Happy Thanksgiving! Fans of the Green Bay Packers have a lot to be thankful for on this Thanksgiving Day in 2025.
Despite a few rocky stretches, the Packers are 7-3-1, right in the mix in another competitive NFC North race and currently in possession of a playoff spot in the NFC entering Week 13. Big challenges remain over the final six games, but the Packers weathered a few storms early and have put themselves in a position to go on a late-season run. This is a good football team with the potential to accomplish big things if everything goes right down the stretch.
Thanksgiving Day this year brings a big opportunity for the Packers. Not only can Matt LaFleur’s team improve to 8-3-1 with a win, but a holiday victory over the Lions would provide a season sweep of last year’s division champ and bring the Packers within one result (a Bears loss to the Eagles on Black Friday) from taking over the lead in the NFC North. Kickoff is scheduled for noon CST at Ford Field.
Here’s everything to be thankful for as a Packers fan in 2025:
The arrival and impact of Micah Parsons: The former Cowboy has quickly joined the likes of Charles Woodson and Reggie White as transformational defensive players added by the Packers. Through 11 games, Parsons has 10 sacks — becoming the first Packers since Za’Darius Smith in 2020 to hit the 10-sack mark — and also 20 quarterback hits and an NFL-high 60 pressures, per Next Gen Stats. Numbers don’t fully describe his impact, given how much attention offenses pay to No. 1 and how different most offenses are playing to negate the game-wrecking potential of Parsons as a rusher.
Jordan Love: By any measure, Love is playing a winning brand of football at the game’s most important position. He’s first in EPA/play, fourth in PFF’s passing grade, fifth in adjusted net yards per attempt and fourth in QBR. Through 11 games, Love has only three interceptions but also four fourth quarter comebacks. He’s dominating from clean pockets, protecting the football, playing efficiently and productively down to down, and winning in most of the big situations, including in the fourth quarter and on third down. The Packers can beat anyone because of Love. If he gets hot, the Packers will be as dangerous as any team in the playoff field come January.
Jeff Hafley: The Packers defense has been so good, and Hafley has been so impressive, that these final six games and however many games the Packers play in the postseason could be it for the Hafley era in Green Bay. He’s become an increasingly popular head coach option in his second season as the Packers defensive coordinator. And it’s not difficult to see why. In 2025, the Packers rank fifth in points, fourth in yards, second in yards per play and second in yards per attempt after making a huge jump in most categories in 2024. Cherish what is left of this run with Hafley leading a talented, versatile and disruptive defense.
A 2-0 start in the division: The unbeaten mark against the NFC North will be put to the test on Thanksgiving Day, but wins over the Lions and Vikings to start the division schedule were big in what is shaping up to be another highly competitive race. Last season, the Packers were just 1-5 against the NFC North. Stealing a win at Ford Field on Thanksgiving Day would likely put the Packers in the driver’s seat in the division over the final five weeks.
Josh Jacobs in the red zone: Jordan Love would probably be a more impressive MVP candidate if he had more opportunities to throw touchdown passes inside the 10-yard line this season, but it’s hard to argue with handing off to Jacobs, a relentless red zone runner who has consistently ended drives with touchdowns. His 11 rushing scores rank second in football this year, and his 26 rushing touchdowns since the start of 2024 rank tied for first.
The return of a healthy Christian Watson: Watson returned from a torn ACL in just 10 months, and he’s been a difference-making player in his first five games back, catching 17 passes for 283 yards and two scores. Watson is averaging a team-high 16.6 yards per catch and 11.8 yards per target. He’s becoming a go-to player on third down and in the red zone. The Packers offense is just a different animal when Watson is healthy, producing explosive plays and doing all the little things, like blocking in the run game and using his size and speed to threaten downfield and draw coverage away from others.
Explosive plays: If defining an “explosive” play as a run of at least 12 yards or a pass play of at least 16 yards, the Packers rank fifth in explosive plays generated (82), first in explosive passing plays allowed (36) and first in explosive differential (+31). By rate, the Packers rank fourth in explosive plays on offense and second on defense. In today’s game, where teams so often play defense to prevent big plays and force long drives, the Packers are both generating the explosives on offense and stopping them on defense. It’s a big piece of the winning puzzle. Jordan Love will always be a big-play hunter, and having a combination of Micah Parsons (to hurry the passer) and Xavier McKinney and Evan Williams (to protect deep) sure helps defensively.
Turnover-avoidant offense: No one likes a sloppy, turnover-prone offense. Giving the ball away is a death wish in the modern NFL. Through 11 games, the Packers have just seven turnovers, including only three picks thrown by Jordan Love, and Matt LaFleur’s team is 6-0 when not committing a turnover and 5-0 when winning the turnover battle. Win the ball, win the game.
Zach Tom at right tackle: While almost every other position along the offensive line has dealt with injury or disappointing performance or both, Tom has once again looked like one of the NFL’s best players at right tackle. He came back from an early season oblique injury and now ranks as the seventh-highest graded offensive tackle at Pro Football Focus despite playing through a lingering back injury. Tom has allowed only 12 pressures and committed just one penalty; he was worth every penny of the $88 million contract extension.
Emergence of Daniel Whelan: Each and every year, Whelan has steadily improved, and now he’s one of the NFL’s best punters. In fact, he’s the No. 1 graded punter at PFF. Whelan is averaging over 50 yards per punt and is threatening to set the new team record for net yards per punt in a season. He’s a weapon on special teams, and the Packers locked him up with a multi-year contract extension this year.
A championship chance: In 1996, the Packers were 8-3 before winning eight straight games, including Super Bowl XXXI. In 2010, the Packers were 7-4 before getting red hot and winning six straight games, including Super Bowl XLV. The 2025 Packers are in a good spot at 7-3-1 but must now start playing their best football over the final stretch, especially considering the opponents — and the quality of the opponents — coming up over the last six weeks. They will face four division leaders and play four more games against the division to finish it out. An opportunity to battle the Lions on the road with the nation watching is a terrific first test and a chance for the Packers to prove they are legitimately championship worthy in 2025.
From the rest of our Packers Wire staff…
Brennen Rupp: “I’m thankful for Jerry Jones. I still can’t believe the Cowboys let an impact player like Micah Parsons walk out the door for a pair of what will likely be mid-to-late first round draft picks and Kenny Clark.”
Mark Oldacres: “I’m thankful for Jordan Love. He’s developed into one of the best quarterbacks in football, someone the Packers can win because of, not just with, and as a person, is someone who truly ‘Carries the G.’ Love seems like a great teammate, plays hurt, rarely gets flustered and is generally an exemplary representative of Green Bay.”
Brandon Carwile: “I’m thankful for Micah Parsons, who has been as good as advertised since arriving in Green Bay. Rarely do true game-changers like him become available, so there are times when it is still hard to believe he is a Packer. There’s no denying what Parsons has brought to this team, carrying the pass rush for most of this season and elevating the defense into a championship-caliber unit.”
This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Everything Packers fans should be thankful for on Thanksgiving 2025
Reporting by Zach Kruse, Packers Wire / Packers Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
