Looking back at Green Bay’s 22-9 victory over the Lions this weekend, many questions arise … like when will the streak end in Wisconsin for Detroit?! All things aside, I think this is a very different game if Stafford has his full arsenal at WR; then again, GB’s defense is far from healthy. All things considered, the Turkey day matchup on November 28th between these two will be a slugfest.

Let’s take a look at Detroit. First of all, what was going on with Fairley and Suh? I understand Green Bay’s running game has improved but I wasn’t expecting them to put up 180 yards on the ground (I’m aware Ansah was far from healthy). In addition to stopping the run game, Detroit was only able to get to Rodgers once behind the line of scrimmage. I thought the secondary and linebackers looked tough all day aside from a few missed tackles and 1 big play to James Jones. On the plus side, the defense did a great job of buckling down in the red zone, holding Green Bay to 2 field goals on their two redzone trips.

Offensively for Detroit, there’s not a whole lot that can be said about the game when you’re essentially missing 2/3 of your offense. Green Bay was able to put a decent amount of pressure on Stafford as Detroit’s run game was never able to get going. Moving forward, I’d like to see Scott Linehan implement more 3 step drops to ease some of the pressure on the o-line and Stafford. The bright spot for the offense: Brandon Pettigrew is quickly becoming a big threat at TE, his versatility makes him a pain to matchup with.

Looking at Green Bay’s offense, the biggest concern lies in the redzone offense. If you’ve followed Green Bay since Rodgers took over then you’ve probably become accustomed to redzone TD passes, however, such has not been the case this year as McCarthy is still trying to figure out his plan of attack when he’s inside the oppositions 20. Moving forward, I think you can expect to see McCarthy lean heavily on his run game in an effort to limit the hits Rodgers takes. The o-line only gave up one sack on the day and as mentioned earlier, Green Bay racked up 180 yards on the ground. Final thoughts on the offense: Taylor and Jones each had costly drops that could’ve easily led to TD’s, Jordy Nelson continues to make incredible catches, Randall Cobb played a big role in the run game and pass game.

Defensively for Green Bay, the biggest story is 52’s thumb, reports are saying he’s probably out for a month. Thumb injuries to linebackers are extremely debilitating as they really hamper your ability to shed run/pass blockers. Overall, however, Green Bay’s defense had a great day, the d-line and linebackers dominated the line of scrimmage giving up only 64 yards on the ground and picking up 5 sacks. I’m going to avoid commenting on the secondary due to the absence of Megatron and Burleson. My only concern with Green Bay’s defense has been their inability to force turnovers. Few more thoughts on the defense: Hawk had a solid day, Perry picked up 2 sacks, Francois is lost for the season.

Final thoughts:

Mason Crosby went 5-5 on FG’s and connected on a 52 yarder

DeAndre Levy is a force at linebacker for Detroit, 3 tfl’s on the day and 14 combined tackles

I think Detroit gets back on track next week vs. Cleveland

Rodgers will have a big week against the Ravens

If James Jones attempted Lambeau leap isn’t on ‘C’mon Man’ tonight I’ll be pissed