What's at stake?

A Lions win means:
The Lions can either be 2 games back of the Packers with 5 games to go plus another shot at the Packers.

Maintain top Wild Card team position.

A Lions loss means:
The Lions can be 4 games back of the Packers with 5 games remaining.

Drop into a fight for the #6 seed (The Bears move up this week if they and the Lions lose, Falcons have head to head tiebreaker)

The stakes are high for the Lions.

For the Packers?
With a win they can essentially lock up winning their division and extend lead for #1 playoff position by having 2 more conference wins than the 49'ers.

or

If they lose they are still #1 in the conference with tiebreaker over the 49'ers and the media talk of an undefeated season is over.


I expect a high scoring game. Something like 45-38.
The Packers defense leads the NFL in interceptions. A key INT will be the difference in the game.

As evidenced by last year, I think we match up well with the Pack scheme-wise. Rodgers and co. are due for an off game, and I think we have some momentum coming off the second half yesterday. Should be a good one.

I really think the Lions could win this one.

Another slow start by the Lions could result in a very messy game--the Packers will exploit Lions mistakes and turn those mistakes into touchdowns. The Lions will need their best game of the year to keep this one close. Based on what I've seen recently, I can't pick the Lions to win but certainly I think it could happen. If the Lions can limit the mistakes, extend drives, and make the Packers play on a long field, there's a good chance for success.

Stafford needs another big game, 6-0 when his QB rating is 100 or better, 1-3 when he doesn't.

Defensively, Rodgers is playing at a level rarely seen - the Lions DT's need a big game of pressuring him up the middle to disrupt their timing.

How fun!

The Packers, and Rodgers, had their off game on Sunday. Rodgers passer rating was below 140 for the first time in a month. That passing game will do well in the Dome.

The Packers defense has little pass rush and has to blitz to get it. The Lions will get a lot of yards. The Packers DB's have had at least one INT in every game though and that has been enough to enable Rodgers and the offense to score more than the opposition.

It will be a big game, with playoff atmosphere. The Packers can handle that.
I'm counting on the stakes being so high for the Lions that they lose their discipline and take some bad penalties.

Lions don't need big stakes to take bad penalities.

This is the biggest and most important game of the season for the Lions. The Lions will have to be their very best to win this game but it's certainly doable.

25% of the house will be cheeseheads, so if the Lions are down by 14 or 17 points in the 3rd quarter then the Lions fans will start to head home for their turkey. The cheeseheads can't leave til the bus does after the game so they stay in their seats. That means that in the 4th quarter the crowd is 50% Lions fans and 50% drunken obnoxious farmers dressed in green & yellow and far from home. That just never works out well for the Lions.

Bottom line is that the Lions will need to get on top and stay there! That means both our O-Line and D-line have to be awesome and I only have confidence in one of those two.

The intangible is that the Lions really play up for the national TV audience games. If the fans can do anything close to what was done on the Monday night game that will help a lot.

It will be fun, that's for sure.

I'll be there. Who else is going?






BTW, here's a question:

Q: What do you call a 250 lb woman from Wisconsin?




A: Anorexic.

The Packers passing game will do well in the dome? I'm not so sure that Rodgers would agree with you. I was at the Packers v Lions game last year, and they couldn't do a damn thing against us. I'm not saying it will go that way again, but if they're OL can't block our DL again, and if their O can't deal with crowd noise of FF (much the same way Chicago couldn't) we'll own them at home again...

Where I was wrong:
It was not a high scoring game. The Lions defense did well. The Lions offense didn't score until garbage time in the 4th quarter.

Where I was right:
The Packers still lead the league in INT's and a key INT was the difference in the game.







Most of what I said would happen happened.

To bad the game did not live up to the hipe. The Lions have players that cannot control their emotions.

You can't control a half dozen injuries (you know it's bad when Rashied Davis is playing CB) or how the packers get away with everything under the sun (offensive PI, defensive PI, holding, illegal use of the hands, hands to the face, roughing the passer, etc).

Hard to maintain and control your emotions when the poop you do is legal and your flagged for it, but the other team can do whatever the hell they want and rarely ever get flagged. And no, green bay is a clean playing team. They're a damn good team (but they aren't the 16-0 pats, they dominated the regular season). The packers just got some great reffing and Matt stafford served up 2 gift INTs right to the other team

two gifts? which two? all three were great plays by the defense only the one by the LB Francois was a bad decision. the first one i will say was stafford's fault and a great play by pickett but hardly a gift, the defense earned that one. pettigrew s effort on woodson's int play was terrible.

I agree, but he forced that ball in there with Woodson right on pett (who had a pretty half assed effort all game). That was a bad decision. And the one to Francois was awful, he didn't even see him standing between the wr and the ball

Really? Pettigrew had the ball for a reception until Woodson stole it right out of his hands like he was taking candy from a baby.