Mike O'Hara

Whether Lions keep Thanksgiving game is owners' call

Detroit -- Highlights (there were a few), lowlights (there were plenty) and hot topics after further review of the Lions' 34-12 loss to the Packers on Thanksgiving Day:

What impact the Lions' sixth straight loss on Thanksgiving Day might have on increasing media speculation that the NFL eventually will replace the Lions as annual hosts for the game they founded in 1934:

It's possible that could happen, and nobody can ignore the clout the TV networks have with the NFL. They spend billions of dollars for rights to televise games, and their voice cannot be ignored by commissioner Roger Goodell.

However, the owners don't often bend to media pressure -- individually or collectively. A prime example of that is the overtime format, which decides the first possession on a coin flip. Media criticism gets louder by the year, but there is almost no sentiment among the owners to change the format.

Until there's a groundswell from the owners -- and the real heat comes from them -- one of the three games will remain in Detroit.

Veteran players such as kicker Jason Hanson -- who played in his 18th Thanksgiving Day game -- react to the speculation about Detroit losing the game.

Here's how Hanson put it: "I think it's something that's possible. It's because they think we're not good enough yet to compete with these teams. I don't expect anything less from people who say that. We need to stop it by playing well.

"We're just not there yet. In the bigger games, we're not able to get it done."

How the Lions failed to back up the statement Jim Schwartz made in January about "building a barbed wire fence" around Thanksgiving Day.

Against Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, it looked more like a chicken-wire fence -- and that's 95 percent air.

Maybe Schwartz meant a "Barb Wire" fence -- starring Pamela Anderson and 250 of her clones, locking elbows around Ford Field to protect the game.

The offense fizzled, even though quarterback Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson played while injured, but how defensive shortcomings continue to haunt the Lions.

The run defense is acceptable in most games, and the Packers didn't do much -- 80 yards on 27 carries, for a 3.0-yard average.

The pass defense, and everything that goes into it, is the league's worst.

The Lions have given up the most passing yards (275.3) per game, touchdown passes (27), highest completion rate (70.5 percent) and combined passer rating (111.8) in the league.

There are serious issues of poor performance and a lack of depth created by injuries that mean the secondary will continue to be exploited the rest of the year.

The Lions' three biggest lowlights of the day:

Offense : Failing to score on second-and-goal at the 1 early in the fourth quarter. Stafford threw three straight incomplete passes.

Defense : A 94-yard drive by the Packers to a second-quarter field goal. Aaron Rodgers completed a 10-yard pass on third-and-8 on the third play to keep the drive going.

Defense again : A 90-yard TD drive by the Packers on their first possession of the third quarter to make it 20-7. It started with a 45-yard completion to Donald Driver.

Troy Aikman, a Hall of Fame quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, was the analyst for the Fox network's telecast. Aikman made this comment when Aaron Rodgers misfired when a Packers receiver was wide open in front of William James in the second quarter:

"I think they could take that all day if they wanted to."

On the next play, Rodgers completed a pass in another area for a 33-yard gain.

The message Stafford (shoulder) and wide receiver Calvin Johnson (knee) sent by playing with injuries that kept them out of practice all week.

Center Dominic Raiola said neither player really was healthy enough to play. Here's how Raiola put it: "They're tough kids. They want to be out there. It's the other guys on the field who have to step up around them."

Any possible long-term impact from Daunte Culpepper's obvious unhappiness over being passed over to start in favor of Stafford.

It's understandable Culpepper wasn't happy, but he's on a one-year contract and doesn't figure in the plans for next year.

The Lions have much bigger long-range issues.