Thanks to a gutsy call from coach Dan Campbell to go for it on a fourth down in field goal range, the Detroit Lions defeated the Green Bay Packers for the second time this season after kicker Jake Bates nailed the game-winning kick from 35 yards out.
But, even though Thursday night was the last time the two teams will face off in the regular season, one Packers player, three-time Pro Bowl selection Kenny Clark, is very confident that Green Bay will be back in Ford Field for a playoff rematch.
"We're definitely going to be back here and we'll be excited to play them again once we do," Clark told the team website after the game. "But it's tough, it's a tough loss. Gotta get better from here, and we will get better from here."
While the Packers' hopes of winning the NFC North were all but extinguished with the loss to Detroit, the club still maintains a robust 98 percent chance of making the postseason, according to The New York Times's playoff simulation.
And should Green Bay make the dance, they still have steps to perform before a potential third tango with Detroit. If the playoffs started tomorrow, the Packers would have to defeat the third-seed Seattle Seahawks, and then the winner of the Philadelphia Eagles-Washington Commanders matchup in the ensuing divisional round. At the moment, a Packers-Lions rematch couldn't happen until the NFC title game.
But if Clark's words ring true, a playoff rematch comes to fruition, and it's anything like Thursday's game, which featured four lead changes in the second half alone before the game-winning field goal, then NFL fans could be in for a January classic.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Packers Pro Bowler Vows Team Will Face Lions Again in Playoff Rematch.
