It was a game decided by fourth downs in Detroit on Thanksgiving.
The Packers faced a big decision on fourth-and-3 with 1:55 left to play against the Lions. They led 31-24 against a team with no timeouts, which meant a conversion won them the game. A failure would give the ball to Detroit near midfield, but head coach Matt LaFleur decided to roll the dice.
Jordan Love and Dontayvion Wicks made that bet pay off. Wicks went high to get a 16-yard pass from Love and the Packers took knees to close out a win that moves them to 8-3-1 on the season.
It wasn’t the first fourth down success of the day for Green Bay. Love and Wicks hooked up for the team’s first touchdown on a fourth down early in the second quarter and Love’s second touchdown pass went to Romeo Doubs on another fourth down before halftime.
Love threw two more touchdowns in the second half — a 51-yard beauty to Christian Watson and a one-yarder to Wicks — on his way to going 18-of-29 for 234 yards. Wicks had six catches for 94 yards and Watson had four catches for 80 yards,.
The Lions were less successful in similar spots. They failed to convert both of the fourth downs they tried during the afternoon and those failures loom large in a one-score loss. Head coach Dan Campbell has taken over the offensive play-calling in recent weeks and the team’s failures in those spots will likely lead to questions about how well the process is working.
At 7-5, the Lions are running low on margin for error to get back to the postseason this season and getting swept by the Packers isn’t going to help their chances of jumping back into the race for the division title.
Detroit also had to settle for a field goal on their final offensive possession when Micah Parsons sacked Jared Goff on third down. Parsons posted 2.5 sacks in the game and is now the first player in NFL history [with at least 12 sacks](https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/micah-parsons-is-two-sacks-away-from-a-new-nfl-record) in each of their first five seasons.
The Packers will move on to another crucial divisional matchup in Week 14. They will host the Bears and will be hoping a few extra days off helps them get defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt back after he was carted off with an ankle injury in the fourth quarter.
The Lions have a significant injury of their own to monitor after wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown left the game in the first quarter with an ankle injury. They’ll only have a week before they’re back on the field against the Cowboys for another Thursday game.