Perhaps we were a bit hasty on that earlier headline.
But given where the NFL’s Detroit franchise has been for the last 40 years or so, they have come leaps and bounds.
Green Bay just won the day.
The Packers were the better team this Thanksgiving Day, dealing the Lions a 29-22 loss (Love ties career high with 3 TD passes, leads Packers to 29-22 win over NFC North-leading Lions) at Ford Field that will hurt them in the NFC home field race, for sure – they could have had second place all by their lonesome, and now at best, they’ll be tied with San Francisco and Dallas for second place in the NFC, all behind the Philadelphia Eagles.
That old saying about the Lions always winning on Thanksgiving isn’t true anymore: in fact, the Lions have now lost their last seven on Thanksgiving.
On the flip side, the Packers kept their playoff hopes alive, getting their fifth win of the season. They’re 5-6, and with six games left, now, anything can happen, at least that’s how the Packers have to look at it.
Given the identity of their next opponent, Green Bay pretty much had to have this one. The Packers host Kansas City next Sunday night, Dec. 3, on “NBC’s Sunday Night Football.”
Detroit still had a chance to win it, in spite of some pretty horrible turnovers today. The Lions scored to get within a touchdown, but not until there was 41 seconds left, and the odds of getting an onside kick in the NFL are about nine percent.
The Lions are 8-3, a VERY respectable record, and still lead the NFC North by two games in front of the Minnesota Vikings (6-5), but the Vikings play host to the Chicago Bears on Monday night.
Up next for the Lions, a trip to New Orleans next Sunday.
