The Green Bay Packers couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity to stop the Detroit Lions on their tracks this week. With 13 players absent from their defense, the Lions had grim hopes of continuing their winning streak that stretches back to week 3. But that mentality to churn out wins was yet again on show in the Motor City. As the Lions’ depleted defense held Jordan Love’s offense to make it 11 wins in a row.

Just look at Love’s first-half performance. It wasn’t very good, to say the least. The Lions’ defense held him to just three completed passes on seven attempts. And the Packers QB got only 31 yards in the first 30 minutes. Per ESPNStatsInfo, this was his lowest tally in the first half of his NFL career. On the other hand, Packers’ fans were busy trash-talking the Lions’ defense, confident that Jordan Love would exploit the gaps.

Lions cornerback Carlton Davis remembered that disrespect and called the Cheeseheads out after winning 34-31. “They was saying craziness, like Jordan Love was about to pass for 430 or some s— like that. I don’t know, but that was disrespectful. Like, what the f—? You know what I mean? But whatever. I think he had like 200 passing yards and we have up some BS” Well, in the end, the Packers were outplayed on all corners of the offense.

Their final tally of total yards stopped at 298, while the Lions got 391 to continue their charge toward claiming the NFC North title. Even Jordan Love himself gave his honest opinion on how they should have capitalized better against the Lions’ revolving defense: “We knew that, especially offensively. It wasn’t like they were doing anything that was really stopping us. I think we were just hurting ourselves and not executing.” 

Well, it could be true. When the Packers needed Love to play his best game this season. He completed just 12 out of 20 passes for 206 yards while passing for a single TD.

Although this could be a golden opportunity missed by Green Bay, they might get another chance to meet the Lions if they make the playoffs. Like Carlton Davis said in post-game pressers, “It’s not over yet.”

Are the Lions and the Packers heading for a redo in the postseason?

See, the Lions are on their way to clinch the division title with a win over the Packers. As for the Cheeseheads, they are out of the race to claim the NFC North title. But their playoff hopes remain untethered. Before going into the clash on Thursday, the Packers had a 99% chance to make the playoffs, as per The New York Times. And a loss in Detroit meant their chances dropped by just 1%. Even the NFL’s official website also says the same. The Packers still have a 96% chance to claim a postseason spot in the coming weeks.

However, Jordan Love is not ready to get ahead of themselves on the given permutations and combinations, “That’s one thing we just got to continue to take a week at a time like we always talk about. Obviously, we got a couple games left here and we’re trying to finish on the right note and win out these last couple of games, handle business, take it one game at a time.” Looking at the whole picture of the NFC standings, we can see that the Packers currently stand at the 6th place.

If these standings remain the same for the next few weeks, then the Packers could play against the Seahawks in the postseason. And that would be a rematch of next Sunday Night’s clash in Seattle. Well, to play the Lions, the Cheeseheads have to occupy the lowest surviving seed, and then we might see a redo in the postseason.