In a league of parity, Packers dominance of Lions continues

By: Matt Shepard
Ford Lions Report Live Analyst

I hate to be a pessimist, but let me be the 150 ^th person to state the obvious. The Green Bay Packers are better than the Detroit Lions.

I could use this blog to give you the keys to a possible Lions victory Sunday at Lambeau Field, but you’d never believe it. 

I could give you all kinds of numbers that suggest the Lions have a chance for an upset, but you’d stop short of falling over laughing. 

The fact of the matter is I can’t find a single scenario how Detroit can win this game and maybe that’s why they can. You see the NFL is strange and often-times unpredictable. Did you actually believe Arizona could win in Foxboro against the Patriots? Were you sold on the Vikings upsetting the 49ers or the Browns upstaging the Steelers or the Seahawks marching into Soldier Field and stunning the Bears? No. Me either.

This game in Green Bay Sunday night has all the making of a Detroit disaster. The Packers have won 21 straight against the Lions in the state of Wisconsin and haven’t lost at Lambeau in the series since 1991. Green Bay has won ten straight divisional games; eight in a row at home; its 30-9 against the NFC North under Mike McCarthy and their head coach is 12-1 in his career against the Lions.

The Packers average 31.2 points per game at home since 2009, good for second best in the league to New England. And the defense has generated at least two takeaways in 21 of their 30 home games since 2009.  They have a quarterback in Aaron Rodgers is among the best all time in red zone efficiency, touchdown passes, turnover ratio, and completion percentage against the blitz. 

They have a defense that ranks fourth in the league in scoring and touchdowns allowed and they possess a special teams player that rivals Percy Harvin of the Vikings in Randall Cobb. He’s already second in Packers history with three kick return scores and he’s the only player in NFL history to score on a kick return in week one in each of his first two seasons.

On top of all that, this Green Bay squad plays its best when the lights shine brightest. They have won four straight Sunday night games at Lambeau; six of their last eight overall and are 19-6 overall on Sunday nights.

Rodgers, in eight regular season starts on Sunday night, completes 65% of his passes; has thrown for 20 scores and been picked off just three times.

I don’t mean to be downer, I just don’t see how the Lions can possibly win this game. Of course, I didn’t think the Bengals could be the Giants or the Titans could beat the Steelers or the Chiefs beat anybody.