Two of NFC’s hottest teams face off as North-leading Lions visit Green Bay

Detroit (6-1) at Green Bay (6-2)

Sunday, 4:25 p.m. EST, FOX.

BetMGM NFL Odds: Lions by 3 1/2

Against the spread: Lions 6-1; Packers 4-4

Series record: Packers lead 106-76-7

Last meeting: Packers beat the Lions 29-22 in Detroit in a Thanksgiving Day game on Nov. 23, 2023.

Last week: Lions beat the Tennessee Titans 52-14 at home; Packers won 30-27 at Jacksonville

Lions offense: overall (6), rush (6), pass (11), scoring (1)

Packers offense: overall (5), rush (5), pass (9T), scoring (6)

Lions defense: overall (20), rush (5), pass (27), scoring (8)

Packers defense: overall (15), rush (10), pass (19), scoring (11T)

Turnover differential: Lions plus-10; Packers plus-7

Lions player to watch

S Kerby Joseph. He has career-high five INTs after he had four in each of his first two seasons. Joseph, a third-round pick from Illinois, is the first Lion to have five INTs in the first seven games of a season since Hall of Famer Yale Lary in 1962. He has three INTs in three games against Green Bay.

Packers player to wat
ch

S Xavier McKinney grabbed his NFL-leading sixth INT of the season against Jacksonville. He’s the first Packer ever to have six INTs in the first eight games of a season. McKinney also has recovered a fumble this year, giving him an NFL-leading seven total takeaways.

Key matchup

Lions RBs Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery vs. Packers run defense: The Lions averaged 175.5 yards rushing in two games with the Packers last season. David Montgomery ran for 121 yards and three touchdowns to lead a 211-yard rushing attack in the Lions’ 34-20 victory at Green Bay. When the Packers won the rematch in Detroit, the Lions still ran for 140 yards on 31 attempts. Green Bay’s run defense has improved this year. But the Packers still have been vulnerable at times, allowing Philadelphia’s Saquon Barkley, Indianapolis’ Jonathan Taylor, the Los Angeles Rams’ Kyren Williams and Houston’s Joe Mixon to surpass 100 yards.

Key injuries

The Lions have ruled out LB Malcolm Rodriguez (ankle), DL Josh Paschal (illness) and DT Brodric Martin (knee). … Lions RB Sione Vaki (knee) and DL Mekhi Wingo (ankle) are doubtful. … Packers QB Jordan Love left in the third quarter of the Jaguars game with a strained groin. Love was listed as questionable after practicing on a limited basis Thursday and Friday. … Packers S Evan Williams (hamstring) has been ruled out. … Packers C Josh Myers (wrist) is doubtful. … Packers CB Jaire Alexander (knee), CB Corey Ballentine (ankle) and RB Josh Jacobs (ankle) are questionable.

Series notes

The Packers’ Thanksgiving Day victory at Detroit last season snapped the Lions’ four-game winning streak in this series. The Packers had beaten the Lions five straight times before that. … The Lions have won in each of their past two visits to Lambeau Field. That included a 20-16 victory in the 2022 regular-season finale that prevented the Packers from reaching the playoffs and marked four-time MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ final game with Green Bay.

Stats and stuff

The Lions are 6-1 for the first time since 1956, when they won seven of their first eight games. … Detroit has won five games in a row for the first time since 2016 and is a victory away from its longest streak in a season since winning the last seven games of the 1995 season. … The Lions have run for 100-plus yards and scored a rushing TD in each of the first seven games for the first time since 1936. … Detroit has scored a franchise-record 162 points over a four-game span, the most by an NFL team since Baltimore had 172 points over four games in 2019. … The Lions have 30-plus points with four TDs in four straight games for the first time since 1971. … The Lions have more TDs on offense (24) than incompletions (19) in their past five games. … Detroit’s 52 points last week trailed only the franchise-record 55 it scored against Chicago in 1997. … The Lions tied a team record with six players scoring a TD against the Titans. … Detroit has won two games by 38-plus points for the first time in a season since 1936. … The Lions have a takeaway in 11 straight games, going back to last season, and have an INT in their first seven games for the first time since 1981. … If Goff throws for 2-plus TDs and has a passer rating of at least 110, he will join Patrick Mahomes (2018), Tom Brady (2010) and Aaron Rodgers (2011) as the four NFL QBs since 2000 to have those numbers in six straight games. … The Packers have 1,255 yards rushing, their highest total through the first eight games of the season since 1971. Jacobs leads the way with 667 yards rushing, which ranks fourth in the NFL. … When Love left the Jaguars game without having thrown a TD pass, it ended his string of nine straight games with multiple TD passes. That streak would have gone to 11 if playoff games were included. … Packers TE Tucker Kraft has five TDs over his past five games. … Packers K Brandon McManus has kicked a game-winning field goal in the final play of each of his two games since coming to Green Bay. He had a 45-yarder in a 24-22 victory over the Houston Texans and a 24-yarder against the Jaguars, his former team. … The Packers have an NFL-leading 19 takeaways. … According to Elias Sports Bureau, this marks the first time since a 10-3 Green Bay team faced a 12-1 Denver squad in Dec. 8, 1996, that Lambeau Field has hosted a game in the ninth week of the season or later matching two teams with a winning percentage of at least .750.

Fantasy tip

With Lions WR Jameson Williams finishing a two-game suspension this week for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing substance policy, Kalif Raymond may be worth picking up if he’s available in your league’s waiver wire. Raymond has only 13 catches for 162 yards and two touchdowns this season, but he had five receptions for 90 yards the previous time the Lions faced the Packers.

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