GREEN BAY (1-1) VS. DETROIT (1-1)
Sunday, Sept. 25 | Lambeau Field | 12 p.m. CDT
The Green Bay Packers return to Lambeau Field for the home opener against the Detroit Lions. It is the first time since the strike-shortened season of 1982 that the Packers have not played a game in Green Bay until Week 3.
- The Packers are playing their first home game in over a month, having played the last four games (two preseason/two regular season) on the road. Green Bay opened the regular season with two away games for the first time since 1924.
- On Sunday, Green Bay will be playing the first of four consecutive home games over the next five weeks (bye in Week 4). It is the first time the Packers have played four consecutive home games during a single regular season since 1963 (Games 1-4).
- This is the first time since 2008 (Week 1 vs. Minnesota and Week 2 at Detroit) that Green Bay has played against division opponents in two of the first three games.
- Week 3 is the earliest Detroit has visited Green Bay since the Lions played at Lambeau Field in Week 2 in 2003, a 31-6 Packers win.
- Green Bay has won the last three games against Detroit at home in the month of September (1998, 2001, 2003) by a combined 66 points (97-31).
- The Packers and Lions have split the season series each of the last three years.
- Last season, the two matchups between Green Bay and Detroit were decided by a total of six points. It was the lowest combined point differential in the regular-season series between the two since 2010 (six points).
- The Packers have won 24 of the last 25 games against Detroit in Wisconsin, including a '94 playoff game.
- The rivalry actually kicked off in 1930 at City Stadium in Green Bay, a 47-13 Packers win. Two seasons later, the teams began a yearly series. Sunday marks meeting No. 174 in the all-time series (including playoffs).
- The Packers lead the regular-season series 96-68-7 (.582) and have won both postseason contests the two have played. Green Bay's 96 wins over the Lions are the most the Packers have against any team.
- Green Bay has a 16-4 mark (.800) against the Lions under Head Coach Mike McCarthy.
- Of the 16 wins over Detroit, nine have been decided by 10 points or more, including four by more than 20 points.
- The Packers have won 17 of the last 21 against Detroit and 25 of the last 31 in the series.
- QB Aaron Rodgers has led the Packers to 11 wins in 14 games against the Lions, completing 288 of 433 passes for 3,553 yards, 26 touchdowns and six interceptions with a passer rating of 105.9.
- Rodgers has recorded a 100-plus passer rating nine times against Detroit, including in five of seven games played at home.
- Green Bay will be on the bye next week. It is the second time in four years that the Packers will have a bye in Week 4 (2013).
WITH THE CALL
- FOX Sports, now in its 23rd season as an NFL network television partner, will broadcast the game to a regional audience.
- Play-by-play man Thom Brennaman joins analyst Charles Davis and sideline reporter Peter Schrager.
- Milwaukee's WTMJ (620 AM), airing Green Bay games since November 1929, heads up the Packers Radio Network that is made up of 50 stations in five states. Wayne Larrivee (play-by-play) and two-time Packers Pro Bowler Larry McCarren (analyst) call the action. McCarren first joined the team's broadcasts in 1995 and enters his 22nd season calling Packers games. After originally being paired together in 1999, McCarren and Larrivee enter their 18th season of broadcasts together.
- Westwood One Sports will air the game on radio across the country. Sam Rosen (play-by-play) and Ross Tucker (analyst) will call the action, with Scott Graham hosting the pregame and halftime shows.
- The broadcast is also available on Sirius Satellite Radio (WTMJ feed) as part of the network's NFL Sunday Drive.
- DIRECTV subscribers can watch the game on channel 711.
THE DOPE ON THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT
Packers vs. Lions:
- All-time, Regular season:96-68-7
- All-time, Postseason: 2-0
- All-time, in Green Bay: 44-20-3
- Streaks:The Packers and Lions split last season's games, which saw Detroit win its first game in Green Bay since 1991 (Green Bay is 37-13 against the Lions since '91).
- Last meeting, regular season: Dec. 3, 2015; Packers won, 27-23, Ford Field
COACHES CAPSULES
Mike McCarthy: 113-63-1, .641 (incl. 8-7 postseason); 11th NFL season
Jim Caldwell: 47-40-0, .540 (incl. 2-3 postseason); 6th NFL season
Head to Head: Tied 2-2
vs. Opponent: McCarthy 16-4 vs. Lions; Caldwell 2-2 vs. Packers
MIKE McCARTHY…Is in his 11th year as the Packers' 14th head coach.
- Joined Vince Lombardi and Mike Holmgren as the only coaches to guide the Packers to a Super Bowl title with a win over Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XLV.
- Led the Packers to their seventh consecutive playoff appearance last season, joining New England as the only two NFL teams to do so over that span. Has also led the team to eight playoff appearances in the last nine years (2007, 2009-15).
- Guided the Packers to top-10 finishes in scoring in eight straight seasons (2007-14), joining the Patriots as the only other team to accomplish the feat over that time; Packers finished first overall in scoring in 2014.
- His .651 winning percentage during the regular season (105-56-1) ranks No. 3 among active NFL head coaches (min. 50 games).
- Had 104 regular-season wins in his first 10 seasons as a head coach, ranking No. 3 in NFL history.
JIM CALDWELL…Is in his third year as the Lions' 23rd head coach.
- Coached Indianapolis to 14 wins and an appearance in Super Bowl XLIV in his first season as head coach (2009).
- Despite his offensive background, improved Detroit's overall defense from No. 16 to second in the NFL after one season.
- As Baltimore's offensive coordinator, coached Ravens QB Joe Flacco to become the second QB in NFL history to throw 11 TDs and 0 INTs en route to a Super Bowl title in a postseason (Montana, 1989).
- Led the Lions' passing offense to top-15 rankings in each of his first two seasons at the helm.
- Became the first coach in franchise history to win 11 games in his first year since 1931 when the team was the Portsmouth Spartans.
THE PACKERS-LIONS SERIES
- Green Bay won 29 of the first 38 matchups in the series before the Lions' 11 straight wins over a five-year span.
- The first playoff matchup was in the Wild Card round of the 1993 season, which saw QB Brett Favre find WR Sterling Sharpe for a game-winning 40-yard score with less than a minute to go, marking the first playoff win for the Packers in more than 10 years.
- The Packers' victories in the 1993 and '94 postseasons began Detroit's seven-game, 24-year drought without a playoff victory.
- Detroit last swept a season series against Green Bay in 1991.
NOTABLE CONNECTIONS
Packers LB Nick Perry is from Detroit...Packers G T.J. Lang is from Birmingham, Mich., and attended Eastern Michigan...Green Bay WR Jeff Janis played at Saginaw Valley State and grew up in Tawas City, Mich. ...Detroit head coach Jim Caldwell was inducted into the Beloit (Wis.) Memorial High School Hall of Fame in 2011...Caldwell was also inducted into the Wisconsin Football Coaches Hall of Fame in 2013...The Beloit school district dedicated the James Caldwell Gymnasium at Fran Fruzen Intermediate School in May of 2016...Lions LB DeAndre Levy went to Vincent High in Milwaukee, Wis., and played at Wisconsin from 2005-08...Green Bay LB Jake Ryan played at Michigan from 2011-14 and was teammates with Detroit C Graham Glasgow (2012-14)...Packers defensive front assistant Jerry Montgomery (2011-12) coached for the Wolverines...Green Bay defensive line coach Mike Trgovac played and was a graduate assistant at Michigan...Green Bay running backs coach Ben Sirmans coached from 2005-06 at Michigan State...Packers wide receivers coach Luke Getsy coached at Western Michigan in 2013...Lions DT Khyri Thornton orginally was a third-round pick (85th overall) of the Packers in 2014...Packers vice president of football administration/player finance Russ Ball (1995-98), head coach Mike McCarthy (1995-98), associate head coach/offense Tom Clements (2000) and special teams coordinator Ron Zook (1999) worked with Lions senior coaching advisor Gunther Cunningham in Kansas City...Cunningham coached Green Bay associate head coach/linebackers Winston Moss when he played linebacker for the Los Angeles Raiders from 1991-93...Clements (2002-03) and Packers secondary-safeties coach Darren Perry (2003-06) worked with Detroit defensive assistant/defensive ends coach Matt Raich in Pittsburgh...Detroit defensive coordinator Teryl Austin coached in Seattle from 2003-04 when Packers executive vice president, general manager & director of football operations Ted Thompson was the Seahawks' vice president of football operations...Lions defensive backs/safeties coach Alan Williams coached Packers DT Letroy Guion in Minnesota from 2012-13...Lions defensive backs/cornerbacks coach Tony Oden (2004-05) and special teams coordinator Joe Marciano (2002-05) coached in Houston when Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers was the Texans' head coach...Capers and Marciano coached in New Orleans from 1986-91...Green Bay tight ends coach Brian Angelichio worked in Tampa Bay with Oden (2013) and Lions linebackers coach Bill Sheridan (2012-13)...Angelichio coached in Cleveland with Lions quality control/offensive line coach Michael McCarthy in 2015...Lions running backs coach David Walker coached at Pittsburgh with Angelichio (2006-10) and Getsy (2010)...Detroit T Riley Reiff played with Packers DB Micah Hyde and DT Mike Daniels from 2009-11, T Bryan Bulaga in 2009, and was coached by assistant offensive line coach David Raih from 2010-11 at Iowa...Zook coached Detroit S Tavon Wilson at Illinois from 2008-11...Lions CB Nevin Lawson played at Utah State with Packers S Marwin Evans (2013) and LB Kyler Fackrell (2012-13)...Green Bay CB LaDarius Gunter played with Lions CB Thurston Armbrister were coached by Detroit tight ends coach Al Golden at Miami from 2012-14...Packers WR Jordy Nelson was coached at Kansas State by Lions assistant head coach/offensive line Ron Prince (2006-07) and tight ends coach Devin Fitzsimmons (2007)...Prince was Colorado's passing game coordinator in 2010 when he coached Green Bay T David Bakhtiari...Lions quarterbacks coach Brian Callahan coached Bakhtiari at Junipero Serra High (San Mateo, Calif.) in 2008.
LAST MEETING, REGULAR SEASON
Dec. 3, 2015, Ford Field, Packers won, 27-23
- QB Matthew Stafford led Detroit to a 17-0 first-quarter lead, completing 8-of-9 passes (88.9 percent) for 73 yards and two TDs (140.0 passer rating).
- Green Bay was down 20 points in the third quarter when WR Randall Cobb recovered a fumble in the end zone for a TD.
- QB Aaron Rodgers put the Packers within striking distance after running for a 17-yard TD with three minutes left in the fourth quarter.
- TE Richard Rodgers capped off his career night with a 61-yard game-winning Hail-Mary TD in front of Detroit defenders to finish with eight receptions for 146 yards (18.3 avg.) and one TD.
