DETROIT -- With a patchwork lineup, the Detroit Lions suffered another tough Thanksgiving loss to the Green Bay Packers.
And their playoff chances may have taken the bigger hit.
Detroit entered the game without its starting center, left guard and then lost an All-Pro in the first quarter. The result? A tough 31-24 loss in Week 13, and a 7-5 record that will keep the Lions still on the outside looking in on the NFC playoff picture.
After winning six out of seven against the Packers from 2022 to 2024, the Lions have been swept for the first time since 2020 by their divisional rival.
Green Bay moves to 8-3-1, keeping pressure on the Chicago Bears (8-3), who play on Friday against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown’s first-quarter ankle injury forced Jameson Williams, Isaac TeSlaa and Tom Kennedy into the team’s top passing options. Williams stepped up after last week’s no-catch showing, until a late fourth-quarter drop on fourth down.
Williams finished with a career-best seven catches for 144 yards and one touchdown. Give credit to Kennedy, too, who had two third-down conversions and four catches for 36 yards.
After averaging 194 yards from scrimmage in three games, running back Jahmyr Gibbs managed just 68 yards on 20 attempts and only 18 receiving yards on three catches with one drop. He did his best Barry Sanders impression at times, running for his life on the search for a hole.
Jared Goff was sacked three times, hit seven times and pressured 10 times in the loss. Freshly unretired center Frank Ragnow has never been needed more.
Two plays after the Lions and Gibbs lost 2 yards on fourth-and-3, Jordan Love hit Christian Watson for the 51-yard touchdown on Amik Robertson in single coverage. The Packers went up 24-14 with 10:31 left in the third quarter, sucking the air out of a Ford Field crowd that Jack White and Eminem just energized at halftime.
Adding insult to injury was the fact that St. Brown was ruled out with an ankle injury right after Green Bay’s quick score to open the second half.
The offense kept finding ways, though. Goff took off for a 24-yard run, David Montgomery added a 14-yard rush, and then the quarterback hit rookie Isaac TeSlaa in the end zone to make it 24-21 with 7:25 remaining in the third quarter. Goff got a clean pocket and hit a beautiful throw to the Michigan native playing in his first Thanksgiving game.
Green Bay punched right back, with Love hitting Wicks for his second touchdown of the game, pushing its lead to 31-21 with 1:44 left in the third quarter. They went 69 yards on nine plays, taking an important 5:41 off the clock.
Dan Campbell rolled the dice on fourth-and-2 on Green Bay’s 21-yard line down 31-21 with 10:50 remaining. Goff’s pass bounced off Williams’ open hands, and that’s where the Lions lost control of this one. The throw wasn’t perfect, slightly behind him, but that’s got to be caught. A field goal would have made it a one-score game, and without St. Brown and Sam LaPorta, it becomes an even more questionable decision.
After getting a defensive stop, Goff got sacked twice, but Kennedy drew an illegal contact penalty on third-and-15 to keep them alive with 7:09 left. Williams took advantage of the crosser on the next snap with his career-best seventh catch, going 44 yards into the red zone.
Goff got sacked on third-and-4 with 3:15 left, with Jake Bates making the short field goal to make it 31-24. The drive took 6:03 off the clock, and the crowd let its displeasure known about the Lions’ lack of urgency.
Detroit needed one more stop from its defense to have a chance. But Love hit Christian Watson for the first down on third-and-5 with 2:43 remaining. Detroit then got a stop on third-and-3, with Brian Branch knocking away a pass with 1:55 remaining. But Love hit Wicks with a fourth-down pass, and Green Bay ran out the clock.
**See below for more observations from the game:**
\-- St. Brown got rolled up on from behind by teammates Kayode Awosika and Trystan Colon and did not return to the game. With the Lions playing next Thursday, his status is one to watch this week as the Lions fight for life.
\-- The Lions have lost eight of their last nine games on Thanksgiving. Their win over the Chicago Bears last year snapped a seven-game losing streak. Detroit has now lost three straight to Green Bay on Turkey Day.
\-- Colon got the start at center with Graham Glasgow out due to a knee injury. He had a rough first two drives, stepping on Goff’s foot on his first play, then rolling up on St. Brown from behind. But the veteran settled in and held things down as the Lions wait for Glasgow and the recently unretired Frank Ragnow -- [yes, really](https://www.mlive.com/lions/2025/11/why-frank-ragnows-return-is-exactly-what-the-detroit-lions-need.html) -- to return.
\-- There were some questionable moments from the officials. Wick’s touchdown in the second quarter was as close to being out as possible. And then there was the phantom timeout from Matt LaFleur to block a false start that led to a score in the first half. Expect more information in the pool report.
\-- The Lions didn’t do themselves any favors in the first half. They were rotating defensive linemen and cornerbacks heavily, and got caught with 10 men on the field while giving up a 13-yard run by Josh Jacobs on third down. They then had too many players on the field while turning a third-and-8 into a third-and-3 near the goal line. The first led to a field goal. The second led to a touchdown. That can’t happen.
\-- The Lions don’t get the benefit of the long holiday weekend off. For the second straight year, they follow Thanksgiving with Thursday Night Football. They host the Cowboys, who, at least, face the same turnaround.