On Sunday, the Green Bay Packers will look to break a three-game home losing streak to the Detroit Lions. Sunday’s late afternoon kickoff will be the first Week 1 game between the Lions and Packers since 2005, and first at Lambeau Field since 2001.
The last time the Packers defeated the Lions at Lambeau Field was almost four full years ago, a Week 2 win in 2021.
Packers dominate the Lions, 35-17
The Aarons were COOKING 🔥
Rodgers - 22/27, 255 YDS, 4 TD
Jones - 67 RUSH, 48 REC, 4 TD pic.twitter.com/oQ9AFh9Q68
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 21, 2021
The matchup between the two NFC North opponents has completely flipped from what it was like at the turn of the century, when the Packers were winning divisions (four division titles from 2002 to 2007), and the Lions were reaching new levels of futility. The Lions were among the NFL’s worst teams all but one season from 2001 to 2009, including an 0-16 season in 2008. The Lions had 4 or less wins five times in this stretch. Meanwhile, the Packers made the playoffs six times, with one NFC Championship appearance in 2007.
The rivalry was also dominated by the Packers in games in Wisconsin, with Green Bay winning a staggering 24 straight home games against the Lions, which included a 16-12 win in the 1994 Wild Card playoff game.
The last time the two teams made the playoffs the previous year and met in Week 1 was in 1998, when the Packers won 38-19 at Lambeau Field.
Today in 1998: LeRoy Butler's 32-yard fumble return TD and two Favre-to-Freeman scoring connections lift Packers to 38-19 opening-day win over Lions.
In the second half, Detroit's Terry Fair ends 3Q with a 101-yard KR TD, while Roell Preston begins 4Q with a 100-yard KR TD. pic.twitter.com/9NqgppM3Lg
— Packers History (@HistoricPackers) September 6, 2023
However, in recent years, the Lions have had the Packers’ number. Since becoming the Lions head coach in 2021, Dan Campbell is 6-2 in the head-to-head with Green Bay and head coach Matt LaFleur. His teams are 3-1 at both Ford Field and Lambeau Field. The Lions have now become the team that is at the top of the division.
If the Packers are a team with realistic expectations to make Super Bowl LX, then Sunday’s game is a litmus test for those aspirations.
Sunday’s game is arguably the most important game on the 2025 schedule. It would be very hard to overtake Detroit in the division if the Packers were to lose another home game to the Lions.
The Packers are also trying to get their first home win against the Lions since Jordan Love became the team's starting quarterback. He is 0-4 combined in home games against the Lions and Minnesota Vikings. It will also be the first game in a Packers uniform for defensive end Micah Parsons.
👎Don’t listen to the COPE from 31 other teams and their fans…
🧀 There is NO WAY the Packers didn’t know everything there is to know about Micah Parsons’ health before making the trade 😊 pic.twitter.com/ajPzrDc45b
— CheeseheadTV 🧀 (@cheeseheadtv) September 2, 2025
Detroit enters this year’s matchup as the team who has controlled the NFC North the last two years. They made the NFC Championship game more recently, losing to the 49ers in 2023 and they also are the team entering the new season coming off having the conference’s best regular season record in 2024.
It is definitely not ideal starting 0-1 on the season, as the Packers have not had much success this century after losing the first game of the season. The Packers have lost in Week 1 eight times since 2000, and in the five times they did make the playoffs, they won a playoff game only twice (2003 and 2012), and in both of those years they lost road divisional playoff games.
Sunday’s opener will also be the first Week 1 game played at Lambeau Field since 2018, when the Packers came back against the Bears. It is the 13th opener at Lambeau Field since 2000. The Packers are 8-4 in Week 1 games at Lambeau since the turn of the century.
Week 1 Home Games since 2000
Year Opponent Result Score
2000 NY Jets Loss 16-20
2001 Detroit Win 28-6
2002 Atlanta Win 37-34(ot)
2003 Minnesota Loss 25-30
2006 Chicago Loss 0-26
2007 Philadelphia Win 16-13
2008 Minnesota Win 24-19
2009 Chicago Win 21-15
2011 New Orleans Win 42-34
2012 San Francisco Loss 22-30
2017 Seattle Win 17-9
2018 Chicago Win 24-23
2025 Detroit 3:25 PM TV - CBS