Packers poised to pounce on Lions

This game should be over well before it’s over.

When the Packers play the Lions on Sunday, the former team should emerge with a convincing victory. And by convincing, I mean the Packers should annihilate the Lions and easily cover by at least 12½ point spread.

The Packers are unequivocally the more talented team and clearly the healthier team. The Packers, who are 12-3 and heading to the playoffs after a two-year hiatus, are virtually injury free on both sides of the ball.

Not the Lions, who are 3-11-1. They have eight starters – repeat, eight –from their Week 6 game against the Packers who are on the injured reserve list, including several of their elite players like Matthew Stafford, Marvin Jones and T.J. Hockenson.

The Lions are so banged up their starting QB is David Blough and their starting running back is Bo Scarbrough. Never heard of them? Join the crowd.

What a lot of people forget is the Lions began the season with a 2-0-1 record and looked like a formidable team. But after incurring a rash of injuries, they have now lost eight straight games. There’s only one team with fewer wins in the entire NFL: Cincinnati which, against all odds, actually won one of its 15 games.

While the Lions could only damage their hopes of having the No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 draft by winning, the Packers have plenty of incentives for prevailing. The biggest ones are that by beating the Lions, the Packers would guarantee themselves, at worse, the No. 2 seed and an important first-round bye in the NFC playoffs.

The ideal scenario for Packer Nation would be for Aaron Rodgers and Co. to seize control of the game early, allowing the marquee players to watch the second half on the sideline and out of harm’s way.

Prediction: Packers 34, Lions 20.