In week 9, the Green Bay Packers play in the best matchup of the weekend as they host the Detroit Lions. The battle for NFC North supremacy gets underway on Sunday afternoon, as the top two teams in the division will play for the right to call themselves the favorite midway through the season.
Detroit is currently favored by 2.5 points on the road, a spread that is pretty narrow given the Lions’ current string of success. That has closed by a point since early in the week as well, with Packers quarterback Jordan Love returning to practice (albeit on a limited basis) on Thursday.
Will the Packers be able to overcome the fearsome Lions offense to earn a victory this week? That would send Green Bay into their bye week at 7-2 and in pole position in the division. The weather conditions are set to be rainy and gloomy on Sunday, however, which should affect the flow of the game, particularly for both teams’ passing attacks.
With all that said, APC’s contributors are not very bullish on the Packers’ chances as of mid-day on Friday. Love’s availability still being in question plays a part in that, but so too does the fact that the Lions are just really, really good. If the Packers do pull an upset, look for it to be the result of multiple takeaways on defense.
Here are our picks for this game and all of the others across the NFL this week.
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