A game between two 8-8 teams doesn’t generally take on the appearance of a heavyweight bout, but the regular season finale between the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions will feature a battle between two surging football teams that have played like two of the NFL’s best over the last two months.
Since the Lions beat the Packers at Ford Field in Week 9…
– Packers are 5-2, 6th in DVOA, 7th in points scored and 8th in point differential.
– Lions are 6-2, 4th in DVOA, 2nd in points scored and 3rd in point differential.
The playoff implications of Sunday night’s showdown are real and significant, which is an incredible thing to say considering the Lions were once 1-6 and the Packers once 4-8.
With a win, the Packers will clinch a playoff spot as the seventh seed. If the Rams beat the Seahawks earlier on Sunday, the Lions will also have a chance to win and clinch the seventh seed. Either way, the final playoff spot in the NFC will be decided at Lambeau Field in Week 18.
Can the Packers, for the second week in a row, avenge an earlier road loss to a division rival and win at home in a must-win game? The Vikings, despite a far superior win-loss record, look like paper tigers and hardly presented a challenge in Week 17. The Lions might be 8-8, but Dan Campbell’s team is statistically strong and tough as hell and cannot be overlooked. Forget the first half of the 2022 season; Sunday night at Lambeau Field will be a showdown of two of the NFL’s hottest teams, and the winner will go into the postseason as a team to be reckoned with in the NFC field.
Other interesting factoids surrounding this showdown:
– The Packers have 12 takeaways (including nine interceptions) over the team’s current four-game win streak. Lions quarterback Jared Goff has thrown 15 touchdown passes and zero interceptions over the last eight games, the Lions rank No. 1 in the NFL in total giveaways.
– The Lions have scored 30 or more points five times in the last eight games. Both teams scored 41 points during one-sided victories in Week 17.
– The Lions have thrown 29 touchdown passes but also allowed 25. They’ve rushed for 21 touchdowns but allowed 22.
– Former Packers running back Jamaal Williams has 15 rushing touchdowns and is six yards away from his first 1,000-yard rushing season.
– Both the Lions and Packers have a returner with a touchdown this season. Kalif Raymond returned a punt for a score in Week 15; Keisean Nixon returned a kickoff for a touchdown last week.
– Both the Lions and Packers have a speedy rookie receiver with game-breaking potential. Jameson Williams caught a 41-yard touchdown pass on his first NFL touch and created a 40-yard rush; Christian Watson has eight total touchdowns since Week 10.
– Both teams are giving up 5.0 or more yards per carry on defense this season.
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