Lions facing injury crisis ahead of rematch with Packers on TNF

I hate to be the guy praising the Detroit Lions on a Green Bay Packers blog, but it's legitimately wild how many injuries they've overcome. Ahead of this Thursday night's game against the Packers in Detroit, the Lions' injury report is once again full of players whose absence would, in theory, cripple a team's chances of winning.

And yet, because of some weird Dan Campbell witch magic, they just continue to win. Somehow, someway, the team with the most wins in the NFL also has one of, if not the, longest Injured Reserve lists. The Lions how have 18 players on IR.

It also got worse this week. Maybe nothing matters at all?! Because of the early week, the Packers and Lions released their injury reports for Thursday's game on Monday and Tuesday, and if you can believe it, a bunch of Detroit's starters are, at best, questionable.

Lions' list of injured players is laughable until you remember they're still the NFL's best team

So, just to clarify: Taylor Decker, Mekhi Wingo, DJ Reader, Josh Paschal, Levi Onwuzirke, Malcolm Rodriguez all now join a list that already includes Aidan Hutchinson, Marcus Davenport, John Cominski, Kyle Peko, Alex Anzalone, Derrick Barnes, and others. I would have listed more of them, but I think you get the point? I can if you want me to.

And for what it's worth, it sounds like Levi Onwuzurike and Josh Paschal aren't close to returning to action, though Dan Campbell did sound optimistic about Carlton Davis, saying that he had a good practice and that the team feels like he'll probably suit up on Thursday night.

I'd say that such a brutal injury report bodes well for the Packers – and maybe that's even true – but reader, I just don't believe it. They have been the most annoying next-man-up style team all season, and it's worked overwhelmingly well so far. The Packers' injury report isn't all that much more encouraging, but it's that time of year where guys don't practice simply because it's cold and they're banged up, and also there's not really any point.

So if we all just need to pretend that the Lions' injuries are going to make a significant dent in the NFC North race, I'm right there with you. It'll definitely happen one of these weeks. Anyyyyyy time now.