The Green Bay Packers, led by quarterback Jordan Love, enjoyed an unforgettable Thanksgiving, defeating the Detroit Lions, who were in first place, 29–22.
Love did not throw an interception while completing 22 of 32 passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns against the Lions secondary. And as Fox Sports PR reported, a sizable audience witnessed his outstanding performance:
With 33.7 million viewers, the Thanksgiving Day game between the Packers and Lions was the most watched early window game in history.
The Packers are back in the middle of the NFC Wild Card battle after winning their last three games to improve to 5-6. With three games (at the Giants, at the Buccaneers, and at the Panthers) coming up, Green Bay will have ten days to get ready for its Sunday Night Football matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs. These games shouldn’t have the Packers as the underdog.
Lions quarterback Jered Goff threw the ball well in spite of the team’s loss to the Packers. Despite not picking up a pass, he completed the game with 332 throwing yards and two touchdowns. Since a 41-38 victory over the Chargers on November 12, Goff’s yards per pass average has not been this high.
Following the Green Bay loss, Goff stated, “I’m behind what I think is the best group in the league and those guys rushed well today, they did. I don’t point at our O-line for the reason of that at all. Probably could’ve got rid of the ball quicker on some of those as well. But yeah, it’s just some days, those guys rush pretty well, and they did.”
It’s customary to watch the Packers and Lions play on Thanksgiving. Those are pretty outstanding viewing figures for the NFL, whether it’s because of the rivalry between them, the question of how Jordan Love would perform in the post-Aaron Rodgers era, or the fact that the Lions are competitive this season.
