NFL Week 13: What We Learned from Thanksgiving Day tripleheader

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Jeremy Bergman's takeaways:

1. Packers pile it on early, pack it in late. Green Bay's third win in a row came easy from the start. After a three-and-out spoiled a major return from Keisean Nixon" data-link="/players/keisean-nixon/" data-slug="keisean-nixon">Keisean Nixon, the Packers immediately recovered a fumbled punt inside the Dolphins' 10-yard line. Three plays later, Jayden Reed" data-link="/players/jayden-reed/" data-slug="jayden-reed">Jayden Reed was in the end zone -- for the first of two times on the night -- and the first-half rout was on. Paced by Josh Jacobs" data-link="/players/josh-jacobs-x3315/" data-slug="josh-jacobs-x3315">Josh Jacobs on the ground, Green Bay racked up 102 rushing yards in the first half and reached the end zone thrice. When the Dolphins dug themselves holes in the Lambeau pitch with penalties, the Packers made them pay. Jordan Love" data-link="/players/jordan-love/" data-slug="jordan-love">Jordan Love was feeling it, spreading the ball for 274 yards around a receiving corps missing the injured Romeo Doubs" data-link="/players/romeo-doubs/" data-slug="romeo-doubs">Romeo Doubs; three pass catchers had at least 67 receiving yards, and five had at least four targets. On defense, the Packers hurried Tua Tagovailoa" data-link="/players/tua-tagovailoa/" data-slug="tua-tagovailoa">Tua Tagovailoa all night; five players earned at least three QB pressures, and four tallied sacks. Green Bay has yet to allow 20 points since its bye. All in all, it was par for the course for Matt LaFleur's Packers, a well-coached outfit that can and will beat you a number of ways.
2. Dolphins' comeback goes cold at Lambeau. After rolling into Green Bay on a three-game hot streak, Miami froze up in the Frozen Tundra. Dolphins special teams gifted the Packers a lead out of the gate, allowing a big kickoff return and muffing a punt in the red zone in the span of six plays. Miami played from behind for the rest of the game, falling into a 27-3 hole before thawing out and showing some life in the second half. Tagovailoa was efficient on the evening (37-of-46, 365 yards), finding success on quick second-level throws in the final two frames. The Dolphins pulled within two scores thanks to an 80-yard TD drive and had a chance to cut it to one possession after stopping the Packers on the ensuing march. But Miami couldn't cash in after marching 70 yards to the Packers' 1-yard line. De'Von Achane" data-link="/players/devon-achane/" data-slug="devon-achane">De'Von Achane was stuffed on second down, and Tua's following two dropbacks resulted in a pass breakup in the flat and a coverage sack. The Dolphins' dream of pulling off a Thanksgiving miracle -- and pulling fully back in the AFC playoff race -- died there. Miami's not out of it with five weeks left, and an NFC loss isn't the worst thing, but at 5-7, the Dolphins are now back with the Colts, two games behind the Chargers and Broncos in the win column. The AFC East may be Buffalo's by the time Miami next takes the field against the Jets.
3. NFC North grudge match looms large. Green Bay's Thanksgiving win over Miami may have felt like the final course of a long Thursday of football, but it was really just an appetizer for the main dish that is next week's Packers-Lions showdown. Five weeks after falling 24-14 to Detroit at home, it will be Green Bay's turn to try and play spoiler against its NFC North rivals and the current No. 1 seed in the conference when the teams face off at Ford Field next Thursday night. At 9-3, the Packers would be leaders in almost any other division by Week 13's end. But in the ultra-competitive North, they're two games behind the Lions (11-1) and even a half-game behind the over-achieving Vikings (9-2). With a week to prepare, Green Bay can get healthy, perhaps welcoming back Jaire Alexander" data-link="/players/jaire-alexander/" data-slug="jaire-alexander">Jaire Alexander and Romeo Doubs for the must-win matchup. A win over Detroit would even the season series and give the Packers a better, albeit slight, chance at nabbing their first NFC North title since 2021. A loss would almost assure Green Bay of an away game on Super Wild Card Weekend, at best.

Next Gen Stats Insight from Dolphins-Packers (via NFL Pro): The Packers offense forced 20 missed tackles on Thursday evening, including four players forcing multiple missed tackles (Josh Jacobs, 10; Jayden Reed, 4; Tucker Kraft" data-link="/players/tucker-kraft/" data-slug="tucker-kraft">Tucker Kraft, 2; Dontayvion Wicks" data-link="/players/dontayvion-wicks/" data-slug="dontayvion-wicks">Dontayvion Wicks, 2). The Packers' skill players excelled at gaining extra yards, accumulating season-highs in yards after contact per carry (6.1) and yards after the catch (188).

NFL Research: Josh Jacobs had his fifth straight game with 100-plus scrimmage yards in the win over Miami. Jacobs' run is the longest such streak by a Green Bay player since Eddie Lacy in 2014 (nine straight games) and is tied with Atlanta's Bijan Robinson" data-link="/players/bijan-robinson/" data-slug="bijan-robinson">Bijan Robinson for the longest such streak by a player in 2024.