Game: Detroit Lions (8-2) vs Green Bay Packers (4-6)
When: Thursday November 23rd, 2023 at 12:30 PM EST
Where: Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan
TV: Fox
Radio: 97.1 the Ticket (Lions Radio Station)
Spread: Detroit -7.5
Over/Under: 46.5
Game Preview: Thursday afternoon will feature an important NFC North clash between the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers on Thanksgiving Day. The Lions have been playing great football and are looking to increase their lead in the division while the Green Bay Packers are looking to halt Detroit’s momentum.
Health Status
Both teams have dealt with injuries along the way and have lost key contributors, for the Lions they have lost OL Halapoulivaati Vaitai to a back injury, defensive back CJ Gardner Johnson to a pec injury, defensive back Emmanuel Mosley to an ACL injury and defensive linemen/linebacker James Houston to an ankle injury. For the Packers, they have lost a key OL in David Bakhtiari as he deals with a knee injury and is not expected to play for the rest of this season
For the Lions, per their beat writer Tim Twentymen, their practice report is very light with Jonah Jackson not practicing and is trending to not playing due to a wrist injury.
https://x.com/ttwentyman/status/1727069255458586647?s=20
The Lions are expected to get defensive tackle Isaiah Buggs back for Thursday game as he sat out against the Bears this past Sunday with an illness.
As for the Packers, their practice report was a very different story with a lot of players hurt including starting running back Aaron Jones who was ruled out by the Packers due to an MCL injury
https://x.com/AaronNagler/status/1727071861983654123?s=20
A key contributor for the Packers on their offensive line in Elgton Jenkins will be playing Thursday, he did not play against the Lions in the first matchup back on September 28th.
Battle in the Trenches
Both the Packers and the Lions are build up front especially both the defensive and offensive line. The Packers depend on Kenny Clark, Preston Smith and Rashan Gary to help get pressure on the QB while the Lions have relied on Aidan Hutchinson from the edge and Alim McNeil from inside. Both McNeil and Hutchinson come into the game with five total sacks.
Offensively, despite having multiple starters on the offensive line out each week, they Lions have been humming along and are near the top when it comes to scoring compared to the Packers who have really struggled to get the ground game going with a combination of injuries and a lack of contributing players stepping up for Green Bay. Whoever wins the trenches on Thursday should win this game.
Thanksgiving Streak
For the Lions, they have traditionally played on Thanksgiving since 1934, but their record is 37-44-2 and the last Thanksgiving game that the Lions won was back in 2016 against the Minnesota Vikings 16-13.
Here’s the Detroit Lions all-time record on Thanksgiving (wxyz.com)
As for the Packers, their Thanksgiving overall record is 14-20-2 and have not played the Lions since 2013 during the holidays but have not won a Thanksgiving game since 2011.
Green Bay Packers have had these memorable Thanksgiving games (jsonline.com)
Prediction: The Lions are much healthier and playing better football than the Packers, expect a 38-10 win for the Lions and Detroit will improve to 9-2 on the year.
