Green Bay Packers @ Detroit Lions
Final Score: Packers 29, Lions 22
Writer: Brian Hartman (@TooMuch_Brian on Twitter)
This game started quickly with a 53-yard pass to Christian Watson as Jordan Love capped off the drive with a Jayden Reed touchdown. From there, the Packers’ defense showed us how ready they were for that turkey leg because they made Jared Goff’s day miserable. Jared Goff lost all three of his fumbles, including an early fumble returned by Jonathan Owens to put the Packers up 20 to 6. This kept the sad losing skid of the Lions’ Thanksgiving games to seven games. The Packers are now winners of three of their last four games.
Three Up
- Sam LaPorta – The rookie continues to bring excitement to a position that tends to disappoint us.
- Christian Watson – Watson now has back-to-back games with a touchdown; we saw a similar stretch from him last year.
- Jayden Reed – This kid can play. The way he moves with and without the ball has to give Packers fans some excitement for what can come out of this third-round pick.
Three Down
- AJ Dillion – He is not going to be the solution for this team once they move on from Aaron Jones. Dillion just can’t seem to bring high-level play week in and out.
- Jared Goff – After his three-interception day last week, he had a three-fumble game on our Turkey Day. In a game that was looked at as a layup, Goff’s struggles continue. No pie for him.
Green Bay Packers
Quarterback
Jordan Love: 22/32 comp, 268 yards, 3 TD | 3 carries, 39 yards
The Packers quarterback was out on the field this week, but they gave no Love to the Lions. Jordan Love had one of his best games as a pro on this turkey day, and he capped it with his third multi-touchdown game in a row. On the first play from scrimmage, Love hit Christian Watson for a huge 53-yard play. He finished off the drive with a 7-yard pass to Jayden Reed as he sliced across the field. Love squeezed in a second touchdown before the first quarter ended to rookie Tucker Kraft, who is filling in the injured Luke Musgrave. Jordan Love locked up the game late in the fourth on a third down with a career-long 37-yard read option play.
Running Back
AJ Dillion: 14 carries, 43 yards | 3 targets, 3 receptions, 38 yards
With Aaron Jones out for this game, AJ Dillion had opportunities to make something happen but continues to look uninspiring as a starter. This was a tough matchup against a stout Lions defensive front so running for 3.1 yards per carry isn’t surprising. The fact that he had a 17-yard run makes that as ugly as pulling a Thanksgiving turkey from a can. The bright side of the day was that he brought in his three targets for 39 yards.
Patrick Taylor: 3 carries, 11 yards | 1 target, 1 reception, 4 yards
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Christian Watson: 7 targets, 5 receptions, 94 yards, 1 TD
You would have thought Christian Watson was frying a turkey with the heat he brought. Starting the game off with his huge catch was an awesome start to the festivities. The Packers responded to the Lions’ fake on fourth down, and Watson capped off the drive with a score.
Jayden Reed: 2 carries, 16 yards | 8 targets, 4 receptions, 34 yards, 1 TD
This kid can flat-out play! As a third-round rookie, he had minimal expectations coming from a season where Christain Watson made a name for himself in the endzone, and Romeo Doubs proved to be a decent player. Today, Reed soaked up eight targets like those dinner rolls do to that gravy. He scored the first touchdown for the Packers on an impressive snag at the goal line.
Malik Heath: 4 targets, 4 receptions, 46 yards
The rookie had a good day as he filled in for the injured Dontayvion Wicks.
Romeo Doubs: 4 targets, 3 receptions, 37 yards
After seeing a touchdown in four of his last three games, Romeo Doubs had quite a mediocre day.
Tucker Kraft: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 15 yards, 1 TD
The rookie made good use of his time on the field as he took over starting duties.
Detroit Lions
Quarterback
Jared Goff: 29/44 comp, 332 yards, 2 TD | 3 carries, 9 yards
This will not be a Thanksgiving that Jared Goff will want to remember. Goff started well, connecting with Sam LaPorta for their owning drive touchdown. From there, the Packers turned up the oven. Jared Goff was sacked thrice and hit 12 times, resulting in the three fumbles that Green Bay recovered. The Packers were able to capitalize on two of the fumbles early in the game and set the tone for the rest of the day.
Running Back
David Montgomery: 15 carries, 71 yards, 1 TD | 2-pt conversion | 1 target
The early season splits seem to be returning now that David Montgomery has put the injury behind him. Montgomery wasn’t phased as much as Goff was by the Packer’s front seven. He moved well through the holes, got the goalline work, and punched in a Turkey Day score.
Jahmyr Gibbs: 11 carries, 54 yards | 8 targets, 4 receptions, 19 yards
It wasn’t a terrible day for the first-round pick rookie, but with the days he had in the previous weeks, it was a letdown. The most mind-boggling portion of the day for Jahmyr Gibbs was that he saw eight targets and came away with only 19 yards. A swarm of green jerseys met Gibbs when the ball went near him. You would’ve thought someone dropped the turkey leg the way they went after him.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Amon-Ra St. Brown: 11 targets, 9 receptions, 95 yards
Another football game means Amon-Ra St. Brown will do Amon-Ra things. He’s like the mashed potatoes everyone was chowing down on; they were consistent and hard to mess up.
Kalif Raymond: 1 carry, 6 yards | 5 targets, 5 receptions, 90 yards
It’s hard to really take anything away from Kalif Raymond; he saw five targets and caught them all for 90 yards. It took Goff to throw this volume 44 times to see it, which is concerning.
Josh Reynolds: 4 targets, 2 receptions, 15 yards, 1 TD
“Hi, my name is Josh Reynolds, and I took away a touchdown from a real fantasy asset!”
Jameson Williams: 3 targets, 2 receptions, 51 yards
The lack of time for any development really hurt Jameson Williams‘s big play ability. He came away with a big 38-yard catch but wasn’t involved as he should have been through this point of his career.
Sam LaPorta: 8 targets, 5 receptions, 47 yards, 1 TD | 2-pt conversion
The first-year tight end worked his way back in a top tight end play this week. Sam LaPorta scored on the Lion’s first drive in response to the Packers’ opening drive touchdown. The game really didn’t go in LaPorta’s favor following that drive. He pulled in eight total targets, but Jared Goff was under so much pressure that the big plays didn’t have time to develop.