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Thursday Night Football brings us a matchup of NFC North division rivals as the Green Bay Packers take on the Detroit Lions. The two teams met just three weeks ago, and the Lions were the surprise winners at Lambeau Field, prevailing 18-16 despite Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers throwing for 333 yards and two touchdown passes.
Two Detroit Lions players that didn't play well in the first meeting with the Packers, and look to turn things around in tonight's game, are running back Ameer Abdullah and wide receiver Golden Tate.
In the first meeting with the Packers, Abdullah carried the ball just five times for 15 yards and caught one pass for seven yards. The good news for Abdullah owners is that his touches have increased steadily the last two weeks. Last week against the Philadelphia Eagles, Abdullah had a career high 16 carries for 63 yards.
While the numbers don't exactly wow you, they do show that the Lions are trusting Abdullah more and wanting to get him more involved in the offense. Abdullah faces a 23rd ranked Packers run defense that is giving up approximately 113 yards per game on the ground.
Golden Tate also struggled in his first meeting with the Packers, catching just four passes for 52 yards and no scores. Tate is also coming off of a good game last week against the Eagles, catching seven balls for 50 yards and a score. Tate has struggled to match the numbers he put up last season with Detroit, but it appears that he's finally on the same page with quarterback Matthew Stafford.
Tate squares off against a Packers secondary that is giving up about 249 receiving yards per game. Another advantage that Tate should have is being opposite of wide receiver Calvin Johnson. It's likely that the Packers will give Johnson a lot of attention and possibly double team him, freeing up Tate for some big plays out of the slot.
If you own Abdullah or Tate, they both make for decent flex plays tonight. I'm not crazy about either, but they're start-worthy if you're considering play either one of them. I think Tate will have the bigger night with seven catches for 85 yards and a touchdown, and I'm predicting Abdullah will have 15 carries for 65 yards and four receptions for 40 yards.
