DETROIT – What if the Detroit Lions haven’t seen the last of the Green Bay Packers for this season?
It would have sounded completely ridiculous a few weeks ago, when the Packers were 2-5 and closer to the top of the draft than the playoffs.
But here we are, five weeks later, and the 6-6 Packers are tied with the Vikings for the second and third wildcard spots.
That’s notable because the Lions are probably going to host the second or third wildcard team in the first round of the playoffs (as we discussed in this article).
Thanksgiving is the worst day of the year to have a bad taste in your mouth, but that’s exactly what the Packers served to thousands of Lions fans when they went into Ford Field and dominated for a full 60 minutes.
It was a shocking result, especially since the Lions had handled the Packers rather easily at Lambeau Field earlier in the season.
Over the past two weeks, the Packers have knocked off the first-place Lions and first-place Chiefs to pull into a four-team tie. The Rams and Seahawks are also 6-6, but the Packers and Vikings currently hold the tiebreakers because of head-to-head results and conference records.
Detroit seems likely to finish with the No. 3 seed in the NFC behind the Eagles and 49ers, and that would mean a battle with the second wildcard team.
Green Bay isn’t going to catch Dallas for the top wildcard spot, but it has a great chance to surpass the Vikings thanks to a schedule with the Giants, Buccaneers, Panthers, and Bears all remaining. Minnesota has to play the Lions twice. The two teams also meet in Week 17.
A rematch with the Packers at home probably isn’t what the Lions had in mind after they got beat on Thanksgiving. Rashan Gary feasted on Taylor Decker and Jordan Love looked like an MVP candidate against the Detroit secondary.
But somehow, some way, it looks like a distinct possibility.