DETROIT – The Green Bay Packers played perhaps their best game of the season to beat the Detroit Lions 31-24 on Thursday. Lions coach Dan Campbell had been 6-2 against Matt LaFleur until this year’s sweep.
Here’s our weekly look at the snap counts, plus one stud and one dud from the game.
Packers Snaps on Offense
The Packers played 63 snaps on offense.
Quarterback
For the 10th time in 12 games, Jordan Love played every snap.
Love is synonymous with Toyotathon. Maybe there’s a promotional deal to be made with Butterball. The Packers have played on Thanksgiving three consecutive years. He had a 125.5 passer rating in the win at Detroit in 2023, a 129.2 in the win at home against Miami in 2024 and a 124.2 at Detroit on Thursday.
Running Backs
Back in the lineup after missing most of the last seven quarters with a knee injury, Josh Jacobs led the backfield with 34 snaps. To deal with Detroit’s pass rush, Chris Brooks (18) played more snaps than last week’s standout, Emanuel Wilson (12).
The Packers ran the ball 30 times, with 21 to the running backs. Of those, Jacobs got 17 for 83 yards. His 29-yard run was his first 20-yard run this season.
Receivers
Romeo Doubs led the way with 53 snaps, but it was Christian Watson (46 snaps) and Dontayvion Wicks (31) who were the main characters. With Matthew Golden (wrist) and Savion Williams (foot) inactive and Wicks limited by the ankle injury sustained on his first touchdown, Bo Melton and Malik Heath played 11.
Wicks was superb with six catches for 94 yards and two touchdowns. Watson was targeted a team-high 10 times; he caught four for 80 yards, including a 51-yard touchdown. Doubs caught all four targets for 20 yards with one touchdown and one fumble.
Signed from the practice squad on Wednesday, rookie receiver Will Sheppard did not play.
Tight Ends
After two games with limited snaps, Luke Musgrave led the unit with 37 snaps. Josh Whyle, who was on the practice squad until Tucker Kraft’s knee injury, played 32 snaps. He was on the field for the critical third- and fourth-down snaps on the final drive. John FitzPatrick played 15.
Musgrave was drafted to make plays downfield, and he did that with a 23-yard catch that set up a touchdown that gave Green Bay a 17-7 lead in the second quarter. Each tight end was targeted once; Musgrave had the only catch.
Offensive Line
The new offensive line of left tackle Rasheed Walker, left guard Aaron Banks, center Sean Rhyan, right guard Anthony Belton and right tackle Zach Tom played every snap.
It was perhaps the unit’s best day of the season. Green Bay averaged a solid 4.2 yards per carry. Love was not sacked and was hit only twice. Lions star Aidan Hutchinson had no hits. Rasheed Walker was part of that success and also recovered Doubs’ fumble.
The Packers largely kept Lions star Aidan Hutchinson, shown tackling a scrambling Jordan Love, under wraps. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Belton’s false start, which would have doomed fourth-and-1 from the 2, was eliminated by coach Matt LaFleur’s timeout. The Packers were trying to get the Lions to jump offside, so there was no reason for Belton to move. So, why did he move?
“That’s a hell of a question right there. I think I’m going to ask him the same thing,” LaFleur said.
Tackle Darian Kinnard played 14 snaps as an extra tight end.
Packers Snaps on Defense
The Packers played 63 snaps on defense.
Defensive Ends
Micah Parsons, as usual, led the unit with 57 snaps. He is a marvel the way he can play snap after snap after snap and yet still have some gas in the tank for the key moments in the fourth quarter. He was exceptional with 2.5 sacks, three tackles for losses, four quarterback hits and eight tackles. According to Next Gen Stats, he had 10 pressures. The rest of the defense had nine.
Imagine being Jared Goff with a clean pocket … until No. 1 is in your face. pic.twitter.com/qcLtCp0Isi
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) November 28, 2025
Rashan Gary played 44, Kingsley Enagbare played 27 and rookie Barryn Sorrell played seven – all in the fourth quarter, interestingly. Enagbare had a half-sack; his full sack was nullified by a penalty.
Arron Mosby led the team with 19 snaps on special teams.
Defensive Tackles
Devonte Wyatt played a unit-high 45 snaps but left on a cart with a serious ankle injury. “It doesn’t look good, guys. I’m sick for him, I’m sick for us,” coach Matt LaFleur said after the game.
That leaves four players on the depth chart. Run-stopping Colby Wooden played 38, rookie Warren Brinson played a career-high 32 and Nazir Stackhouse played only five with third-year pro Karl Brooks inactive with an ankle injury. Wooden batted down a pass.
Linebackers
With Quay Walker out with a stinger, Edgerrin Cooper played 62 snaps. He was injured and missed one snap in the third quarter, with Kristian Welch replacing him. Isaiah McDuffie played every snap and Ty’Ron Hopper played 17 snaps in the base 4-3 defense.
McDuffie turned in his second consecutive outstanding performance with a team-high 12 tackles, including two for losses. Cooper had eight tackles and a quarterback hit.
Cornerbacks
Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine went the distance. Coming off a stinger, Next Gen Stats charged him with 5-of-6 passing for 63 yards. Valentine was targeted twice and gave up two catches, including the infamous missed-tackle touchdown before halftime.
Javon Bullard played 43 snaps at nickel. He gave up only two catches for 16 yards, though it certainly helped that Amon-Ra St. Brown played only four snaps.
Elevated from the practice squad with Nixon coming off a stinger and Nate Hobbs inactive for a fourth consecutive game, Jaylin Simpson did not play.
Safeties
Xavier McKinney and Evan Williams played every snap. Williams was tied for second on the team with eight tackles and McKinney had a quarterback hit on an early blitz.
Including 10 snaps on special teams, nobody on the team played more snaps than Williams (73).
Packers Stud vs. Lions
Dontayvion Wicks made a big-time touchdown catch on fourth down, surviving a big hit and a twisted ankle. Wicks stayed in the game, though, and had one of the best games of his career, capped by the clinching catch on fourth down.
With one shoe and hands of glue, he was one of the stars of the game for the #Packers. ⬇️https://t.co/2Mc2EhhJZZ
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) November 28, 2025
In addition, it would be impossible to overlook the performance of Micah Parsons. Too often, he remains a one-man pass rush, and the pressure will grow to keep that up without Devonte Wyatt. Parsons had 2.5 sacks, giving him 12.5 for the season as he became the first player in NFL history to start his career with five consecutive seasons of 12 sacks.
“I’m just so thankful and blessed to be a part of history,” he said.
Packers Dud vs. Lions
Keisean Nixon does a lot of talking. There are times when he’s unable to back it up, though, with his always-running-hot motor sometimes overheating in big games or big matchups. Nixon was the player who was targeted by the Lions.
Here’s the penalty on Nixon, which nullified a third-down sack by Enagbare. Not sure what he’s supposed to do on this one with the receiver running right into him. pic.twitter.com/bhVy7piBwQ
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) November 28, 2025
The Packers would be sunk without Nixon. He’s second in the NFL with 14 passes defensed and has played far more good snaps than bad ones. The illegal-contact penalty, which overturned a third-down sack and gave the Lions new life in the fourth quarter, seemed questionable.
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