Week 12 opening odds: Lions big favorites over Packers on Thanksgiving

The Detroit Lions are 8-2 and sit atop the NFC North as they prepare to host their annual Thanksgiving game. This year, division rival Green Bay Packers (4-6) will come to town in Week 12 for the second meeting between these two teams this season.

When the 2023 schedule was released, the Lions were initially four-point favorites, and since then, the Lions’ terrific start to the season, combined with a 34-20 victory over the Packers in Week 4, has led to the line increasing.

Currently, the folks over at DraftKings have set the Week 12 opening betting line as Lions -7.5 points. The moneyline settles in at Lions -375, while the Packers are at +295, with the over/under line set at 46 points.

The Lions are coming off their eighth win of the season—the first time they’ve been 8-2 in the modern Super Bowl era—after coming from behind to beat the Bears in Week 11. The Lions made mistake after mistake in this game, were -3 in the turnover battle, and down 12 points with just over four minutes remaining in the game. Yet, despite all the obstacles, the Lions dug in, made plays when they needed to, and found another way to win a football game.

The Packers are coming off a big 23-20 win over the Los Angeles Chargers and have won two of their last three games: losing to the Steelers last week and beating a Matthew Stafford-less Rams the week prior. In the six weeks since facing the Lions, the Packers offense has been closing in on developing its identity, with the most noticeable change coming from quarterback Jordan Love, who is settling in with his pocket presence and just had his first 300+ yard passing game.

While their offense is clicking, they will have to overcome an injury to starting running back Aaron Jones, who went down with a leg injury and could miss the game against the Lions because of the short week. On defense, the Packers are still a solid unit, but their secondary is also dealing with a lot of injuries. Starters Darnell Savage (safety) and Eric Stokes (corner) are on injured reserve, Jaire Alexander (corner) and Rudy Ford (safety) missed this past game, and they also sent starting corner Rasul Douglas to Buffalo at the trade deadline.