GREEN BAY — If it feels like it was forever ago that the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions faced each other, it wasn’t. It’s only been 81 days.

But in an NFL season, that can feel like an eternity. And since both the Packers (7-3-1) and Lions (7-4) have endured their fair share of ups and downs, that first meeting — a season-opening 27-13 Packers victory at Lambeau Field — what happened in that game is largely irrelevant.

Other than the fact that it puts the Packers in position to sweep the season series with the Lions if they can go into Ford Field and emerge with a Thanksgiving Day victory over the two-time defending NFC North champions.

“We’re laser focused. We’re locked in,” Packers All-Pro safety Xavier McKinney said amid the Packers’ quick turnaround from their Sunday win over the Minnesota Vikings to prepping for the Lions.

“We understand this stretch of games is not going to be easy, and to be able to win these games, we’ve got to be locked in and we can’t have any moments where we get lax or we get comfortable.”

The Packers’ season has taken more than a few twists and turns since then, including losses to the lowly Cleveland Browns and Carolina Panthers, but with back-to-back wins over the New York Giants and the Vikings, they’ve given themselves the ability to control their own destiny against the NFL’s most difficult remaining schedule.

“It is a big game,” Packers edge rusher Micah Parsons said. “Over the last couple weeks, we won some good games and we lost some good games. We have to find a way to win the good games again. We did it earlier in the season, but we got to find a way to do it Thursday.”

If they can replicate their performance from Week 1, they’ll succeed — and be in even better position as a result.

“You definitely watch it, you take it into account. But I think both teams [have changed],” Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said. “Over the course of the season, you evolve. You have different people in there. So you’ve got to account for that as well.”

The Lions’ biggest evolution was head coach Dan Campbell’s decision to take over the offensive play-calling duties from coordinator John Morton. What impact that change will have against a Packers defense that throttled the Lions in Week 1 remains to be seen.

“Every team is a lot different than Week 1,” Packers safety Evan Williams said. “You go through the wins, through the losses and you learn. I feel we’re definitely a more battle tested group, a group that’s had to deal with that aversity of come out on the other side. As far as Detroit, they’ve changed things up a little bit, changed up their play-caller. Every team through the season, they make adjustments. They make little tweaks to their game. You see that with both our teams and I’m sure they feel like they’re battle-tested, as well.”

Here are three aspects to the matchup worthy of attention.

1️⃣ — FEAR JAHMYR?

Among the many impressive weapons the Lions have in their offensive arsenal, running back Jahmyr Gibbs has become the key to everything. In their overtime win over the Giants on Sunday, the Lions got 264 total yards of offense and three touchdowns from him, including his go-ahead 69-yard touchdown run in overtime that ultimately won the game.

The Packers kept Gibbs from wrecking the game in the opener, as he ran nine times for just 19 yards and caught 10 passes for just 31 yards. The Vikings (28 yards on 12 touches) and the Kansas City Chiefs (65 yards on 18 touches) also limited Gibbs’ impact and won their games as a result.

“A guy that’s really explosive when he gets the ball. He makes a couple people miss, and he’s got that game-breaking speed to get it out the gate,” Williams said. “We’ve just got to be on our details and definitely gang tackle this week.”

Defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley emphasized the importance of all 11 defenders being locked in on Gibbs, and of not freelancing.

“You can’t be out of your gap. You can’t run up the field. If you’re supposed to be a three-technique [defensive tackle] and have the B gap, you better be a three-technique and have the B gap,” Hafley said. “So you have to be extremely sound and extremely disciplined.

“He’s become one of the, if not the premier back in the league right now. So, I think he’s really good and it’ll be a challenge and it’s one we’ll be ready for.”

2️⃣ — FOUR-DOWN TERRITORY

Campbell prides himself on his aggressive mindset, and he’s been perhaps the biggest proponent in all of the NFL when it comes to going for it on fourth downs. Although the Lions’ 23 fourth-down attempts rank only fifth in the NFL, their approach means Hafley and the Packers defense know that third-down stops won’t mean as much as they might against a team less enamored with taking fourth-down chances.

In fact, Hafley said the Lions and other offenses — two previous Packers opponents, the Giants (28) and the Carolina Panthers (27) are 1-2 in going for it on fourth down — have forced him to rethink how to defend third-down situations knowing that the offense may simply be looking to get half the yards needed for a first down to set up a more manageable fourth-down scenario.

The Packers have had their share of practice, facing 24 fourth-down attempts and allowing 14 to be converted (58.3%).

“We’ve faced a very, very high amount of fourth downs. People have been trying to get us in fourth-and-short and go for it all over the field. We’ve made some of them pay,” Hafley said. “It’s just kind of become a big trend in football right now.

“Third-and-7 really becomes second-and-7 because they know they’re going to go for it on fourth down. So [on] third-and-7, we’re starting to get runs and screens because they know they have one more down to go for it. Third-and-7 might not be a pass down, right? That’s a challenge. And coach Campbell has done that throughout his time, and I’m sure he’ll continue to do that.”

3️⃣ — CENTER OF ATTENTION

Among the things that annoyed ex-Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers about his Pittsburgh Steelers’ Oct. 26 loss to his former team was that he had to use a silent snap count — in his own home stadium.

There were times the Steelers fans were loud enough to force the Packers to use a silent count, too, and it happened in the Packers’ last road game, at the Giants.

In this game, though, the Packers know they won’t have enough fans traveling to the Motor City to mitigate the noise. Their offensive line — and center Sean Rhyan in particular — will surely be challenged by the noise, having to use the silent count all game long and the Lions’ pass rush having an extra split-second jump on the snap.

“There were some games I would say that we didn’t do a very good job, early on in the season,” LaFleur said. “We know this is going to be a hostile environment. Their fans do a great job of getting into the action, and they truly have a home field advantage, no doubt about it. And I think when you talk about just the outcome of the game, being able to handle the crowd noise on the road is going to be a critical aspect to that.”

Added Love: “Playing there is obviously a great environment, very loud environment. We’ve been there before. We know what it’s about. Communication’s got to be on point. It’ll be another test for Sean, being on the road, dealing with silent count so we can go out there and play fast and have a clean operation. It’ll be a good test.”

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