The Green Bay Packers visit the Detroit Lions on Sunday, Oct. 25, in Week 7. Kickoff is 3:25 p.m. Central (4:25 p.m. ET) at Ford Field on Fox as America's Game of the Week. Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady are in the booth, with Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi on the sidelines.
It is the first division game of the season for the Lions and the third for the Packers, and the NFC North is crowded. Minnesota is 5-0, Chicago is 5-2 after beating New England on Thursday, Green Bay is 4-2 and Detroit is 3-2. It is the only division in the league with all four teams above .500.
"Division games are big, man," Lions coach Dan Campbell said this week. "You talk about wanting to win a division, you have got to win division games."
The Lions learned that the hard way last season. They went 2-4 in the division, finished 9-8 and missed the playoffs while the Bears won the North.
How Green Bay got here
The Packers started 1-2: a 39-22 loss at Minnesota, a 20-17 overtime win at the Jets and a 35-14 home loss to Atlanta. They have won three straight since, 17-14 at Tampa Bay, 31-7 over Chicago and 23-13 over Dallas last Sunday night at Lambeau Field. Against the Cowboys they led 17-0 at halftime. Matthew Golden caught six passes for 104 yards and a touchdown, Evan Williams and rookie cornerback Brandon Cisse intercepted passes, and the defense made two fourth-down stops.
Jordan Love has thrown for 1,684 yards, 11 touchdowns and four interceptions, and no quarterback has thrown more passes of 20 yards or more. His top two receivers are the only pair in the league who both rank in the top 10 in receiving yards: Christian Watson has 538 yards and six touchdowns, and Golden has 501 yards and three. "He is the secret sauce," Campbell said of Love.
The run game has been the problem. The Packers are last in the NFL at 59.8 rushing yards a game, and that is where Josh Jacobs comes in. The three-time Pro Bowler, who ran for 929 yards and 13 touchdowns last season, missed the first six games on the commissioner's exempt list following a May arrest and was taken off the list Oct. 19. Asked Friday whether Jacobs would play, coach Matt LaFleur said, "I believe so."
"It's going to be a huge addition for us," Love said. "Excited to have him back."
The Packers are also the league's most penalized team, with 57 flags for 465 yards.
How Detroit got here
The Lions are 2-0 at home and 1-2 on the road. They beat New Orleans 31-30 in overtime, lost 41-31 at Buffalo, beat the Jets 31-24, lost 32-26 at Carolina and won 45-21 at Arizona on Oct. 11 before their bye. In Arizona, Jared Goff threw three touchdown passes and ran for another, and Jahmyr Gibbs ran 25 times for 151 yards and two scores.
Goff has thrown for 1,485 yards and 12 touchdowns without an interception, with a 111.3 passer rating. Gibbs leads the NFL with nine touchdowns from scrimmage, seven rushing and two receiving, and has 747 yards from scrimmage. Amon-Ra St. Brown has 37 catches for 372 yards and five touchdowns, and Sam LaPorta has 316 yards and three scores. Detroit ranks fourth in total offense and scores 32.8 points a game.
The other side of the ball is the concern. The Lions rank last in the league in total defense and have allowed 29.6 points a game, which sets up Green Bay's deep passing game against Detroit's secondary as the matchup to watch. The pass rush has held up its end: the Lions lead the NFL with 20 sacks, five by DJ Wonnum and four by Aidan Hutchinson.
Who's in and who's out
Detroit expects two players back. Safety Brian Branch, who tore his Achilles tendon last December, and center Cade Mays, out since breaking his wrist in August, are listed as questionable but practiced fully all week. "Barring anything negatively happening between now and the game, we plan on playing both of those guys," Campbell said. Safety Kerby Joseph remains out.
Green Bay ruled out linebacker Zaire Franklin, who was kneed in the shin at practice Thursday, so Isaiah McDuffie and Ty'Ron Hopper will start. Love was limited early in the week with a back issue but practiced fully Friday and has no designation. Micah Parsons is still on the physically unable to perform list as he recovers from a torn ACL, and linebacker Edgerrin Cooper is on injured reserve with a torn Achilles. The defense has still made plays: safety Xavier McKinney's three interceptions are tied for the league lead, and the Packers have seven takeaways in their last two games.
Nearly a century of it
The Packers lead the series 108-78-7, including two playoff wins. The rivalry goes back to the years when the Lions were the Portsmouth Spartans, before their 1934 move to Detroit.
Some of the moments: the Lions won 26-14 on Thanksgiving in 1962 with 11 sacks. Green Bay won both playoff meetings, 28-24 in January 1994 and 16-12 that Dec. 31. The Packers won 24 straight home games against Detroit in Wisconsin from 1992 to 2014, a run the Lions finally ended in November 2015. Weeks later came the Miracle in Motown, Aaron Rodgers' 61-yard Hail Mary to Richard Rodgers on the final play for a 27-23 Green Bay win at Ford Field. The highest-scoring game in the series was a 45-41 Packers win in 2011, the Matt Flynn game. And on Jan. 8, 2023, the Lions won 20-16 at Lambeau in what turned out to be Rodgers' last game as a Packer.
Detroit swept the 2024 meetings. Green Bay swept 2025, 27-13 at Lambeau in the opener and 31-24 at Ford Field on Thanksgiving. The teams meet again in Week 18 at Lambeau.
The line
The Lions are 3-point favorites at DraftKings after opening at 1.5, with a total of 53.5.
Game day at Ford Field
Eastern Market lists Sunday as a tailgate date. Tickets are sold online only, in advance, and the lots open five hours before kickoff with no early access. Tents can be no bigger than 10 by 10 feet, and only gas, propane or self-contained charcoal grills are allowed; deep fryers, lighter fluid and DJ setups are banned. Lots must be empty an hour after the game.
The Lions are holding a free party at Pride Plaza on Brush Street from 1:30 p.m. ET with food trucks and the drumline. Gates usually open two hours before kickoff, about 2:25 p.m. ET. The Lions will wear their all-black alternate uniforms, and Brian d'Arcy James sings the anthem. For the Detroit side of the lots, see our Eastern Market tailgate page.