 2020 season.
This is the game that will tell us if the Packers are contenders or pretenders. And a win in Detroit would make the NFC playoff race much more interesting.
Pick: Packers 27-24 Lions
Top picks for Week 14:
| Falcons @ Vikings | Atlanta +6 |
| Saints @ Giants | New Orleans -4.5 |
| Jaguars @ Titans | Over 39.5 |
| Raiders @ Buccaneers | Tampa Bay -6.5 |
| Browns @ Steelers | Over 44.5 |
| Panthers @ Eagles | Over 45.5 |
| Jets @ Dolphins | Miami -6 |
| Seahawks @ Cardinals | Over 44.5 |
| Bills @ Rams | Buffalo -4 |
| Bears @ 49ers | Under 43.5 |
| Chargers @ Chiefs | Los Angeles +3.5 |
| Bengals @ Cowboys | Over 49.5 |
EN 
ES 
PT 
PT_BR