Detroit Lions vs. Green Bay Packers: Full Green Bay Game Preview

Coming off their second straight loss, the Green Bay Packers will look to regain their NFC North lead on Sunday when they take on the Detroit Lions at Lambeau Field.

A division game at home in Week 10 is a much-needed game for Green Bay (6-2) after having to play its last two on the road against unbeaten opponents.

Furthermore, they'll be facing the bottom-feeder of the entire league—Detroit (1-7) has the NFL's worst record and second-lowest point differential—and a team that can't seem to beat the Packers in the state of Wisconsin.

Green Bay has won 24 straight games at home over its division rivals with the last Detroit victory coming in 1991. The Packers also have yet another home streak on the line—wins in their last 12 games at Lambeau.  

Sunday's contest starts a four-week stretch for the Packers which could ultimately decide the division. They play four straight games against the NFC North in the span of 19 days—a test that begins and ends with Detroit and includes two Thursday night showdowns. 

The Lions are a drastically different team than the one that nearly stole the NFC North from the Packers in last season's finale. A couple of the same faces are there—Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson are the headliners—but their record tells the story of a team far from contention.

Let's take a look at everything you need to know ahead of Green Bay's Week 10 matchup with Detroit. 

Viewing Info

Location: Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin

Date: Sunday, November 15

Time: 1:00 p.m. ET

TV: Fox

Week 9 Results and Recap

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NFC North Standings

Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	Streak
Green Bay Packers	6	2	0	.750	203	167	L2
Minnesota Vikings	6	2	0	.750	168	140	W4
Chicago Bears	3	5	0	.375	162	221	W1
Detroit Lions	1	7	0	.125	149	245	L2

Week 9 Recap

The Green Bay Packers lost their second straight game on the road against an undefeated opponent as the Carolina Panthers came away with the Week 9 win, 37-29, in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The loss was even more painful considering how close the Packers—and, specifically, Aaron Rodgers—came in the end. 

Rodgers, who led a furious fourth-quarter comeback down 23 points, threw his third interception of the season on a 4th-and-goal play from Carolina's 4-yard line to seal the game. If the Packers had scored on the play—Randall Cobb was wide open in the end zone as shown on replay—Rodgers and Co. would have been a two-point conversion away from sending the game into overtime.

The Packers quarterback ultimately finished with 369 passing yards and four touchdowns in the loss, yet his performance was greatly overshadowed by his pick at the end of the game and the five sacks he suffered throughout. 

Carolina, meanwhile, was able to move the ball at will—especially in the first half. The Panthers offense scored 24 unanswered points in the second quarter—highlighted by a Cam Newton quarterback sneak touchdown. When the dust settled, the Panthers racked up 427 total yards of offense in the game, including 130 on the ground. 

After starting 6-0, the Packers now find themselves on a two-game skid—it's the first time Rodgers has lost back-to-back games in a single season since 2010 (h/t ESPN's Jason Wilde).

News and Notes

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Starks Will Be Packers' Lead Back

Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy told reporters before Wednesday's practice that James Starks would be the featured running back this Sunday. 

"I would say James is our No. 1 back right now going into Detroit," McCarthy said, via Weston Hodkiewicz of the Green Bay Press-Gazette. "He’s played very well. He’s earned that opportunity. I’ve never been, and we talked about this a number of times in the past, I’m not a big believer in just riding one running back the whole season. We’ll stay with the one-two punch."

Starks has been the more productive back this season. The 29-year-old is the Packers' leading rusher with 334 yards on 78 carries. Meanwhile, Eddie Lacy—who's struggled mightily this year after back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons as Green Bay's workhorse—has gained 26 less rushing yards on five more carries than Starks so far.

Despite the move, the backfield mates seemed positive when meeting with the media Wednesday. 

"As a team, we're pretty much doing what's needed, going with what's necessary at this time," Lacy said, via ESPN's Rob Demovsky. "This season he's definitely been the better player between the both of us. That's just the move."

"It's still a tandem, a one-two punch," Starks said, via Demovsky. "And that's how it's going to continue to be." 

Offense Undergoes Slight Coaching Change

With their offense ailing of late, it seems the Packers saw the need to make a slight change in their coaching operations.

Quarterbacks/receivers coach Alex Van Pelt—who spent the first seven games of the season upstairs in the press box—will now work from the sidelines as he did in Green Bay's loss to Carolina last week. The move was made official Tuesday when Van Pelt was listed as a sideline coach in the team's weekly release, according to Hodkiewicz. 

Van Pelt coached from the sidelines in his first three years with the Packers, but moved up to the press box when associate head coach Tom Clements was promoted to offensive play-caller in the offseason.

Here's more on the situation from Demovsky:

"

With Van Pelt on the sideline, it gives quarterback Aaron Rodgers someone to talk to between series and allows Clements, who calls plays from the sideline, to plan for the next series. Van Pelt had been on the sideline with Rodgers last season but moved up to the box under the new plan this year.

"

The move comes after head coach Mike McCarthy referenced the team's coaching plans in his podcast (see the 7:30 mark) on Packers.com last week. 

"Frankly, we’re going to make an adjustment this week," McCarthy said. "In hindsight, job responsibility, we go through a change—I probably might have asked too much from Tom. Tom is an excellent play-caller; him and Aaron are connected. I don’t have a concern about that."

Assistant offensive line coach Mike Solari will replace Van Pelt in the coach's box this week.

Packers Sign DT Clume to Practice Squad

Green Bay signed defensive tackle Eric Crume to the practice squad on Tuesday and subsequently released defensive tackle Justin Hamilton. 

The 6'1", 302-pound Crume most recently spent training camp and preseason with Jacksonville after going undrafted out of Syracuse in May. 

According to Demovsky, Crume won a two-man tryout for a spot on the Packers' 10-player practice squad.

Latest Injury News

Matt Ludtke/Associated Press

Week 10 Injury Report 

Player	Position	Injury	Status
Bryan Bulaga	OT	Knee	DNP
Morgan Burnett	SS	Ankle	FP
Casey Hayward	CB	Concussion	DNP
Micah Hyde	DB	Quadricep	FP
Eddie Lacy	RB	Groin	LP
T.J. Lang	OG	Back	LP
Clay Matthews	LB	Ankle/Knee	LP
Ty Montgomery	WR	Ankle	LP
Mike Neal	LB	Hip	DNP
Nick Perry	LB	Shoulder/Hand	LP
Damarious Randall	CB	Illness	DNP
Quinten Rollins	CB	Neck	FP
Sam Shields	CB	Shoulder	LP
Josh Sitton	OG	Back	LP

** Official injury report courtesy of Packers.com **

DNP = Did not participate in Wednesday's practice; LP = Limited participation; FP = Full participation

Injury Notes

A whopping 14 players ended up on Green Bay's initial injury report this week, but fans shouldn't be too worried as the majority practiced on a limited basis at the least.

Cornerbacks Sam Shields (shoulder) and Quinten Rollins (neck) both returned to practice Wednesday after missing last week's loss to Carolina. Getting either player back in action is huge for the Packers, who have suffered a number of setbacks at the cornerback position.

Among them are corners Damarious Randall (illness) and Casey Hayward (concussion)—neither of whom took part in Wednesday's practice. According to Weston Hodkiewicz of the Green Bay Press-Gazette, Hayward remains in the normal concussion protocol after getting knocked out of Sunday's game. Randall sat out practice with an unknown illness after playing every snap against Carolina. 

Meanwhile, the Packers were without starting right tackle Bryan Bulaga—who also played the entirety of last week's game—and linebacker Mike Neal in practice.

ESPN's Rob Demovsky notes that Neal did at least take part in some jog-through work in sweatpants on the side. 

Stay tuned later this week as we hopefully get some clarity on the Packers' long tally of injured players.

Top Matchups

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Packers Secondary vs. Lions WR Calvin Johnson 

Despite the Lions' struggles this season, they still boast one of the league's best talents in wide receiver Calvin Johnson. 

Johnson's stats against the Packers are an interesting case. Last season, the 6'5", 237-pound receiver was held under 100 receiving yards in both games facing Green Bay's secondary—yet still caught two touchdown passes in the 2014 season finale. 

A further look back at Johnson's past reveals a different story, though. Dating back to 2012, "Megatron" finished with at least 100 receiving yards in each of his four previous meetings with Green Bay before last year—including a 244-yard performance in 2011.

On the other hand, Johnson has struggled to connect with quarterback Matthew Stafford in his 2015 campaign. He has only one 100-yard game through the first eight contests and has caught just three touchdown passes.

Nevertheless, Johnson will present a huge matchup problem for Green Bay's defensive backs on Sunday. As it's still up in the air which cornerbacks will be healthy enough to play this week (see previous slide), it remains unclear who will be assigned with covering the Lions' top receiver. 

Johnson, himself, is still a question mark for Sunday's game—the nine-year vet suffered an ankle injury in Week 8 and was limited in practice Wednesday. Johnson expects to play against the Packers, though, according to Josh Katzenstein of the Detroit News.

We'll likely see Sam Shields on Johnson—assuming he's a go for Sunday—or some combination of a double-team if he starts to get going in Detroit's passing game.

James Starks vs. Lions Run Defense

James Starks, who was promoted to the Packers' lead back role this week, steps into a great situation Sunday against a vulnerable Detroit rush defense.

The Lions rank 30th in the NFL against the run—allowing 133.8 yards per game on the ground—and have given up the league's most rushing touchdowns this season (14).

Despite the good matchup, we don't know how much Starks—or Eddie Lacy, for that matter—will be involved in Green Bay's offensive play-calling this week. In his one other start this season, Starks rushed for a season-high 112 yards on 10 carries in the Packers' Oct. 18 win over San Diego.

LT David Bakhtiari vs. Lions DE Ezekiel Ansah

If ever there was a time for third-year offensive tackle David Bakhtiari to have the game of his life—this week is it.

Detroit's defensive end Ezekiel Ansah is tied for fourth in the NFL with seven sacks and has recorded at least one in six of his eight games so far this season. At 6'5" and 278 pounds, the former No. 5 overall draft pick in 2013 has turned into a pass-rushing force to be reckoned with off the edge. 

Bakhtiari, Green Bay's starting left tackle, will likely be called upon Sunday to stop Ansah, who rushes mainly off the right end for Detroit. 

After Aaron Rodgers was sacked five times in last week's loss to Carolina, you can bet there's a little added motivation for Bakhtiari to have a solid game.

X-Factor

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Packers X-Factor of the Week: LB Jake Ryan

Rookie linebacker Jake Ryan is quickly gaining more attention in Green Bay—and for good reason.

After replacing Nate Palmer in the third quarter of last week's loss to Carolina, Ryan proceeded to lead the defense with 10 tackles (six solo) on just 39 defensive snaps. 

It was the second straight week Ryan came in for Palmer to play middle linebacker alongside Clay Matthews—against Denver, the fourth-round pick played just two snaps before Palmer was reinserted.

Ryan's impressive play—albeit in limited time—has brought up the question of whether or not the rookie should get the start Sunday against Detroit. The Green Bay media certainly wondered it as they asked defensive coordinator Dom Capers and head coach Mike McCarthy that very question earlier this week.

"I thought Jake did some good things," Capers said, via Weston Hodkiewicz of the Green Bay Press-Gazette. "We’re going to have to look at what the Lions were doing, and we’ll try to decide what type of play time we’re going to have, but Jake’s a young guy who’s learning like all of our young guys."

McCarthy didn't offer any hint either at the team's plans.

"Just OK," McCarthy said of Ryan's play last week, via Hodkiewicz. "He had some productivity, but it wasn’t as clean as he would like and as we like. I think he was kind of in-line with a number of our performances."

So not much there, but if the advanced metrics are any evidence—Ryan deserves more playing time on the defense's starting unit.

According to Pro Football Focus, the rookie was one of only five Green Bay defenders to earn a positive grade in last week's game. If that wasn't enough, the player-grading site notes Ryan has yet to miss a defensive tackle on 10 attempts—including two clutch stops of the Panthers' Jonathan Stewart and Cam Newton which saved a touchdown and first down, respectively.

Although it's unclear how much we'll see of Ryan on the first-team defense this Sunday, it would be hard to argue against putting him in after what he's done when given the chance.

Either way, there's a lot to be excited about if you're a Packers fan.

Prediction: Packers 31, Lions 14

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After losing their last two games on the road to undefeated opponents, the Packers return home to arguably the best possible matchup to get back to their winning ways. 

The Lions come in with not only the league's worst record at 1-7, but they also haven't beaten the Packers on the road in the last 24 games. 

Furthermore, Green Bay is riding a 12-game winning streak at Lambeau Field—a stretch that dates back to last season. 

As mentioned earlier, look for the Packers to dedicate their offense through the running game. With James Starks getting the start against the 30th-ranked Detroit run defense, we could see a big performance from the 29-year-old—especially if the Packers hold a big lead heading into the fourth quarter. 

This game should also be a nice bounce-back opportunity for Green Bay's defense after allowing nearly 500 total yards to opposing offenses in three straight games (Carolina finished with just 427).

Matthew Stafford's 11 picks thrown this season is the third-most in the league, while Detroit's offense scores the second-lowest amount of points per game (18.6) of any NFL team.

The only challenge for the defense lies with Calvin Johnson—who can destroy any secondary if he gets enough targets. He'll likely get his catches and a touchdown or two.

Still, with Rodgers and the offense back on track, it'll be tough for any mediocre offense to outscore them.

Prediction: Packers 31, Lions 14