GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers have won four in a row. Detroit Lions win five in a row. If the Packers win, they will take over first place in the NFC North. If the Lions win, they will take a major lead over Green Bay in the division.

John Maakaron of the Detroit Lions on SI gave his insights on the big game in this Q&A.

1. Jared Goff’s 13 completions and 10 touchdowns in the last four games are something straight out of Madden. Why is the passing game so effective?

It’s a mix of scheme and Goff performing at an extremely high level. He’s been otherworldly on the team’s winning streak, and offensive coordinator Ben Johnson continues to find ways for the offense to succeed at a high rate.

Having a running game like the Lions doesn’t hurt either, as it allowed them to open up the action passing game as well.

Goff in play-action passing ranks No. 1 in completion percentage (80.3), yards (833), yards per attempt (11.7) and passer rating (133.2), according to Pro Football Focus. Goff has been good in every scheme, but his completion percentage is plus-9.9 on play-action opportunities.

2. The Titans sacked Goff four times last week, which was pretty amazing given the perceived strength of the line and that Goff barely had to throw the ball because the game was so underwhelming. What were the issues and is this a real concern?

Anytime you give up four sacks in a game, it’s a reasonable concern. It was surprising given how good the Lions’ o-line has been all year, but it was an outlier in an otherwise solid campaign.

Left tackle Taylor Decker has had some weak moments in recent weeks, which has been a cause for concern. PFF charged him with five sacks — one in five games, including against the Vikings and Titans in the last two weeks. Left fielder Graham Glasgow has allowed a sack in two of his last three games.

Credit to the Titans for their rushing stunts that kept the Lions line off balance. How they perform against the Packers could dictate whether the issues are a one-off or have the makings of a problem.

3. Without defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, the pass rush has suffered. Is this a major weakness worth considering if the Packers decide to start a Jordan Love hobby, which appears to be the case?

The Lions’ defensive line has had just one sack in parts of three games since Hutchinson’s injury. While they have been able to get pressure at times, they lack production in terms of sacks. It’s pretty amazing that Hutchinson entered Week 9 third with 7.5 sacks and first with 17 quarterback hits despite missing the last two and a half games.

As a result, calls are getting louder for the team to make a move for a pass rusher. Former Packers star Za’Darius Smith is a potential candidate.

Until they make a move, though, they only have what’s on the list. If Love plays hurt, he could ease the effort, but they also didn’t have much success in terms of sacks against the Titans’ Mason Rudolph last week. Look for defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn to continue to create unique ways to generate pressure.

4. If you look at yards allowed per carry, Detroit’s run defense is a little soft. But these are just numbers. Then again, when I asked Matt LaFleur Thursday, he said, “When they load up the box and play you in tight coverage, like they’ve shown they do, there’s nowhere for him to run.” What do you see from that phase and how do they match up with Josh Jacobs?

After a strong start to the year in this area, teams have started to have more success against them on the field. They gave up 133 rushing yards and 7.0 yards per carry vs. Seattle in Week 4 and 139 yards and a 6.6 average vs. Minnesota in Week 7.

But the Lions defense was very bent, did not break. The Titans rushed for 158 yards on a 4.9-yard average last week and lost by 38 points.

Jacobs presents yet another challenge, and the Lions will have to be ready for it. The defensive line has plenty of solid pieces, but they have struggled at times to slow down opposing backs. Jacobs may be the biggest threat they’ve faced this year, and a strong effort will be needed as a result.

5. You have to bet a dollar. Who wins and why?

In this battle for first place, I expect a close fight. The Packers are 10th in the league in run defense, giving up an average of 110 yards per game. With how well Detroit ran the ball, that could be the difference in the game.

Finally, the Lions will show their ability to run at a high level, and as a result, open up the rest of the offense to prevail in a one-score game.

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