The Green Bay Packers made all the clutch plays, got superstar performances from the quarterback and pass-rusher and led from start to finish during an impressive 31-24 win over the Detroit Lions at Ford Field on Thanksgiving Day.
With the victory, the Packers improved to 8-3-1, extended the win streak to three games, kept alive the unbeaten start against the NFC North and swept the Lions.
Here’s the good, the bad and the ugly coming out of the Packers’ win in Week 13:
The Good
Clutch football: It doesn’t get more clutch than finishing 3-for-3 converting fourth downs on offense and 2-for-2 stopping fourth downs on defense. The Packers and Lions were otherwise even in almost every other important statistical category. The difference was the Packers converting a pair of fourth downs into touchdown passes, stopping the Lions twice on fourth down in Packers territory and clinching the game with a fourth down conversion with under two minutes to go. In the game’s biggest spots, the Packers made the plays.
Jordan Love and Micah Parsons: Winning big games requires the best from your best players, and Love and Parsons were more than up to the task in a playoff-like environment with the nation watching. Love tossed four touchdown passes, including two on fourth down, while Parsons was in on three sacks and finished with 10 total pressures. The Packers will be very difficult to beat if Love and Parsons play at this level down the stretch.
Handling Gibbs: Jahmyr Gibbs hit a few explosive plays, but his 23 total touches — 20 rushes, three catches — produced only 86 total yards, and he didn’t score. Gibbs is almost impossible to stop. But the Packers did an admirable job containing him, and at no point did Gibbs look on the verge of taking over. After Gibbs produced 264 total yards last week, keeping him to only 86 on Thanksgiving was a big win.
A 3-0 division start: One year after finishing 1-5 against the NFC North and finishing third in the division, the Packers are halfway to a perfect divisional record and now possibly sit in the driver’s seat entering the final five games. Sweeping the Lions, who finished 15-2 overall and 6-0 against the NFC North last season, was a big step toward winning the division crown in 2025.
The Bad
Covering Jameson Williams: The Lions lost Amon-Ra St. Brown early on, but the passing game was fine because Williams looked like a star. He caught seven passes for 144 yards and consistently came up with explosive plays. Late in the first half, he shook off an inexcusable tackle attempt from Carrington Valentine and raced for a 22-yard touchdown. Williams did have a drop on fourth down in a big spot, but he cooked the Packers too often. Overall, the pass defense struggled when not getting pressure. Jared Goff had 20 completions for 256 yards and two scores, and he finished with a passer rating of 132.9.
The Ugly
Devonte Wyatt’s injury: Matt LaFleur called the win “bittersweet” because of Wyatt’s ankle injury, which appears to be season-ending. It happened on the Packers’ final defensive play when Warren Brinson rolled up on Wyatt from behind. He was carted off, and LaFleur said the early diagnosis didn’t look good. Losing Wyatt for the rest of the season would be a big blow to the interior pass-rushing unit and the depth overall at defensive tackle, which was already stressed coming into Thursday. Brinson is suddenly an important player. And the Packers need Karl Brooks to recover from an ankle injury and take over the starting job.
This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Good, bad and ugly from Packers’ win over Lions on Thanksgiving Day
Reporting by Zach Kruse, Packers Wire / Packers Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
