Two of the hottest teams in the NFL will face off Thursday night in Detroit as the Lions take on NFC North rival Green Bay Packers at home. The Lions (11-1) are sitting pretty atop the division, but the Packers (9-3) are battling tough for a playoff spot.
Who will come out on top at Ford Field?
Stay with NBC News all night for live coverage from the pivotal matchup.
Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions
Date: Thursday, Dec. 5
Time: 5:15 p.m. ET
How to watch: Stream on Amazon Prime
Can Jordan Love play mistake-free?
Jordan Love is one of the most promising young quarterbacks in the NFL, but this season he has been plagued by interceptions, with as many through 10 games (11) as he threw all of last year in 17 games. And yet, in his last two games for Green Bay, Love has combined for four touchdowns and zero picks.
Love is coming off his best statistical game of the season, a Week 13 win against Miami in which he posted a season-high quarterback rating while being sacked zero times.
Injury report
Detroit starting offensive lineman Taylor Decker has officially been ruled out and will not play against Green Bay. It’s the second consecutive week Decker has missed with a knee injury.
Three other Lions who were hurt within the past week also won’t play tonight, according to the team: defensive linemen Levi Onwuzurike (hamstring) and D.J. Reader and defensive end Joshua Paschal (knee).
The silver lining for a banged-up Lions team is that cornerback Carlton Davis III, who had been dealing with knee and thumb injuries, will be available.
The Packers aren’t at full-strength, either. The team has ruled out cornerbacks Corey Ballentine and Jaire Alexander, receiver Romeo Doubs and linebacker Edgerrin Cooper.
Could injuries doom Lions?
At 10-2 and having outscored its opponents by a league-high 180 points, Detroit has been one of the NFL’s best teams. And also one of its most injured.
Every NFL team has appeared in a Super Bowl — except Detroit. Their injuries haven’t derailed the Super Bowl as a possibility, but have made it more challenging. This week began with one starter on the offensive line and three on the defensive line not taking part in practice Monday. They are just the latest names to be added to the team’s injury report, which includes one of the league’s top defensive ends, Aidan Hutchinson.
Their defense has been decimated:
Does Jared Goff have a shot at MVP?
The former No. 1 overall pick in 2016, Jared Goff had a charmed start to his career with the Rams, appearing in a Super Bowl within three seasons. But since the Rams lost confidence in Goff in 2021 and traded him to Detroit in exchange for Matthew Stafford, Goff has shown again why he entered the NFL as such a top prospect.
Oddsmakers at Covers have given Goff the fifth-best odds to win the NFL’s most valuable player award this season after he has posted a passer rating of 109.0, which is the highest of his career and well above his career average of 94.7.
Goff enters tonight with 22 touchdowns, 10 fewer than his career-high with five games to play, and 9 interceptions. Goff is also averaging what would be career-bests in average yards per attempt (8.8) and net yards per attempt (7.7), which factors in sacks.
Turnovers will be key
With 11 interceptions and 12 fumble recoveries, Green Bay’s defense has the fifth-most takeaways this season, two behind NFL-leading Pittsburgh.
Detroit’s 14 interceptions rank third-most, and they’ve added five fumble recoveries, for 19 total takeaways. It’s a reason why Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn is often referred to as one of the top head-coaching candidates. And yet both teams have a turnover margin in only the single digits because their offenses have been prone to turnovers themselves. Jared Goff and Jordan Love are two of the NFL’s most talented quarterbacks but will be tested tonight.
Lions can clinch playoff spot tonight
Only one division in the NFL standings boasts three teams with winning records this season: the NFC North. The division has been so strong that it has produced three of the seven teams with nine wins or more — Detroit, Minnesota and Green Bay.
Staying atop the conference is incredibly important, as the top team from both the AFC and NFC earn a bye in the playoffs’ first round. Tonight’s matchup between Detroit and Green Bay will help decide playoff seeding, and Detroit could clinch a playoff berth outright with a victory.
Detroit has already beaten Green Bay once this season. The Packers aren’t mathematically eliminated from earning a No. 1 seed in the NFC, but it’s a difficult path to turn into reality. One hurdle is that the Packers have already lost to Philadelphia, which itself is vying for the conference’s top seed.
How things stand in the NFC North entering Thursday’s matchup:
Detroit: 11-1
Minnesota: 10-2
Green Bay: 9-3
Chicago: 4-8