For the first time in many, many years the Detroit Lions' (7-3) annual Thanksgiving Day game actually has some meaning and people will tune in to watch their match-up against the Packers (10-0) for reasons beyond it simply being tradition. The Lions have been irrelevant for as long as I can remember but over the past few years they have managed to build a solid team that ranks top 10 in both rush and pass defense this season, whilst also possessing a dangerous rushing attack and the No. 1 pick in the 2009 draft, QB Matthew Stafford.
Despite the Packers perfect record through the first 11 weeks of the season and current 16-game winning streak, a few chinks have appeared in Green Bay’s armor over the past few weeks, most of which centre around their sometimes questionable defense. A few eyebrows were raised after Sunday’s weak performance against the Buccaneers (4-6) in which they got the win but allowed the struggling Bucs to hang around until the 4th quarter. There are now murmurs of the Lions being able to pull of the upset in the biggest game the team has played in over a decade.
Neither team is going to be lacking motivation for this game, for Detroit, they have the chance to prove themselves as a team who could legitimately make a run at a Superbowl, with the whole country watching and in front of a home crowd who are going to be going crazy win or loss. The Packers face the same-old story that culminated with them lifting the Vince Lombardi trophy last February; everyone is telling them why they won’t win yet they continue to ignore the critics and win despite their supposed weaknesses.
My team has been out of the playoff race for a while now so I have no real allegiance toward either team, I’m just hoping for an exciting football game that makes up for the hours upon hours of my time that the Lions have wasted in recent years.
