***TNF IN THE SWAMP - BLACK AND BLUE BATTLE - GB @ DET***
***GREEN BAY PACKERS @ DETROIT LIONS***
What a treat tonight as we are in for what should be a back and forth war between two teams in the NFC North in a HUGE game for both squads. These teams are trending in opposite directions at the moment with the Pack dropping 3 of their last 4 games and the Lions winning 3 straight, starting with a getting the long-time monkey off their back with a win on the road in Green Bay where they have consistently lost every year since 1991!!!! Good for them. Now tonight they try to stretch their luck and have an opportunity to break another streak where they haven't swept the Packers in a season since that same year. Packer QB Aaron Rodgers is feeling the pressure of his KING IN THE NORTH title slipping through the cracks with a hungry talented division in what looks to be a playoff bound Minnesota Viking team and the late season surging Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions. That being said, I feel as though there is a tremendous amount of pressure on Green Bay tonight to get it right, and on the big stage once again nonetheless. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem for this veteran Packer team. However, there seems to be something really wrong with them and the obvious answer is all of their injuries they have had to overcome. Earlier in the year, they found this easy to do and were winning games with ease for the most part. When looking back at those games now, they were mostly against teams that we can now identify as not very good this year like the 49ers, Rams, and Chargers, OR they were against teams who weren't very good at the time and really struggled early on like the Bears, Seahawks, and Chiefs. They dropped three straight against two of the top teams in the league and then the third against this very Lions team off their bye week who have been a completely different team since then and look more like the dangerous playoff team we watched last year. Yes the Pack beat the Vikings on the road in a big time spot but I think this was more of a fold on Minnesota's part with a huge fumble by Adrian Peterson toward the end of the game which pretty much sealed the deal for Green Bay. If not for that fumble I firmly believe the VIkings were going in for a score there and in which case I would imagine come out with that win as well. The Lions dismantled an already imploding Eagles team on Thanksgiving but as bad as Philly has been lately, I think this game served a great purpose for the Lions giving them the extra confidence boost going into this game, a chance to really open up their offense and fine-tune it if you will. With new Offensive Coordinator in Jim Bob Cooter, the Lions look to be back to form and now have a hope that they can run the table, especially if they eliminate their long time big brother at home on the big stage tonight. How sweet would that be! Ford Field will be PUMPING with energy tonight and I like this Lions defensive front to feed off it and get after Rodgers like they did in Green Bay a few weeks ago. I got to believe the hits Rodgers took in that game from defensive lineman like Ziggy Ansah are still fresh in A-Rodge's mind. The Lions secondary has been much better with the help of their pass rush which is finally healthy and have anchor veteran DT Haloti Ngata holding down the middle. Young CB Darius Slay has really come on strong late in the season since being too overconfident earlier this season when Peyton Manning and Demaryius Thomas taught him to respect his elders on the big stage. He has been dare I say a lockdown CB and I like him to stick to Packer WR Randall Cobb forcing the other weapons to bail Rodgers out. That all being said the way Rodgers has been clearly frustrated and throwing public fits lately via the media over his young WRs not putting in the extra work and being on the same page and reading his mind like he is used to Jordy Nelson doing, I got to think has put a lot of pressure on these Packer WRs this week to please Rodgers and I think they might overthink this one tonight and try to do too much. Martha Ford lit a fire under this Lions team and they are believing and have 100% of the mojo flowing here. I think they keep their streak going and make a run at the Wildcard this season. Let's not forget the amount of talent this team has on offense, and what they are capable of doing as we saw last week. They are vibing now, finally. LIONS +2.5
