Super Bowl aspirations drive the Green Bay Packers. After a big win over the Minnesota Vikings, their focus must immediately shift to health and the next crucial NFC North battle.
The Green Bay Packers know they can't celebrate long after their 23-6 win over the Minnesota Vikings in Week 12. Sure, improving to 7-3-1 and 2-0 against NFC North opponents is a big deal, but these Packers have bigger fish to fry.
Early in the offseason, general manager Brian Gutekunst said that the Packers needed to be aggressive when it came to chasing another Super Bowl ring.
"The thing that's been on my mind as we concluded this season is we need to continue to ramp up our sense of urgency," Gutekunst said just days after the Packers lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in the Wild Card round. "We've got a bunch of good guys in that locker room, we've got a bunch of talented guys in that locker room, and I think it's time we started competing for championships, right?
That's the mindset for these Packers, so while they'll enjoy this win for what it is, they know they'll have to quickly turn around and play the 7-4 Detroit Lions in what will be a feisty Thanksgiving Day environment in just a few days.
After the win over Minnesota, quarterback Jordan Love was talking like the Packers didn't even have the rest of the day to kick back and enjoy the moment.
"Obviously the prep has got to get started today," Love said of the huge NFC North clash in Detroit. "Everybody's trying to get their bodies back, get back healthy as quickly as possible."
The Packers are banged up in several positions. The season-ending injuries to tight end Tucker Kraft and lineman Elgton Jenkins are at the top of the list, but the Pack played Week 12's game without All-Pro running back Josh Jacobs and budding-star middle linebacker Quay Walker.
The good news is that against the Vikings, both of their backups stepped up.
Emmanuel Wilson got the first start of his career and rushed for 107 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries. Isaiah McDuffie got the start at middle linebacker and stuffed the stat sheet. He notched a team-leading nine tackles (five solo), one pass defended, one quarterback hit and an interception.
Jacobs has basically guaranteed that he'll be back and if the Packers can get back players like Walker, cornerback Keisean Nixon (who left Sunday's game with a stinger), rookie wideout Matthew Golden and star wide receiver Jayden Reed (who hasn't played since Week 2) Green Bay will have to feel like it has a chance to pull off a tough road win on Thursday.
The Lions won't make it easy on them, but they're not the same team from the past two seasons when they won the NFC North in back-to-back campaigns. In fact, they just had to battle to a win against the New York Giants in overtime.
Keep in mind, one of the Packers' biggest wins this season was a 27-17 win over Detroit to start the season. Still, it's worth noting that the Packers are 1-3 at Ford Field since 2022, so this is going to be no cakewalk.
"It'll be a great challenge for us, but one our guys will be ready for," head coach Matt LaFleur said.