The Lions are 6 1/2 -point underdogs at home against the Packers. A loss would be their 20th in a row within the NFC North, extending the league's longest intra-division losing streak since 1970. But give Lions fans credit for helping their team sell out six of seven home games this year, including the Packers game. Attendance this year is up 13.2 percent (6,540 per game), the highest percentage in the NFC this year.
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Packers coach Mike McCarthy is 9-0 against the Lions. And his average margin of victory is 14.5 points. The Packers have won 10 consecutive meetings and 18 of the past 20. A victory Sunday at Ford Field would be Green Bay's fifth in a row in Detroit. The Packers' only winning streak in Detroit that's longer is the nine they won from 1936 to 1944.
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Two weeks ago, the Bears contained Michael Vick in a victory over the Patriots at home. Sunday, Tom Brady comes to town with a Patriots team that has won 20 of its past 21 games against NFC opponents. Brady has thrown at least two TDs without an interception in five consecutive games. That ties him with Joe Theismann for the second-longest streak in league history behind the late Don Meredith, who did it for six games in a row.
