The Green Bay Packers go back on the road to take on the Detroit Lions at Ford Field.
- The Packers are 8-4 at Detroit under Head Coach Mike McCarthy, including wins in two of the last three games.
- Green Bay has an 18-6 mark (.750) against the Lions under McCarthy.
- Of the 18 wins over Detroit, nine have been decided by 10 points or more, including four by more than 20 points.
- Four of the last six games between the two have a point differential of seven points or less, with Green Bay winning three of those contests.
- This is the Packers’ earliest visit to Ford Field since playing at Detroit in Week 3 of 2014.
- The rivalry actually kicked off in 1930 at City Stadium in Green Bay, a 47-13 Packers win. Two seasons later, the teams began a yearly series. Sunday marks meeting No. 178 in the all-time series (including playoffs).
- The Packers lead the regular-season series, 98-70-7 (.580), and have won both postseason contests the two have played.
- Green Bay’s 98 regular-season wins over the Lions are the most the Packers have against any team.
- The Packers have won 19 of the last 25 against Detroit and 27 of the last 35 in the series.
- This Sunday will be the third NFC North contest for Green Bay in the first five weeks of the season.
- It is the fourth consecutive season that Green Bay has a loss or less through the first four games (3-1 in 2016-17 and 4-0 in 2015).
- The Packers are one of six teams in the NFC with a record above .500 so far this season (Los Angeles Rams, Chicago Bears, New Orleans Saints, Washington Redskins, Carolina Panthers).
- Green Bay will return home for a Monday Night Football matchup against the San Francisco 49ers on Oct. 15 before heading into the bye.
RODGERS AND THE LIONS
- QB Aaron Rodgers has led the Packers to 13 wins in 16 games against the Lions, completing 330 of 496 passes (66.5 pct.) for 4,058 yards (253.6 per game), 34 touchdowns and six interceptions with a passer rating of 109.4.
- Rodgers has recorded a 100-plus passer rating 11 times against Detroit, including recording a rating of 126.0 and 129.3 the last two times he faced the Lions (2016).
- The Packer have won all 11 games against the Lions where Rodgers recorded a passer rating of 100-plus.
- Rodgers has led Green Bay to six wins in eight starts at Detroit, throwing 17 touchdowns with just three interceptions and a passer rating of 108.8 in those games.
FOX Sports, now in its 25th season as an NFL network television partner, will broadcast the game.
- Play-by-play man Thom Brennaman joins analyst Chris Spielman and sideline reporter Shannon Spake.
- Milwaukee’s WTMJ (620 AM), airing Green Bay games since November 1929, heads up the Packers Radio Network that is made up of 50 stations in four states. Wayne Larrivee (play-by-play) and twotime Packers Pro Bowler Larry McCarren (analyst) call the action. McCarren first joined the team’s broadcasts in 1995 and enters his 24th season calling Packers games. After originally being paired together in 1999, McCarren and Larrivee enter their 20th season of broadcasts together. In Week 1, they surpassed Jim Irwin and Max McGee for the most regular-season and postseason games broadcast for the Packers.
- The broadcast is also available on Sirius Satellite Radio (WTMJ feed).
- DIRECTV subscribers can watch the game on Channel 711.
The Packers have a 53-man roster that is composed of 26 offensive players, 24 defensive players and three specialists.
- Of the 53 players on Green Bay’s roster, 30 of them (56.6 percent) were draft picks of the Packers. Green Bay has eight players that were drafted in the first round, including seven that were selected by the Packers.
- Green Bay has 38 players on the roster that were draft picks (71.7 percent), including 21 players that were selected in the first three rounds (41.5 percent).
- Over a third of the players (19 of 53, 35.8 percent) on Green Bay’s roster entered the league as a sixth-round or seventh-round pick or as an undrafted player.
- Of the 53 players on the roster, 42 of them (79.2 percent) are 28 years old or younger (as of Oct. 7) and 28 players (52.8 percent) are 24 years old or younger.
- The Packers have 10 players that have made at least one Pro Bowl, with seven of those players being draft picks of Green Bay (Davante Adams, David Bakhtiari, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Randall Cobb, Mike Daniels, Clay Matthews, Aaron Rodgers).
- Of the 53 players on the roster, 39 began their pro careers with the Packers (73.6 percent).
- Over half the roster consists of players with experience ranging from rookie to three years (33 of 53, 62.3 percent).
BY AGE (as of Oct. 7)
- 21-24: 28 players
- 25-28: 14 players
- 29-32: 7 players
- 33-plus: 4 players
BY EXPERIENCE
- R-1: 15 players
- 2-3: 18 players
- 4-5: 6 players
- 6-9: 9 players
- 10-plus: 5 players
- 1st: 8 players
- 2nd/3rd round: 13 players
- 4th/5th round: 13 players
- 6th/7th round: 4 players
- Undrafted: 15 players
Packers vs. Lions:
- All-time, Regular season: 98-70-7
- All-time, Postseason: 2-0
- All-time, at Ford Field: 10-6
- Streaks: The Packers have won three out of the last five meetings and nine of the last 14 against the Lions. Green Bay is 39-15 against Detroit since the start of the 1992 season.
- Last meeting, regular season: Dec. 31, 2017; Lions won, 35-11, Ford Field
- Mike McCarthy: 133-79-2, .626 (incl. 10-8 postseason); 13th NFL season
- Matt Patricia: 1-3, .250; 1st NFL season
- Head to Head: 0-0
- vs. Opponent: McCarthy 18-6 vs. Lions; Patricia 0-0 vs. Packers
- Led Green Bay to its eighth consecutive playoff appearance in 2016, tied for the fourth-longest streak in NFL history. Has led the team to nine playoff appearances in the last 11 years (2007, 2009-16).
- Ranks second in franchise history in total victories, trailing only Curly Lambeau.
- Guided the Packers to top-10 finishes in scoring in eight straight seasons (2007-14), joining the Patriots as the only other team to accomplish the feat over that span; Packers led the league in scoring in 2014.
- Reached the 100-win plateau faster than any active NFL head coach, needing just 155 games.
- Joined Vince Lombardi and Mike Holmgren as the only coaches to guide the Packers to a Super Bowl title with a win over Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XLV.
- Served on the New England Patriots’ coaching staff for the past 14 seasons (2004-17), including six years (2012-17) as defensive coordinator.
- Helped lead the Patriots to three Super Bowl championships (XXXIX, XLIX, LI), six AFC championships and 13 AFC East division titles.
- From 2012-17, led a Patriots defense that ranked third in points allowed (19.2), fourth in games allowing 20 points or fewer (53) and second in games allowing 17 points or fewer (47).
- In 2017, New England held teams to 20 points or fewer in 11 games (second in NFL), including 10 games with 17 or fewer. In 2016, the Patriots boasted the league’s top overall scoring defense, allowing only 15.6 points per game.
- The Week 17 victory in 2016 gave the Packers their 100th win (including playoffs) against the Lions franchise. Green Bay’s 100 victories against Detroit are the club’s most against any one opponent.
- Green Bay won 29 of the first 38 matchups in the series before the Lions reeled off 11 straight wins over a six-year span (1949-54).
- The teams have met twice in the postseason, with the first playoff matchup in the Wild Card round of the 1993 season. That game saw QB Brett Favre find WR Sterling Sharpe for a game-winning 40-yard score with less than a minute to go, marking the first playoff win for the Packers in more than 10 years.
NOTABLE CONNECTIONS
Green Bay TE Robert Tonyan signed with Detroit as an undrafted free agent in 2017 and spent his first offseason with the Lions...Packers LB Nick Perry is from Detroit...Green Bay S Josh Jones attended Walled Lake (Mich.) Western High School...Lions G T.J. Lang originally entered the NFL as a fourth-round pick of the Packers in 2009, spent eight seasons in Green Bay and was a member of the Packers’ Super Bowl XLV-winning squad…Detroit DT Ricky Jean Francois played in six games for Green Bay in 2017...Lions T Rick Wagner is from West Allis, Wis., and was a team captain for the Wisconsin Badgers, starting 37 games during his college career…Detroit LB Nick Bellore is a Whitefish Bay, Wis., native… Packers defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery coached for the Michigan Wolverines from 2011-12...Green Bay running backs coach Ben Sirmans coached at Michigan State for two seasons (2005-06)...Packers T/G Byron Bell played with Lions QB Matt Cassel in Tennessee in 2016...Green Bay TE Jimmy Graham played alongside Detroit TE Luke Willson and CB DeShawn Shead in Seattle...Packers TE Lance Kendricks teamed with Lions OL Andrew Donnal for two seasons (2015-16) with the Rams in St. Louis/Los Angeles...Detroit offensive assistant coach Darius Swinton also coached in St. Louis for one season (2011) during Kendricks’ time with the Rams... Green Bay offense – run game coordinator/offensive line coach James Campen played for New Orleans for two seasons (1987-88) while Lions special teams coordinator Joe Marciano served on the Saints’ coaching staff...Marciano and Detroit defensive backs Brian Stewart coached in Houston while Packers secondary coach Jason Simmons played for the Texans...Green Bay defense – run game coordinator/inside linebackers coach Patrick Graham coached in New England while a number of Detroit coaches and players were with the Patriots: head coach Matt Patricia, quarterbacks coach Gregory Godsey, head strength and conditioning coach Harold Nash, RB LeGarrette Blount and S Tavon Wilson...Wilson played at Illinois when Packers special teams coordinator Ron Zook was the head coach...Graham and Packers quarterbacks coach Frank Cignetti served on the N.Y. Giants’ coaching staff while Lions DE Romeo Okwara and LB Devon Kennard played for the team...Green Bay tight ends coach Brian Angelichio coached in Tampa Bay for one season (2012) while Blount played for the Buccaneers...Angelichio and Cignetti also coached alongside Detroit running backs coach David Walker at the University of Pittsburgh...Lions wide receivers coach Robert Prince and Nash worked on the Colorado coaching staff while Packers T David Bakhtiari was playing for the Buffaloes...Godsey coached at Central Florida while Green Bay G Justin McCray played for the Knights…Detroit K Matt Prater played two games for the Atlanta Falcons in 2007 while Packers defense – pass game coordinator Joe Whitt served on the Falcons’ coaching staff...Lions defensive line coach Bo Davis coached at Alabama while Packers P JK Scott played for the Crimson Tide...Green Bay QB Tim Boyle was a freshman at Connecticut when Detroit defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni was the head coach...Detroit tight ends coach Chris White coached at Iowa while Green Bay CB Josh Jackson played for the Hawkeyes...Former college teammates include: Scott and Lions DL Da’Shawn Hand (Alabama), Packers CB Tony Brown, S Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and Lions DT A’Shawn Robinson (Alabama), Packers RB Jamaal Williams and Lions DE Ezekiel Ansah (Brigham Young), Packers LB Antonio Morrison, Lions WR Brandon Powell, LB Jarrad Davis and CB Teez Tabor (Florida), Packers WR Davante Adams and Lions S Charles Washington (Fresno State), Packers DL Mike Daniels and Donnal (Iowa), Bell and Lions S Glover Quin (New Mexico), Packers C Corey Linsley and Lions T Taylor Decker (Ohio State), Packers LB Nick Perry and Kennard (Southern California), Packers LB Blake Martinez, RB Ty Montgomery and Lions TE Levine Toilolo (Stanford) and Packers LB Kyler Fackrell and Lions CB Nevin Lawson (Utah State).
