The ghosts of a Thanksgiving Day past haunts the Packers

For football fans, this Thanksgiving Day should have historic implications. The 1962 Green Bay Packers is regarded by many as one of the top five greatest teams in NFL history. Eleven players—half of its starting line-up—would be future Hall of Famers. Going into its Thanksgiving Day match-up against the Lions in Detroit, on paper the Packers had thoroughly dominated the opposition in posting a 10-0 record. They out-gained their opponents by an average of 361 to 214 yards per game, but they were even more dominant on the scoreboard, out-scoring their opponents by a mind-boggling 309-74. An unbeaten season seemed certain.

But there were reasons to be concerned heading into that game against the Lions. In week four, although the Packers out-played the Lions, four turnovers forced the game to come down to a last minute field goal set-up by a Herb Adderley interception for a 9-7 win. In week nine against the Baltimore Colts, the Packers would have a season low in offensive yards while giving-up a season high in yards allowed; timely turnovers and a 103-yard kick-off return for a touchdown by Adderley proved to be the difference in a 17-13 victory. And Detroit was also having its best season in many years.

That Thanksgiving Day would be one of the most memorable in NFL history. The Lions would completely dismantle the mighty Packers. On the Packers first possession, a loss of three yards on a run play, a delay of game penalty and quarterback sack for a loss of 15 yards set the tone for the remainder of the game. Only on rare occasions was Bart Starr able to take a snap without a Detroit defender instantly in his face; he would go back to pass 29 times, and ten of those times he was sacked for 93 yards in losses. The Packers could muster only 122 yards of offense the entire game, spending almost as much time going backwards as forwards. By halftime Detroit led 23-0; the only thing that kept the game from getting completely out-of-hand for the Packers was that Detroit matched their turnover production (five). Two fourth quarter touchdowns—one a fumble recovery in the end zone by Willie Davis—made the final score of 26-14 seem “respectable,” but it couldn’t hide the fact that the Lions had laid a thorough beating on the Packers that day. Fortunately for the Packers, that defeat was the only tarnish on their season, ending with a 16-7 victory in the championship game against the New York Giants.

This Thanksgiving, the Packers enter their game in Detroit again with a 10-0 record, with most pundits regarding the defending Super Bowl champions as the best team in the NFL. However, there would seem to be a better chance that history repeat itself than it did in 1962. Although this year’s team is similarly an offensive juggernaut, its defense is far more suspect. The Packers have not so much dominated their opponents, but out-scored them. Lions quarterback Mathew Stafford, playing his first full season, seems difficult to stop when he’s on.

For me, being a long-time Packer fan, Thursday’s game isn’t just some blip on the schedule; a victory in Detroit will either bury the ghosts of that long ago Thanksgiving Day game, or resurrect them.