Banged-up Lions will try to keep pace in NFC North when they face Packers on Thanksgiving

DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Lions didn’t make up any ground in the NFC North race on Sunday. They were also lucky not to lose any to the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers.

The Lions needed a 59-yard field goal from Jake Bates and a 69-yard touchdown run from Jahmyr Gibbs to beat the New York Giants 34-27 in overtime. That left Detroit at 7-4, a half-game behind 7-3-1 Green Bay and a full game behind 8-3 Chicago.

The Lions beat the Bears 52-21 in Week 2, and won’t play them again until Jan. 4. However, they lost 27-13 at Green Bay in Week 1 and face the Packers again on Thanksgiving.

“That is a really good defense and a potent offense,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “We’re looking forward to this a lot — short week, our place on Thanksgiving against a divisional rival.

“Let’s go.”

The short week isn’t a disadvantage for the Lions — the Packers played in the same time slot Sunday and will travel to Detroit — but it doesn’t do much for a banged-up offensive line.

Center Graham Glasgow (knee) didn’t practice Monday, while three other starters — tackle Taylor Decker (shoulder), tackle Penai Sewell (ankle) and guard Tate Ratledge (knee) — only saw limited action. That’s four of the five linemen who started against the Giants on a day when the offensive line didn’t have much success.

On paper, it doesn’t look that way: The Lions rushed for 237 yards and added another 257 through the air. But the Giants had three sacks, six tackles for loss and seven quarterback hits. As well as Jared Goff is playing, opposing defensive coordinators know the best way to beat him is by putting him under constant pressure.

Campbell knows those four aren’t going to be 100% by Thursday, but he thinks the team can overcome the problem.

“It is easy to say I wish we were cleaner in some areas — obviously, I wish we were cleaner all together,” Campbell said. “You are playing well in one phase of the game and you might be sputtering somewhere else. But right now, you’re just trying to improve a little and you’re trying to find ways to win football games.

“That’s what we did yesterday. When we needed a big play, someone came up with one.”

What’s working

Thanks to his 69-yard touchdown in overtime, Jahmyr Gibbs finished with 264 yards from scrimmage, the most by a running back in franchise history. That’s an impressive feat on any team, but especially for one that once employed Barry Sanders, Billy Sims and Doak Walker.

Sanders previously held the record of 253 against Tampa Bay on Nov. 13, 1994 – the game in which he became the first NFL player to rush for 200 yards in a half.

What needs help

Detroit’s defensive line hit Jameis Winston seven times, but needed more than 65 minutes of game time to record a sack. The only one they got came with 4:26 left in overtime, when Aidan Hutchinson hauled down Winston as he tried to escape the pocket.

Of course, that was the ideal time to record one, since it was fourth down and the sack ended the game.

“They did a lot to him. They doubled him and they hit him,” Campbell said of Hutchinson. “Did he have six sacks? No, but I thought he was productive. When they use that many resources to stop him, that means we can win somewhere else on the field.”

Stock up

After a quiet first half that included a key drop, Amon-Ra St. Brown had seven catches for 120 yards in the second half. His success meant the Giants couldn’t stack the box in overtime, which led to Gibbs’s winning touchdown.

Stock down

Detroit’s secondary is still missing key players, including No. 1 cornerback Terrian Arnold, but it was still a surprise when the Giants passed for 399 yards with a backup quarterback. Winston averaged 20.3 yards per completion and caught a 33-yard touchdown pass from wide receiver Gunner Olszewski.

The Giants had 10 passing plays of 20-plus yards, the most they recorded in a game since at least 1990.

Injuries

Arnold, who is in concussion protocol, cleared the first hurdle and was able to take part in limited action on Monday. Campbell said there’s a chance he could play on Thanksgiving.

“He got the checkmark for Day 1,” Campbell said. “We did some stuff for him, and we’ll see how he feels tomorrow and go from there.”

Key number

23 — The number of times the Lions and Packers have played on Thanksgiving Day, including two of the last three seasons. The Lions have a 12-9-1 edge in the series.

Next steps

Campbell needs to focus on keeping his team healthy through a brutal stretch that sees them play three games in 11 days: the Giants on Sunday, the Packers on Thursday and the Dallas Cowboys a week from Thursday.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl