In a pivotal NFC North tilt on Thanksgiving Day, the Detroit Lions fell flat and it could have dire consequences down the stretch. It was sadly more of the same from the Lions: a few splash plays on offense with too many defensive lapses mixed in.
Detroit is officially running out of games to turn their season around. Having lost both of their matches versus the Green Bay Packers, the Lions are not only playing catchup in the NFC North, but the Wild Card race as well. We have seen the Lions in recent seasons dominant opponents left and right. We have seen the Lions win hard-fought battles thanks to gutsy playcalling and execution. In 2025, both aspects have come back to bite the Lions. It is not an exaggeration to say that the Lions need to play near-perfect football down the stretch.
Let’s take a look at some winners and losers from a rough Thanksgiving game.
Loser: Super Bowl aspirations
The playoff dream is not yet dead, but it is firmly on life support. Sitting at 7-5 on the season with five games to go, the NFC North is likely out of reach barring a significant turnaround from the Lions or a collapse from the other teams in the division. That leaves a Wild Card spot as the likeliest avenue for Detroit, but even that seems grim at this point. How many wins are still on the table for the Lions?
Since the NFL schedule expanded to 17 games in 2021, only five Wild Card teams have made the playoffs with nine wins or fewer. Of those five, only the 2023 Green Bay Packers won a playoff game. Winning in the playoffs is difficult. Winning in the playoffs as a Wild Card team is very difficult. Winning in the playoffs as the third Wild Card seed is extremely difficult. Nine wins might be enough to make the playoffs, but it would be a serious uphill battle. As for achieving 10 or more wins and maybe securing the second Wild Card spot, it would mean having to beat three of the Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Rams, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Chicago Bears—a tall task given how the Lions are presently playing—plus some losing from the teams ahead of Detroit.
I think many of us knew that a record of 15-2 would be unrealistic to duplicate, but we were at least hoping for a team capable of calling itself among the league’s best. The Lions are sadly just a fringe playoff team at this point.
Winners: Jameson Williams, Tom Kennedy, and Isaac TeSlaa, WRs
Amon-Ra St. Brown was one of the few players Detroit could not afford to lose. With the star receiver quickly ruled out due to an ankle injury and already missing Kalif Raymond, the Lions were down to Jameson Williams and the bottom of their depth chart.
A week after getting blanked on three targets, Williams rebounded nicely against Green Bay. He led the way with seven catches for 144 yards, setting a new career-high. He again flashed his wheels, turning on the jets on a 44-yard catch and run and scoring on a brilliant 22-yard reception in which he demonstrated amazing contact balance. Already missing Sam LaPorta and potentially St. Brown, the Lions needed Williams to be their de facto WR1, and he delivered.
Elevated from the practice squad, Kennedy was likely penciled in as a special teams replacement for Raymond. Kennedy was effective as a kick returner (three returns for 81 yards), but few of us expected him to be a go-to option on offense. Kennedy caught the ball all four of his targets for 36 yards, coming second on the team in receiving yards. He finished just a yard ahead of TeSlaa, who added two catches for 35 yards and a touchdown. It was far from a breakout performance from Kennedy and TeSlaa, but they made some big plays when called upon.
That being said, a receiving corps of Williams, Kennedy, TeSlaa, and Dominic Lovett (who did not play a snap on offense) is not sustainable. The Lions are going to be a tough situation if St. Brown and Raymond are out long-term, especially with the playoffs riding on these final few weeks.
Loser: Amik Robertson, CB
Robertson had been stellar when thrust into the CB1 role, and though he was expected to lose that title upon the return of D.J. Reed and Terrion Arnold, the performance drop was not expected. A week after getting credited with nearly 100 receiving yards allowed against the New York Giants, Robertson had yet another rough outing against the Packers. Robertson was beat on the 51-yard touchdown to Christian Watson, just one of the numerous times Green Bay picked on Robertson. Per PFF’s live stats, Robertson was targeted nine times by the Packers for 95 yards allowed—the next closest Lions defender was D.J. Reed with five targets and 44 yards allowed. Robertson did have three passes defended, but it still feels like more famine than feast for him in coverage recently.
Winner: Brian Branch, S
In a rare occasion, Jack Campbell was not the Lions’ leading tackler on the day. Instead, it was Brian Branch hovering around the ball for most of the game. He was again effective in run defense, but his coverage looked much sharper than in recent weeks. He had a pair of pass breakups and, perhaps more importantly, he was not penalized at all on Thursday. Branch was physical but not illegal, and this was perfect example of a good Branch game.
I do have to ding Branch for the first Wicks touchdown, a play in which he seemingly stopped running while in coverage. It clearly appears to have been a miscommunication between him and the safety Thomas Harper, but had he kept running, he could have broken up the touchdown—a fourth-down stop that could have been the difference in a 31-24 game.
Loser: Aidan Hutchinson, DE
I dislike putting Hutchinson as a loser because he is one of the few players on this team capable of consistently rushing the passer. However, the difference between him and Micah Parsons is becoming difficult to ignore. Hutchinson has a single multi-sack game this year, way back in Week 4 against the Cleveland Browns. He is bringing pressure, sure, but this game was a prime example of why pass rushers need to finish the job. Parsons had 2.5 sacks against the Lions and now has seven over his last three games—he is a one-man wrecking crew.
It is a lofty expectation to say that Hutchinson needs to match that production, yet the Lions need him to play at that level. The Lions had two quarterback hits against the Packers, neither of which came from Hutchinson. As for the Packers, they had seven, four of which were from Parsons. Both Parsons and Hutchinson are relied upon by their team to dominate matchups, but only Parsons is doing that.
Loser: Kelvin Sheppard, DC
The Legion of Whom is dead and we are left with the carcass. Somehow, the Lions are playing worse with their now-healthy starters. Terrion Arnold returned to the lineup, albeit in limited fashion (just 17 snaps on defense)— despite the limited snaps, he allowed a touchdown. Marcus Davenport was also healthy against the Packers, but he was largely absent on the box score (zero sacks, tackles, or even hits). Coupled with D.J. Reed coming back last week, this defense should be getting better, not worse.
They are not rushing the pass effectively. They are not creating turnovers. They are not blanketing coverage. They are not stopping the splash plays. They are not avoiding penalties. Their only positive is run defense, but it matters little when quarterbacks have all the time in the world to pick apart a secondary. In back-to-back weeks, the Lions have made Wan’Dale Robinson and Dontayvion Wicks look like superstars. Sheppard needs to turnaround his defense quickly before the season is truly lost.
Winner: Jared Goff, QB
It was not Goff’s best game, but given the injury woes that the Lions have incurred recently, I was impressed. Over the previous two games, St. Brown had been peppered with targets (25 in total). When he exited the game on Thanksgiving, I thought that the passing attack was dead in the water. Goff had been hot and cold when targeting Williams throughout the season, but I was unsure that he could handle the duties of WR1 without St. Brown. Williams got his aforementioned credit, but Goff also deserves credit for airing the ball out despite a depleted arsenal around him.
The only knocks I have on him were holding onto the ball too long at times, leading to two of his three sacks, and the off-target pass to Williams on fourth down. Otherwise, it was a surprisingly good outing for Goff without his usual go-to targets.
Loser: Ross Dwelley, TE
The Lions were in a dire situation without Sam LaPorta and Brock Wright. Ross Dwelley was the next in line at tight end, but expectations were low for the veteran that had only been targeted once this season. A contribution or two as a receiver would be a bonus, but at bare minimum, the Lions needed him to help with blocking a tough Packers front seven.
Not only was Dwelley absent as a receiver (just one reception for three yards), he was subpar as a blocker. Dwelley was getting manhandled by the Packers linebackers, rarely generating room for Jahmyr Gibbs or David Montgomery on the perimeter. Dwelley was responsible for the failed fourth down attempt that opened the second half. Isaiah McDuffie blew by the tight end without issue and corralled Gibbs in the backfield for a loss of two on fourth-and-3.
The drop off from LaPorta to Wright was always going to be significant, but without Wright as well, tight end is essentially a nonexistent position for the Lions. Detroit might as well utilize a sixth offensive lineman.
Loser: Officiating
I will not comment on the multiple missed delay of games. I will not comment on the multiple missed holding calls. Moments like these are sadly the norm when facing the Packers. The Lions are used to garbage officiating.
We are not used to garbage like this.
With the Packers on the doorstep of the Lions’ end zone and a pivotal fourth-and-1 upcoming, Packers right guard Anthony Belton jumped, leading to a false start penalty and forcing Green Bay into a field goal situation. Except it didn’t. Instead, the officiating crew somehow deemed that Matt LaFleur called a timeout before the play. Except he didn’t:
As a Lions fan, you think you have seen it all when it comes to officiating blunders, but alas, the league finds new ways to screw the Lions. Making this decision is flat-out unacceptable for any level of football, let alone the upper echelon of professional football in the world. The right guard clearly moved early and LaFleur clearly called a timeout late. It is an open and shut case—nobody in the world would have batted an eye at a false start penalty getting called. Instead, the officials gift the Packers a timeout, a redo, and a touchdown. Add it to the list of new ways the Lions have been victimized by bad and bizarre officiating. The post-game pool report did little to ease the situation:
Those Packers receivers are that good, I guess.
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