5 takeaways from Packers’ Thanksgiving win over…

3. And they won on fourth down again with the game on the line.

The Lions put together a long drive that stalled in goal-to-go thanks to a Parsons sack on third down, giving him 2½ sacks in the game. Detroit kicked the field goal this time to get within seven points.

“Certainly you felt Micah Parsons today,” LaFleur said. “He had a helluva performance.”

Added Love: “He’s a problem out there. Definitely fun to watch.”

That gave the Packers 2:59 to kill on offense, and they picked up one first down on a third-down pass to Watson. Three plays later, with the Lions out of timeouts, it was third-and-3 from the Detroit 45.

LaFleur had decided during the two-minute warning he was keeping the game in his offense’s hands.

“I told Jordan, hey, we’ve got two downs here,” he said. “Gotta get one of the two. Our guys just made a play.”

It came on the second one, after a third-down toss to Watson was dropped. On fourth-abnd-3, the Packers initially tried to draw the Lions offside and called timeout.

On the re-rack, Love found Wicks over the middle, once again versus man coverage, and he leaped for a 16-yard reception to ice the game.

“Was there ever a doubt?” LaFleur quipped, though he certainly acknowledged the risk of giving the Lions the ball back near midfield in a seven-point game.

“It is what it is. I’d rather go down swinging, similar to how we did in Arizona. Sometimes it can bite you, absolutely, and you just have to deal with the consequences.”

4. There were big performances and a bad injury.

Love threw four TD passes and posted a 124.2 rating, joining Brett Favre as the only Packers QBs to throw four TDs in a Thanksgiving game.

Meanwhile Parsons now has 8½ sacks in five career Thanksgiving games.

Running back Josh Jacobs returned from a 1½-game absence to rush 17 times for 83 yards. Watson finished with four catches for 80 yards and his long score.

Perhaps the biggest props go to Wicks, not just for the fourth downs but for his best game of the season: six catches for 94 yards and two TDs.

After a season plagued with drops in 2024 and then slowed by a recurring calf injury in 2025, the third-year receiver came up huge.

“It’s never been for him a lack of talent,” LaFleur said of Wicks. “He’s always had the talent. He’s a natural plucker of the football.

“I speak for myself and our staff, we never wavered on his ability.”

The bad news came in the form of an ankle injury to defensive lineman Devonte Wyatt late in the fourth quarter on Parsons’ third-down sack in goal-to-go. Wyatt had to be carted off the field and LaFleur lamented it “doesn’t look good” and made the big win a little bittersweet.

“I’m sick for him, sick for us,” he said. “That’s a critical loss for our football team. I’ve got a lotta love for Devonte Wyatt, and our whole locker room does, too.”

5. The NFC North remains a battle.

At 8-3-1 after three straight wins, the Packers will now watch on Black Friday as the first-place Bears, at 8-3, take on the Super Bowl champion Eagles. A Chicago loss would vault Green Bay into first place.

But whether the Packers enter next week in first or second, the Bears are coming to Lambeau Field in 10 days.

“Obviously we know what’s at stake with this game and with every division game we have,” Love said. “The NFC North is a tight race. A lot of good football teams in our division and you’ve got to come out and handle business.

“You’ve got to come in and win these games and try to control your own destiny.”