THE BASICS

The teams: The Green Bay Packers (8-4) vs. the Detroit Lions (4-8).

The time: 7:20 p.m. CST Sunday.

The place: Lambeau Field, Green Bay.

The TV coverage:  NBC – WTMJ (Ch. 4 in Milwaukee), WMTV (Ch. 15 in Madison) and WGBA (Ch. 26 in Green Bay).

The announcers: Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth.

The coaches: Green Bay's Mike McCarthy is 76-40 (including 5-3 in the postseason) in his seventh season as the Packers' coach and as an NFL head coach. Detroit’s Jim Schwartz is 22-39 (including 0-1 in the postseason) in his fifth year as the Lions’ coach and as an NFL head coach.

The series:  The Packers lead the all-time regular-season series 92-65-7. The Packers have won 13 of the teams’ last 14 meetings. The Packers have won 21 straight games against the Lions in the state of

Wisconsin (including a 1994 playoff game).

The rankings: The Packers’ 16th-ranked offense is No. 20 in rushing and No. 11 in passing. Their 15th-ranked defense is No. 15 against the run and No. 17 against the pass. The Lions’ second-ranked offense is No. 21 in rushing and No. 1 in passing. Their 19th-ranked defense is No. 19 against the run and No. 18 against the pass.

The line:  The Packers are favored by 6.5 points.

The injury report: 

PACKERS
Out – OLB Clay Matthews (hamstring), WR Jordy Nelson (hamstring), RB James Starks (knee), DE C.J. Wilson (knee), S Charles Woodson (collarbone).

Doubtful – DE Mike Neal (shoulder).

Questionable – G/T T.J. Lang (ankle). ILB Terrell Manning (shoulder).

Probable – WR Donald Driver (thumb), C Jeff Saturday (foot), CB Sam Shields (ankle).

 

LIONS

Questionable –T Jeff Backus (hamstring), DT Nick Fairley (quadriceps), DT Corey Williams (knee), S Louis Delmas (knee), CB Chris Houston (ankle), CB Jacob Lacey (foot/Achilles).

Probable – T Gosder Cherilus (knees), WR Kassim Osgood (finger), LB Ashlee Palmer (thumb), DE Lawrence Jackson (concussion).

 

THE BREAKDOWN: FIVE THINGS TO WATCH

Owned: The last time the Lions won in the state of Wisconsin was on Dec. 15, 1991. Not a single player on the roster – not even 42-year-old kicker Jason Hanson, who was a rookie in 1992, when the Lions’ futility streak in the state began – has ever won a game on Wisconsin soil. Of those 21 consecutive Packers victories (including one playoff game), 18 were played at Lambeau Field and three were at County Stadium (1992, 1993, 1994). The streak is the longest of consecutive road losses by one team to one team in NFL history.

 

How long has it been? Four current Packers players were 1-year-olds (Randall Cobb, Terrell Manning, Greg Van Roten and Jerel Worthy), McCarthy was a 27-year-old quarterbacks coach at the University of Pittsburgh and Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers was coaching defensive backs for the New Orleans Saints, a few years removed from working in the USFL.