By Matt Schneidman, Colton Pouncy and Jordy Fee-Platt
The Green Bay Packers earned a massive 31-24 road win over the Detroit Lions on Thursday, maintaining their position in the NFC playoff picture.
Jordan Love was 18-of-30 for 234 yards and a season-high four touchdowns with a 124.2 passer rating. After totaling 213 receiving yards through nine games, Dontayvion Wicks caught six passes for a career-high 94 yards and two touchdowns. Defensive end Micah Parsons finished with 2.5 sacks.
Lions star wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown exited the game in the first quarter with a knee injury and did not return. He entered play fourth in the NFL with 884 receiving yards. After no catches last week, Jameson Williams stepped up in Brown’s absence with seven receptions for 144 yards and a touchdown. Jared Goff threw for 256 yards and two scores.
Green Bay produced two touchdowns on fourth down in the first half. On a fourth-and-3 from the Detroit 22-yard line, Love found Wicks for his first touchdown of the season. After the unit controversially avoided a false start with a late timeout, Love connected with Romeo Doubs for a 2-yard score on fourth-and-1 to push the Packers’ advantage to 17-7.
Matt LaFleur didn’t get the timeout off, they still gave it to him.
Interesting 🤯 pic.twitter.com/vwyoayRirG
— SM Highlights (@SMHighlights1) November 27, 2025
Detroit’s offense had 10 total yards in the first quarter but responded with two second-quarter touchdowns to trail 17-14 at halftime.
In the third quarter, the Packers and Lions traded touchdowns. Love found Christian Watson for a 51-yard score before Lions rookie Isaac TeSlaa’s TD grab cut it to 24-21. Wicks then caught his second touchdown of the game to put Green Bay back in front 31-21.
Detroit came up short on a crucial fourth-quarter drive. The Lions elected to go for it on fourth-and-3 from the Packers’ 21 with 10:55 remaining, and Goff was unable to connect with a wide-open Williams.
The Packers sealed a 31-24 victory with a gutsy decision, converting a fourth-and-3 from the Detroit 45 with a 16-yard pass to Wicks in the final two minutes.
Love stars on Thanksgiving
Love showed once again why he’s one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks. He completed 18 of 30 passes for 234 yards and four touchdowns, the third four-touchdown game of his career and first since Week 6 last season. Love has played on Thanksgiving each of the last three seasons and is a combined 61 of 90 with 776 passing yards, nine touchdowns and no interceptions. Love’s best throw Thursday came early in the second half when he dropped a deep ball in a bucket to Watson down the right sideline for a 51-yard touchdown. Those are the kinds of throws the Packers are paying him $55 million per year to make. — Matt Schneidman, Packers beat writer
Divisional dominance
The Packers have swept the season series against the Lions for the first time since 2020. Dan Campbell took over as Detroit’s head coach in 2021 and was 6-2 against Matt LaFleur before this season. The Packers are 3-0 in the NFC North and will be in first place in the division if the Eagles beat the Bears on Friday afternoon. Thursday’s game in Detroit carried massive stakes, and Green Bay delivered. If the Packers had lost, they would’ve dropped out of the NFC playoff field if the 49ers beat the Browns on Sunday. Fortunately for the Packers, they don’t have to worry about that scenario. — Schneidman
Short-handed Lions offense fights hard
The Lions offense kept Detroit in it as long as it could. Williams had an excellent day, working as Goff’s WR1 without St. Brown. TeSlaa caught a touchdown, taking advantage of more opportunities. But it wasn’t enough the way the defense was playing. Love threw four touchdowns, and LaFleur had all the answers to defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard’s man-heavy tests. The Packers recorded 31 points versus the Lions, after scoring 27 in the season opener. The pass rush didn’t get home, and Love had all day to survey the field. Knowing the offense wasn’t at full strength, the Lions needed more from their defense and didn’t get it. Detroit had a chance to get off the field on fourth-and-3 with less than two minutes to go, but the Packers converted to end the game. — Colton Pouncy, Lions beat writer
Playoff hopes in jeopardy
The Lions are 7-5 with five games to go. They’re in unfamiliar territory since turning the corner in 2023. Their chances of winning the NFC North took a major hit. This was their best chance to get back in the race, and they couldn’t get it done. Time to shift the goals for the year, as the Lions will have to fight just to get into the playoffs. The Lions will welcome to Cowboys to Ford Field next Thursday before traveling to Los Angeles to face the Rams. The pressure is on. — Pouncy
Parsons comes up big
Parsons made NFL history on Thursday. With 2.5 sacks to bring him to 12.5 on the season, he’s the first player since sacks became a stat in 1982 with at least 12 in each of his first five seasons. Parsons has been worth everything the Packers traded for him and then paid him in a record-breaking extension. — Schneidman
