Packers vs Lions Summary: PLENTY OF EXCITEMENT TO BE THANKFUL FOR

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who is reading this article.  I hope you all had an amazing celebration today with family and friends — and maybe some of that celebration included your favorite NFL team winning (or losing) a tight, close, exciting game. 

Three games were on Thanksgiving Day, and all three were filled with excitement from the first quarter to the last. The day started with the Packers visiting Detroit to play the Lions, the game was followed by the mid-afternoon game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Dallas Cowboys, and Thanksgiving Night ended with Thursday Night Football where Joe Burrow made his return for the Bengals, facing off against division rivals, the Baltimore Ravens. 

And in case you missed any of it, I will be recapping each and every game — giving you my honest thoughts and opinions, plus awarding the MVP of each game alongside other awards. So while your stomach is filled with turkey and pie, sit back, relax, and enjoy reading this article written by yours truly, Matteo. 

(7-3-1) Green Bay Packers vs. (7-4) Detroit Lions 

The first of the three football games kicked off from Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan, with an intriguing NFC North matchup between the (7–3–1) Packers and the (7–4) Lions. Both teams

entered with seven wins, trying to tie the division-leading Bears, who were (8–3) coming into Week 13. Coming into the game, both teams had a chance of claiming first place in the NFC 

North with a Bears loss on Black Friday against the defending Super Bowl champions, the Philadelphia Eagles. 

Game Summary 

The game started slow, with only three points scored in the first quarter — those three coming from the Green Bay Packers off a 45-yard field goal from Brandon McManus. But the big storyline in the first quarter was that Detroit star receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown went down with an ankle injury after being targeted only once by quarterback Jared Goff. He was questionable to return the entire day, with fans and media waiting anxiously to see if he would come out of the locker room, but he never did.

The Lions were forced to play without their star wide receiver for the rest of the game. That meant no-name guys like Tom Kennedy and Isaac TeSlaa would have to step up, and wide receiver two, Jameson Williams, would now need to become the temporary WR1 for the rest of the game. And Jameson Williams did step up. With Detroit down by 10 with 25 seconds left in 

the second quarter, Goff threw a screen pass to Williams, who was met quickly by a Packers defender but spun out of the tackle, broke free, got excellent blocking from his tight ends and offensive line, and literally walked into the end zone for a touchdown. 

With that touchdown, the Lions cut the deficit to three, making it 17–14 at halftime. 

Through the first two quarters, I had already noticed that it was going to be a tight game — as predicted — and that both running backs would struggle, with both teams having strong defensive lines and big-name defensive players on each side: Micah Parsons for the Packers and Aidan Hutchinson for the Lions. 

The Packers might have realized this, because early in the third quarter on their first possession, Jordan Love threw a deep ball to Christian Watson, who burned his defender and made an excellent catch for the touchdown, putting the Packers back up by 10. 

As I mentioned earlier, with the St. Brown injury, some of the lesser-known Lions receivers would have to step up for Detroit to have a chance — and Isaac TeSlaa did just that. He made an excellent grab and scored a 17-yard touchdown just three minutes after the Watson touchdown. 

Yet that would be the final touchdown the Lions would score all day. The Packers defense, mostly due to the performance from Micah Parsons — who had 2.5 sacks in the game — locked down the Lions offense for the rest of the second half, allowing only one field goal from Jake Bates. 

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The Packers held on to win a close one, 31–24 over the Detroit Lions, sweeping the season series, which means they now have the tiebreaker if they end up with the same record at the end of the season. 

Green Bay Packer Key Player Stats 

Jordan Love threw 30 passes today, completing 18 of them for 234 yards with four touchdowns and zero interceptions. Credit to his offensive line as well — he was never sacked, and that’s impressive given that the Lions have one of the best pass rushers in the game in Aidan Hutchinson. Love was brilliant all day: connecting on his passes, working with what he had, and making the right decisions at the right time. It was exciting to see, as maybe Love can take the next step in his young career — maybe even winning a playoff game this season. 

As I mentioned earlier, neither running back had much going today.

Josh Jacobs had 17 carries for 83 yards and zero touchdowns, as all Packers touchdowns came through the air. Two of those were caught by Dontayvion Wicks, who had six catches on seven targets for 94 yards. Christian Watson had four catches for 80 yards and a touchdown, and Romeo Doubs added four catches for 20 yards and a touchdown. 

The most notable defensive player for the Packers was Micah Parsons. I was really impressed with Parsons today — 2.5 sacks, three tackles for loss, four quarterback hits, and constant pressure. He was a force to be reckoned with, and it didn’t seem like the Lions offensive line had any answer for him. Parsons showed everyone why he’s one of the highest-paid defensive players in the NFL. It is still utterly shocking how little the Packers were able to give up in that trade with the Cowboys for him at the beginning of the season. 

A question came to my mind watching this game: would the Packers be this good if that trade hadn’t happened and Micah Parsons was still a Dallas Cowboy? 

Detroit Lions Key Player Stats 

Jordan Love wasn’t the only quarterback in Detroit who had a great game. Jared Goff had an excellent outing despite the loss, completing 20 of 26 passes for 256 yards and two touchdowns with zero interceptions. Another thing to note: there were no turnovers for either team today, which shows how tight of a game it truly was. 

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Like Jacobs, the Lions running back couldn’t get anything going. Jahmyr Gibbs, who had three rushing touchdowns last week, didn’t reach the end zone once. He carried the ball 20 times for just 68 yards and couldn’t find any rhythm. 

Now, the unsung heroes for the Lions — the receiving core of Williams, Kennedy, and TeSlaa. They all stepped up when St. Brown went down. Williams caught 7 of 10 passes for 144 yards and a touchdown. Kennedy had four catches for 36 yards and, despite having no touchdowns, was still very effective. The last of the trio, Isaac TeSlaa, was probably the most impressive. I had never heard of him until today, and he really impressed me even if he just had two catches for 35 yards and a touchdown. His route running, communication, and energy pointed to great potential for the young wide receiver. 

On the defensive side for Detroit, nobody really had a standout performance. Hutchinson was quiet, and the Lions secondary gave up wide-open looks to several Packers receivers. When you’re fighting for a win that could put you in first place in the division, you need your defense to show up — especially after losing your No. 1 receiver. To me, the Lions and Dan Campbell didn’t show up to their full ability, and that’s why they lost. But credit to the Green Bay Packers — they should be feared, and no team should want to face them. I could see them beating some of the teams in the NFC right now, and certainly tons of the teams in the AFC. 

Quick Game Awards 

Before announcing the MVP, I want to hand out a couple of other awards. 

Unsung Hero Award: 

The Detroit Lions wide receivers — Williams, Kennedy, and TeSlaa. Most people had no idea these guys even played for Detroit, but they showed up when their team lost St. Brown and gave the Lions a chance to win without their star WR1. 

Defensive Player of the Game: 

Micah Parsons. He was truly unstoppable today — 2.5 sacks, multiple QB hits, constantly getting in Goff’s face, and making a massive impact on the outcome. 

Offensive Player of the Game: 

Jordan Love. He looked super comfortable in a game that mattered with so much on the line. Four touchdowns, zero interceptions, calm, composed — he fully earned this award. 

And now the moment you have been waiting for the MVP of the first Thanksgiving game is. 4

MVP of the Game: 

Jordan Love. Congratulations — you are my MVP for this matchup. I don’t know if the Packers would have won had Love just produced a normal game similar to Goff’s, but Love’s epic performance on Thanksgiving Day earns him the MVP. And who knows — maybe another MVP is waiting for him in the coming weeks. 

Overall, it was a great way to start the long day of football, and it gave a great teaser for the excitement to come from the other games.

Thank you so much for reading this article, this was a fun project I did during Thanksgiving and was apart of a much longer article on all three Thanksgiving Day Games. I decided to use this first part as a test as I launch this website. I will start writing and publishing more articles and blogs starting the week of February 8th 2026.