Packers: Five players key to victory in Week 14 vs. Lions
By Jesse Fry
Key players for Packers in Week 14 vs. Lions.
With four games left, the playoff picture is becoming clearer. The contenders are being separated from the pretenders and there are a few division races left to be decided.
The Green Bay Packers can clinch the division Sunday with a win in Detroit and a Vikings loss to Tampa. After that there is still much to be sorted out as the Packers could be anywhere from the one to the third seed.
Barring a monumental collapse in the last four games, the Packers are in the driver’s seat for the second seed but they want more. A loss by New Orleans and the Packers wining their final four will give the Packers the one by virtue of their Week 3 win down in Louisiana.
Green Bay shouldn’t think that far ahead though. They need to take care of business in Motown first.
The Packers have struggled some in Detroit having to play catchup after sluggish starts. In a bit of an anomaly, Green Bay won the last game in Detroit without ever leading. It took a last-second field goal for the Packers to pull out the win.
The Lions are coming off a victory over the Bears and are looking to spoil the Packers’ fun behind an interim head coach looking to make an impression if not on the Lions then on any other team with a vacancy next offseason.
Darrell Bevell has a five-game audition to show the NFL he has what it takes as the head man and a win over a playoff-bound team would be quite the feather in his cap.
The Lions may be without their best playmaker on offense as Kenny Golladay is still not practicing because of a hip injury.
That doesn’t matter much to Matthew Stafford. He pulled out a come-from-behind win last week without him and has the ability to do the same this week. This is good news for the Packers though. Golladay has been a Packers killer and seems to save his best for the green and gold.
For the Packers to come away with a win, these players will need to step up.