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http://hosted.stats.com/fb/preview.asp?g=20131128008&home=8&vis=9

 

(AP) -- Exit Aaron Rodgers for three weeks, and the NFC North has suddenly overtaken the NFC East as football's most up-for-grabs division.

 

Two of its three five-loss teams will try to further establish themselves Thursday when the Green Bay Packers visit the Detroit Lions with much more than a drumstick at stake.

 

The Packers' quarterback situation has mirrored the division's uncertainty since Rodgers went down with a broken left collarbone Nov. 4 against Chicago. Coach Mike McCarthy said Monday that Rodgers' chances of playing on Thanksgiving are poor, which leaves Green Bay's hopes of matching the Lions and Bears for a division-best six wins in the hands of Matt Flynn or Scott Tolzien.

 

Tolzien has started the last two games, but it was Flynn who led the team back from a 16-point, second-half deficit in Sunday's 26-26 tie with Minnesota. McCarthy made the move to Flynn midway through the third quarter but said he isn't sure who would start against the Lions.

 

The Packers (5-5-1) are 0-3-1 since Rodgers got hurt.

 

"(I) had a meeting with Aaron. He would like to go (against the Lions)," McCarthy said. "Frankly, based on the information where we are as far as the conversation with Aaron, the conversation with the medical staff, I would say he's slim to none, to give you what I'm thinking."

 

Tolzien ran for a touchdown and completed 7 of 17 passes for 98 yards before the switch was made. He took over for the injured Seneca Wallace on Nov. 11 against Philadelphia, but combined for one touchdown pass and five interceptions in his two starts and one relief appearance.

 

Flynn, playing his first game with the Packers since backing up Rodgers from 2008-11, went 21 of 36 for 218 yards and a touchdown.

 

A four-day turnaround has made the distribution of practice reps between quarterbacks more difficult than normal.

 

"I don't know what's going to happen, but I'll be ready no matter if I take 0 percent, 50 percent, 100 percent of the reps," Flynn said. "I'll be ready to roll. I think I've developed the skill of improving myself without taking reps. We'll see what happens."

 

Green Bay has averaged 18.0 points in the last four weeks, tied for 25th in the league. Through Week 8, the Packers were third in the league with Rodgers at 30.3 points per game.

 

A win would vault the Packers past the Lions (6-5), who haven't been able to take advantage of their division foe's misfortune or their own seemingly soft schedule.

 

Detroit has lost consecutive games for the first time this year, and they've come against Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay, which have a combined 8-14 record. But both of those teams have won three in a row.

 

The Lions now face a Green Bay team that has gone winless in four straight for the first time since a five-game losing streak in 2008. Detroit, however, has lost nine straight Thanksgiving Day games since a win over the Packers in 2003.

 

"I think we all need to remind ourselves, like we did yesterday, that the fact is that there's five games remaining, and we're in first place," Detroit coach Jim Schwartz said Monday. "We need to conduct ourselves accordingly, and we can't worry what happened last week, we can't worry about what happened yesterday. We need to worry about what's going to happen in the future. I like our team's mindset."

 

The Lions haven't exactly had the same quarterback of late, either. Matthew Stafford threw at least four interceptions for the first time since Nov. 13, 2011, in Sunday's 24-21 loss to the Buccaneers.

 

He'd thrown eight in the previous 10 games this season with just one multi-interception game.

 

Accuracy has been an issue as Stafford has completed a league-worst 49.6 percent of his throws this month in three games after connecting on 62.4 percent through Week 8.

 

The off day against the Bucs came despite the return of one of Stafford's top targets, Nate Burleson. The Lions' No. 2 wide receiver had seven catches on 10 targets for 77 yards and a touchdown in his first game since Sept. 22 after breaking his left arm in a car accident.

 

After Sunday's loss, running back Reggie Bush said it was time for a players-only meeting. Stafford didn't agree.

 

"I don't think it's necessary," Stafford said. "This is a team I've been around for a while, and we have strong leaders on this team. We can get it taken care of just in individual groups. We've got leaders at every position, and guys know what it takes to win in this league."

 

This week, it'll take snapping a five-game skid against the Packers, which includes a 22-9 loss in Green Bay on Oct. 6. It was the Lions' only game without a touchdown and the only time they've been held under 21 points as Stafford was sacked a season-high five times.

 

Detroit is 1-15 against the Packers since Dec. 11, 2005, and Stafford has never beaten them. He's 0-6 with 10 touchdowns and 12 interceptions since entering the league in 2009. The one win against the Packers in his time with the team was led by then-backup Drew Stanton.

 

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I lol'ed at Lions fans getting pissed/taking offense to anything Josh Sitton said.

 

Calling a defensive dirty is a compliment as far as I'm concerned, it's football. And Jim Shwartz is a bum for the most part. And he's a division rival, who gives a shit?

 

Anyway, I've given up on trying to figure out these Lions. They should win, but I wouldn't at all be surprised with another L.

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Packers TE Brandon Bostick (concussion) is inactive for Thursday's Week 13 game against the Lions.

Bostick sustained the head injury during last week's tie with the Vikings and couldn't get cleared on the short week. Blocker Andrew Quarless will handle all the tight end duties today.
Aaron Rodgers (collarbone) is inactive as previously reported, but was throwing well during pregame warmups. He has a very real shot to play in Week 14.
The rest of the Packers inactives: WR Chris Harper, LB Nate Palmer, LB Jamari Lattimore, DE C.J. Wilson and DE Jerel Worthy.

 

 

 

 

Calvin Johnson (knee) is active for Thursday's game against the Lions, as expected.

Johnson's status was never in doubt even though he didn't get any real practice time in on the short week. As pointed out in Evan Silva's Matchup Column, Megatron has gone 11/244/1, 5/143/1 and 10/118/0 in his last three games against Dom Capers' Green Bay defense. On the other side of the ball, the Lions will not have top corner Chris Houston (foot), leaving Darius Slay to start in this potential shootout.
The rest of the Lions inactives: WR Michael Spurlock, QB Kellen Moore, RB Mikel Leshoure, G Leroy Harris, G Rodney Austin and T Corey Hilliard.

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The Lions aren't up nearly enough points yet.

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Didn't get to watch it, and glad I didn't. Very disappointing, season ender...Can't say I am totally surprised, but that doesn't ease the pain, much. Mike McCarthy should be looking for his new DC already.

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Ya it was a horrible game. Everyone played horribly and there needs to be some change. Not everything can be placed on Capers but his scheme was not very good. I don't understand why he always had Burnett in the box, leaving Jennings out to cover and hardly ever had double coverage on Johnson. I want Capers gone and I think this is the last year in his contract anyways. The question is who replaces him? Do we promote Greene or Moss? Or do we find outside help? I know some other fans want Lovie Smith but I don't see his tampa 2 defense working with our personnel.

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