On November 3rd, the Green Bay Packers fell to the Detroit Lions, 24-14. It marked the Packers’ second NFC North loss as the team fell to 6-3 (0-2) while the Lions picked up what was their sixth straight win at the time. Oddly enough, the Lions’ lone loss of the season came at home when they fell to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 20-16 on September 15th. That loss feels like forever ago, and this is an entirely different Lions team.
The Packers have had their share of success lately as well, but they still sit third in the division. Detroit is coming off of a nail-biting win over the Chicago Bears on Thanksgiving, a game that resulted in the firing of Matt Eberflus. The Lions showed flaws they haven’t shown yet this season, but both the Packers and Lions are coming off of a full week’s rest heading into Thursday night’s matchup.
Jordan Love Looks to Replicate Last Year’s Win in Detroit
Jordan Love Hasn’t Thrown an Interception Since November 17th
It’s no secret that Jordan Love has difficulty with turnovers. There’s a fumble here or there, but it’s the interceptions that always jump out. Love is coming into Thursday night’s game with a 20-11 TD to INT-ratio. His 20 touchdowns are an incredible number when looking at the games he missed earlier in the year after going down with an injury in Brazil. While he’s tied for sixth in the league with his touchdown total, he is tied for 86th in terms of interceptions.
Love is heading into Thursday looking for his first stretch of three consecutive games without an interception since the end of last season. He went from December 17th to January 14th without throwing a pick, all before he threw two in the team’s 24-21 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional round of the playoffs.
Love vs. The Lions
In the Packers’ ten-point loss to Detroit earlier this season, Jordan Love played a solid game. He finished 23 for 39 with 273 yards and an interception but had no touchdowns to show for it. His 273 yards in that game ranks for his third most yards thrown in a game this season, falling just behind his 274 on Thanksgiving, and an astonishing 389 in the team’s near comeback win over the Minnesota Vikings. All of that said, passing yards don’t mean much if there are no touchdowns to show for it.
Jordan Love doesn’t need to account for all of the teams’ touchdowns, that’s why they have the likes of Josh Jacobs and Emmanuel Wilson in the backfield. The Lions are a top-two run defense in the league, and their passing defense is top-five as well. The Packers aren’t asking Love to do all of the work, they just need him to be efficient. Last week he finished 21-28 for 274 yards and two touchdowns. The team can’t ask for much more than that. If he throws an interception, oh well. It’s not the end of the world. Jordan Love is human. He is going to make mistakes. With the way Detroit played last week compared to how Green Bay has been playing, there’s no reason the Packers can’t once again defeat the Lions in their house.
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