Packers' red-zone play key to springing Thanksgiving upset against Lions

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The Green Bay Packers are one of the worst red-zone offenses in the NFL, but they can win on Thanksgiving by exploiting their situational advantage there against the Detroit Lions.

No, you didn’t misread that. The 8-2, kneecap-biting Lions do many things on a football field better than Matt LaFleur’s 4-6 team, but executing in the red zone, on both sides of the ball, is not one of them. As Jordan Love and the Packers offense catch a rhythm, if they can translate that growth into the red zone, they have a shot to give Detroit the turkey trots.

Over the last three weeks, the Packers offense moved the ball with aplomb. Love and Co. put up over 390 yards in each game but never went over 23 points in any of them. In fact, 66 total points in those contests in total has to be something close to the least amount they could reasonably score given how well the offense moved.

For those of you with a weak stomach, proceed with caution for the following red-zone statistic: Over the last three weeks, the Packers have converted a vomit-inducing 3-12 opportunities inside the opponent’s 20.

I hope you weren’t eating for that.