GREEN BAY – For the second time in three years, the Packers went into Detroit's Ford Field on Thanksgiving and beat the Lions.
Both times, stopping the Lions on fourth down proved crucial.
So much so that the disparity in Detroit's fourth-down success rate on Thanksgiving against the Packers, compared to all other games against Green Bay under coach Dan Campbell, is rather eye-popping.
Last Thursday, the Lions went 0-for-2 on fourth down in Green Bay's 31-24 win. In 2023 on Thanksgiving, the Lions went 1-for-5 – including a failed fake punt inside their own 25-yard line – in the Packers' 29-22 victory.
That equals 1-for-7 (14.3%) in the two Thanksgiving games.
In Campbell's other eight games against the Packers since taking over as Lions coach in 2021, Detroit has converted 15-of-22 on fourth down (68%), winning six of the eight matchups.
The most impactful fourth-down conversions came in last year's Lions sweep, when Detroit went 6-for-7 in the two games, scoring four TDs on fourth downs and using a final conversion to drain the clock for a walk-off field goal.
The Packers certainly turned the tables on Thanksgiving, scoring two fourth-down TDs and killing the clock with another fourth-down conversion.
But back to Detroit's fourth downs, looking at the Thanksgiving games compared to the rest of the Campbell era, there have been almost as many fourth-down failures in the two holiday matchups with Green Bay (six) than in the other eight contests against the Packers under Campbell (seven).
That qualifies as a little crazy.
As for the Packers' three conversions on fourth down on Thanksgiving, that ties the high for a single game in the Matt LaFleur era, and it's just the third time in the last five years Green Bay has successfully converted three times on fourth down in a game.
The others were last season against New Orleans (3-3) in a 34-0 shutout victory, and on Christmas Day 2022 at Miami (3-5), a 26-20 win.
Only one of those six fourth-down conversions was an actual touchdown play, a 1-yard TD pass from QB Aaron Rodgers to TE Marcedes Lewis on fourth-and-goal at Miami on Christmas 2022.
