The annual feast of Thanksgiving Day football kicks off, as usual, in Detroit when the 6-4 Lions host the 9-1 Packers, with Green Bay -3 at WagerWeb.com.
Despite it being Week 12, this will be the first meeting of the season between the two top teams in the NFC North. Green Bay is on a five-game winning streak and is 4-0 on the road, while Detroit lost its first home game of the season last week and has dropped two games in a row.
So, if the Lions have any shot at winning the division, it has to start Thursday against the Packers.
"This will be a big challenge for us,"Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy said. "Our guys will be ready to play.
But we've got a chance to take total command of our division with this win."
Both quarterbacks in this game can wing it, with Green Bay's Brett Favre playing like an MVP (if it weren't for Tom Brady). Favre, at 38, has 19 TDs to just eight picks this year and six 300-yard games. He has thrown 3 TDs passes in the past two games and in his past four, is 100 of 137 for 1,260 yards, 10 touchdowns and two interceptions.
Favre is playing so well, he says he probably will return in 2008.
"If the season was over today, I could look in the mirror and say, 'You know what? You can play,'"Favre said. "You don't have to say, 'I think I can' you know you can."
Lions QB Jon Kitna, who before the season predicted 10 wins for his club, has completed 67.4 percent of his passes for 2,673 yards, 13 touchdowns, 11 interceptions and a 90.2 quarterback rating, despite absorbing a league-high 40 sacks.
"I think guys have really responded well to it and been accepting of the challenge of trying to get to the playoffs and doing everything our coaches have asked us to do. We just need to do a little better now,"Kitna said.
So while the statistics of both quarterbacks are impressive, this game likely will come down to the running attacks.Green Bay was last in the NFL in rushing for most of the season, but Ryan Grant has moved the Packers out of that spot. Grant is averaging 91.5 yards on the ground in his last four games and has reached 100 yards twice.
Grant suffered a mild sprained ankle Sunday, but is expected to play Thursday.
On the other hand, Detroit's running game has hit a wall, gaining a TOTAL of seven yards on 19 carries in the last two games. Kevin Jones was supposed to re-energize the ground game for Detroit, but he had only 25 yards rushing last week in a loss to the Giants. Now Detroit resides in last in the league in rushing, averaging 76.9 yards per game. Green Bay, meanwhile, has only allowed two teams to rush for more than 100 yards this season.
The lowdown: The Packers are off to their best start since 1962. ... Green Bay's offense has scored 30 points in each of the past three games. ... The Lions are 11-5-1 all-time against Green Bay on Thanksgiving Day, including a 22-14 victory in 2003. ... ...
Detroit leads the lead in takeaways with 30 but is also tied for third in the league in giveaways with 25. ...
Green Bay has won five of the last six meetings in this series, and 11 of the last 13. ...
The Lions have lost three straight games on Turkey Day and have been outscored in those contests by a composite of 95-26. However, this game is probably more vital to Detroit than Green Bay. And it's hard to see the Lions playing as badly at home as they did last week. So I look for Detroit to win this game outright.
Betting trends
The Packers are 8-1 ATS.
The Packers are 4-0 ATS away.
The Packers are 4-1 ATS as the favorite.
The Packers are 2-0 ATS as an away favorite.
The Lions are 5-4 ATS.
The Lions are 3-1 ATS at home.
The Lions are 3-2 ATS as the underdog.
The Lions are 1-0 ATS as a home underdog.
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