Getty Robert Tonyan celebrates a score against the Lions.
The Detroit Lions raced out to an early lead against the Green Bay Packers earlier this season, but in the end, only found the same kind of pain and frustration by the time the game was over.
This week, the Lions get set to host the Packers from Ford Field. Detroit has only a single win to their credit at home this year, and it was in come from behind fashion against Washington a few weeks back. The same type of thing played out in Week 13 to net Detroit a win over Chicago. This time, the Lions won’t be able to get away
Heading into the game, the folks in Las Vegas seem to understand just how lucky the Lions managed to get a week ago. Despite Detroit’s win, they are commanding underdog for this week’s game. The early line shows Detroit between a 7.5 to 8.5 underdog for the contest.
Considering the way the Packers dominated the first matchup, it isn’t a shock to see Green Bay favored for this contest. They roared back on Sunday for a big win over the Eagles, and the offense got going with more firepower. Detroit’s defense struggled in Chicago, and that could be a reason for the wide line early on.
Lions-Packers Primer
Green Bay won the game in September convincingly after a slow start, and has now won three games in the rivalry and has wrestled back control from the grips of the Lions, who had been on a nice winning streak in the years prior.
Before last season, Detroit had gone two full years without sustaining a loss to the Packers, which is quite an accomplishment when you consider the series history of the teams. In fact, before last year’s first loss by Detroit, the number of days since the Packers beat the Lions had become gaudy and was up over 1,000. Arguably, it’s the best Lions fans have been able to feel about this particular rivalry considering the 103-72-7 mark historically in the Packers’ favor.
Things are back trending in the other direction now, but the Lions have a chance to get back on a winning track by pulling a huge upset.
Lions-Packers Vital for NFC Playoff Race
This matchup suddenly means a lot for the playoff race. The Lions are 5-7 and trying to claw back in the race, while the Packers are 9-3 and trying to put away the NFC North as well as make a run at a top seed. Given the Green Bay contest, the soft part of Detroit’s schedule is now complete and the Lions now are set to play teams with solid records over the next three weeks. The Lions will tangle with the Packers, Titans, Buccaneers and Vikings to close the season. The combined record of those teams? A solid 30-18. Obviously, this means there will be no easy games at the end and the Lions will earn everything they get if they manage to stay relevant moving forward. It’s probably not likely the Lions should or will be favored in many of those upcoming games the rest of the way, and they certainly aren’t in this one.
Beating the Packers would be a good first step for the Lions in order to keep the momentum going in the right direction.
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