Packers Upset Lions on Thanksgiving
The Green Bay Packers have recently been moving forward, hoping to enter the playoff picture to have a chance at a wild card spot come postseason time this year. They indeed proved they are deserving of this spot as they upset the Detroit Lions 29-22 on Thanksgiving. If you know anything about football you know that the Detroit Lions always play on Thanksgiving, every year since 1934 and this year, unfortunately for Lions fans, was an unsuccessful game full of mistakes and plays that they wish they had a second chance at as Green Bay gave Detroit it’s seventh straight loss on Thanksgiving. With this loss, Detroit falls to 8-3 on the season but still remains comfortable at the top of their NFC North division. This win brings Green Bay to 5-6 on the season and while they remain third in the NFC North, they are getting ever closer to being in the playoff picture as they currently have the eighth-best record in the NFC. Next week during week thirteen, Green Bay will take on Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in Green Bay on Sunday night football, while the Lions will head to New Orleans to take on the Saints. Let’s take a look at how Green Bay got this win.
The Packers scored a touchdown on the opening drive of this game as quarterback Jordan Love connected with wide receiver Jayden Reed for a 10-yard touchdown to make the score of the game 7-0 early after kicker Anders Carlson made the extra point. The Lions would also score on their first drive as quarterback Jared Goff found tight end Sam LaPorta open in the endzone for a seven-yard touchdown. However, kicker Riley Patterson would miss the extra point and this would only begin the Lions' offensive troubles in the first quarter.
Once the Packers got the ball back they would score once again as Love found tight end Tucker Kraft open for a 9-yard touchdown to make the score of the game 14-6. The Packers would score quickly again after this as their defense was able to force the Lions to fumble and Green Bay’s safety Jonathan Owens would return the ball for a 27-yard touchdown. While Carlson would miss the extra point, it wouldn’t be a huge deal as the Packers would get the ball back once again as their defense forced another fumble by sacking Goff and taking the ball with no problem. Through all of these incredible defensive plays, the Lions would find themselves with a commanding lead of 20-6 at the end of the first quarter. The only points scored in the second quarter were by Carlson as he made a 43-yard field goal for the Packers, so Green Bay would only add to their lead to stay up 23-6 at the half.
The Lions would come out of the locker room strong as running back David Montgomery ran into the endzone for a 6-yard touchdown. Detroit decided to go for a two-point conversion attempt here and they would get it as Montgomery ran down the middle into the endzone to make the score of the game 23-14. The Packers however were destined to not let Detroit come back as Love connected with wide receiver Christian Watson a few drives later to score the Packers first six points of the half. After their two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful, the score of the game was 29-14. The Lions' offense would spend the majority of the second half trying to get something going and were not successful until their last drive of the game when Goff was able to find wide receiver Josh Reynolds for a touchdown and LaPorta for a successful two-point conversion attempt to make the score of the game 29-22. Unfortunately for them, this was too late and while the Lions would attempt an onside kick, the ball was caught safely and maintained by Jayden Reed for the Packers.
Packers quarterback Jordan Love missed ten of his pass attempts going twenty-two for thirty-two, launching 268 passing yards and three touchdowns. AJ Dillon had fourteen carries for 43 yards and Love also added 39 rushing yards off of three carries. Wide receiver Christian Watson reeled in five catches for 94 yards and one touchdown. Wide receiver Jayden Reed and tight end Tucker Kraft also both had receiving touchdowns for Green Bay in the game. Lions quarterback Jared Goff completed twenty-nine of the forty-four pass attempts that left his arm in the game, throwing for 332 passing yards and two touchdowns. David Montgomery had fifteen carries for 71 rushing yards and a touchdown. Jahmyr Gibbs added eleven carries for 54 yards. Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown had nine receptions for 95 yards and wide receiver Kalif Raymond had five catches for 90 yards. Tight end Sam LaPorta and wide receiver Josh Reynolds both had receiving touchdowns in the game.
Rapper Jack Harlow took the stage to perform the halftime show for this game and said, “This game is not over!” two times in the microphone at the end of his performance. While that statement may have been true at the time, Reed catching Detroit’s onside kick at the end of the game confirmed Jack’s and many other Detroit fans' sad truth today: The Lions got upset by their rival Packers on Turkey Day.
