The Detroit Lions, now 7-4 but still on the outside looking in at the NFC playoff picture, will host a Thanksgiving Day game as per usual. And as is often the case, the Green Bay Packers, who are 7-3-1 and sitting in the No. 6 seed in the NFC, will be their foes for the contest. But despite the Packers being ahead of the Lions in the standings, Detroit comes in as the favorites to win on Thursday.
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They Lions are playing at home, but one would think the Packers would get more credit, especially after how they beat them in Week 1. That was Micah Parsons’ first game with the team, and his impact was immediate. He contributed one of the team’s four sacks during the 27-13 drubbing.
The pass rush has slowed off of that four-sack per game pace. But with 29 on the year, they are still top 10 in the NFL. Parsons is already at double digits (10) and Rashan Gary is no slouch either with 7.5. Jon Gruden broke down the first matchup of Turkey Day. The former NFL head coach believes that Packers pass rush will be the key.
“Micah Parsons against [Taylor] Decker. And over here, they’re gonna get Devonte Wyatt, who has 4.0 sacks—two last week against the Vikings—against [Kayode] Awosika. I think those are matchups that favor Green Bay. … Rashan Gary is a badass, okay, Parsons is a badass,” he said.
Gruden argues that two backups playing on the interior of Detroit’s line on a short week spells trouble for the home team. And he’s not wrong.
Even Lions head coach Dan Campbell highlighted the Packers’ pass rush during his preview on the Lions’ YouTube channel. He identified Parsons as a particular area of focus for his team, complimenting the edge rusher for his dynamism.
“We know he’s a dynamic player, he’s a dynamic rusher. This guy plays hard, he’s got a quick first step, he’s powerful, he’s quick,” Campbell explained.
He continued to be effusive in his praise of Parsons as he watched a play against the Pittsburgh Steelers earlier this season in which Parsons manages to get the sack despite three different guys in Black and Gold trying to block him.
“You see him club the tight end, nudges him, already beats that. Then the tackle engages him, then the slide comes to him, the guard gets on him and he beats both of them. And that’s just it. If your’e going to use that many resources, you have to stop this guy. And he’ll just keep coming,” Campbell added.
As Gruden said, this game has a little bit of everything you’re looking for with a fun pass rush on one side and a nice spread offense on the other. It might be tough with the turkey of it all, but make sure you don’t skip this one.
