Sport: NFLPick Selection: Detroit Lions +3.5 -110
Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions 12:30 PM ET
Detroit Lions +3.5 -110
Green Bay continues to roll along and it is now the favorite in this game despite the Lions having a winning record at this point for the first time in seven years. Detroit has dropped three in a row on Thanksgiving and five of its last six but this is a different team with different goals than in the past. The Lions are still striving for a playoff spot and a victory here will tie them with the Giants with seven wins and put them in the second wild card slot at the moment.
Detroit has slipped to last in the league in rushing offense at 76.9 ypg following two straight sub par performances on the ground but the passing attack is 7th in the NFL with 256.6 ypg. The blueprint obviously works since Green Bay follows the same pattern. The Packers just happen to be winning. Green Bay is 19th against the pass and this will be the best passing attack it has seen. The best passing offense prior to this was in week one against the Eagles. The passing offenses faced have an average rank of 20th.
The Panthers rushed for 131 yards in Sunday's loss to Green Bay so there is hope that the Lions can get some sort of balance going on the offensive end. Brett Favre continues to amaze. His passer rating has been over 100 in each of his last four games and his overall rating of 98.6 is good for 5th in the NFL. Not far behind is Jon Kitna, who is 8th in the league with a rating of 90.2. Big plays are something that the Lions are not accustomed to but that could be the difference here as it usually is the other side that provides those.
The travel aspect of this game is very important. This is the shortest week that any team experiences during the regular season and while both teams are playing on just three days rest, the Lions were home last game while Green Bay gets one less day of preparation due to having to leave home. Since 1985, the Lions have played on the road 21 times prior to Thanksgiving and only once at home prior to Thanksgiving. The lone time of no travel resulted in a 55-10 win over Chicago in 1997.
The Packers are just 2-8 in their last 10 meetings in Detroit while the home team has gone 15-4-1 ATS in the 20 meetings in this series. This is the first time that the Packers the first time it will play as road chalk since head coach Mike McCarthy took over. The closest was a pickem at Minnesota earlier in the season. The line opened at three and is creeping up and should continue as the public will be all over Green Bay. A close game either way gives us the victory. Play Detroit Lions 2 Units
|
Handicappers
