Green Bay Packers: Week 12 special teams recap

The connection between Johnson and quarterback Matthew Stafford was at its best in the 45-14 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Thanksgiving, with the duo combining for three touchdowns.

Stafford is coming off the game of his career against a downtrodden Eagles defense. These teams have faced off 172 times and the Packers now lead that series 97-68-7. This week doesn’t get any easier for the Packers, as they have to face the hot Detroit Lions. Under coordinator Jim Bob Cooter, the Lions are closer to a balanced offense.

The Packers have a chance to have their starting offensive line together for Thursday night’s game in Detroit, but health-wise, the unit isn’t there yet. They are now sitting at 18th in yards allowed per game at 248, they have a lower yards per attempt at home, but carry a slightly higher touchdown to interception ratio. On Thanksgiving, the Bears did just that.

It’s not a level the Packers have been accustomed to in 10 seasons under head coach Mike McCarthy, especially since Aaron Rodgers took over as quarterback in 2008. We went in there and we slapped them on his ass.

The Packers struggled to score at Ford Field even before they struggled to score everywhere else, as is now the case. The result has been to make Rodgers look nearly mortal. Defensively, the Packers biggest task will be stopping Calvin Johnson, one of the most prolific receivers in National Football League history. Not sure if he is just healthy or he is wearing down worn-out defenses, but he certainly looks rejuvenated. Either way, the Packers are stumbling, and it’s not looking too good. Eddie Lacy got going in a better direction in Week 12, but fumbles continue to haunt him. Detroit has really turned on defensively and this could be a tough draw for a struggling Packers team.

Wide receiver Lance Moore is the only player ruled out for the Lions. I see the Packers winning, 31-21. “I know he’s a guy, it’s hard to keep the ball out of his hands just because of the type of player he is”.

Center Travis Swanson joins those two with an ankle issue, but the outlook is less clear after he missed practice Tuesday and would have missed Wednesday if the Lions had done more than a walkthrough. Right now teams are double-teaming Randall Cobb, Davante Adams and James Jones and it is working.

Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions (+3, 46.5)The Detroit Lions were on the fast track to oblivion before ending a 24-year drought with a shocking victory at the Green Bay Packers in Week 10. In this case, it was a blocked field goal that ended the game, which at the time was the third consecutive loss for Green Bay. And just like most weeks lately, I am befuddled by the line in this game.

While injuries obviously contribute to the team’s losing skid, the fact remains that the team hasn’t shown any resilience or will to relive the kind of mentality they had at the start of the season. The Lions are showing improvement but with a thin margin for error fail to capitalize on Green Bay’s vulnerability.