Packers vs. Lions Point Spread: NFL Week 12 Odds, Prediction
The Detroit Lions always host the first game on that day and this year welcome their NFC North rival Green Bay Packers. The Lions opened as 7.5-point favourites on the NFL odds.
NFL Point Spread and Betting Analysis
Other NFL owners for years had cried foul that the Lions got to host a marquee Thanksgiving game annually with their main complaint being that Detroit usually was terrible. That’s definitely not the case this year and this might be the toughest Thanksgiving ticket for the team in many, many seasons. It’s Detroit’s 84th annual Thanksgiving Day Classic.
Green Bay has been in this game quite a bit over the years as well – usually against the Lions but not always. However, it’s the first time on the holiday for the Packers since facing Chicago in the 2015 night game. The last Green Bay-Detroit game on Thanksgiving was in 2013. If you care about such things, six-time Grammy nominated rapper Jack Harlow will perform at halftime.
Detroit goes for the season sweep as on Thursday night in Week 4, it dominated in a 34-20 win in Green Bay. That’s when we somewhat knew the Packers were not up to usual standards this year. Lions running back David Montgomery carried 32 times for 121 yards and three touchdowns. He became the first Lion to rush for three touchdowns at Green Bay and the first Detroit player to top 100 yards rushing with three TDs since James Stewart in 2000. It was the Lions’ fourth straight win in the series.
The Packers have won two of the last four contests at Detroit. This will mark only the second time in NFL history that two teams have face off multiple times on Thursday in the same season. In 1926, the Chicago Bears and Cardinals did it.
Green Bay Packers
Green Bay kept its very slim playoff hopes alive on Sunday with a minor 23-20 home upset of the wildly inconsistent Los Angeles Chargers. Packers quarterback Jordan Love had his best game of the season against a terrible pass defence, throwing for 322 yards and two scores. The last TD pass was the winner to Romeo Doubs with 2:33 remaining. It was Love’s first career 300-yard passing game and Green Bay’s first since Aaron Rodgers vs. the Bears in December 2021. Green Bay was down to one running back for much of the game after both starter Aaron Jones and third-string Emanuel Wilson left injured in the second quarter. Sounds like Jones at a minimum will miss time, making AJ Dillon the team’s primary back. Receiver Jayden Reed may need to get more involved in the running game as he was the team’s leading rusher on Sunday with 46 yards, including a 32-yard TD on an end-around. Sunday snapped Green Bay’s streak of seven straight games scoring 20 points or fewer.
Detroit Lions
The Lions have the longest division title drought in the NFC but took another massive step toward ending that Sunday with a 31-26 home victory over Chicago — and then second-place Minnesota later Sunday losing in the final seconds in Denver. Detroit (8-2) now leads the Vikings (6-5) by three in the loss column and has its best through 10 games since 1962. Coach Dan Campbell will not be happy about the team’s play Sunday, though, as the two-win Bears were the better team for most of the game and led 26-14 late, but Detroit scored two TDs in the final three minutes. It marked the first win by any team this season when trailing by 10 or more points in the final four minutes. Teams were 0-83 in that scenario entering Sunday. The Lions turned the ball over four times, with Jared Goff throwing three picks. Detroit’s 16-4 record since Week 9 last season is the third-best in the league. It has won seven straight division games, the team’s longest streak since the 1970 merger.
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