Lions continue tradition, falling 34-12 to Packers for sixth straight Thanksgiving loss

Packers’ Woodson has near-flawless Thanksgiving

DETROIT — Charles Woodson had a day most people could only dream of enjoying.

He returned one of his two interceptions for a touchdown, recovered a fumble he forced and had a sack to help the Green Bay Packers beat the Detroit Lions 34-12 on Thursday.

Shortly before kickoff, the University of Michigan announced the former Wolverine has donated $2 million to its Mott Children’s Hospital.

“It was a good day,” Woodson said.

“But,” he added. “I gave up a touchdown so that puts a little cloud over it.”

Woodson did allow Calvin Johnson to catch a 1-yard touchdown when Matthew Stafford threw a perfect pass to his receiver’s outside shoulder, then seemed flawless.

“He had an incredible day,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said after improving to 8-0 against Detroit. “I don’t know who’s playing better football than Charles Woodson in the National Football League.”

The 1997 Heisman Trophy winner certainly is not showing signs of slowing down.

Oakland drafted him No. 4 overall in 1998 and he made only one interception in each of his last two seasons with the Raiders before joining the Packers three years ago.

He has picked off 26 passes in a Green Bay uniform and scored an NFL-high six TDs off interceptions.

In a win over Dallas this season, Woodson became the first player in two years to force two fumbles, make an interception and a sack in a game. His seven interceptions rank among league leaders and he trails only Nick Barnett on the team in tackles.

Green Bay defensive coordinator Dom Capers compares Woodson with two of his former players, Rod Woodson and Jason Taylor, who won the NFL defensive player of the year award.

“He falls right into that group,” Capers said.

Woodson, though, is only interested in helping the Packers (7-4) keep the momentum they’ve created with three straight victories.

“We need to keep stacking wins,” he said.

The Lions (2-9) were hoping to simply win two straight games for the first time in more than two years.

“Obviously it’s tough,” Matthew Stafford said.

The No. 1 pick in the NFL draft, playing with a sore non-throwing shoulder, threw four interceptions after his TD to Johnson gave Detroit a 7-0 lead.

His performance was dramatically different than his last one. He threw five TD passes — the last one after being momentarily knocked out of the game — to lead Detroit to a win after trailing Cleveland by 21 for its biggest comeback since 1957.

Stafford’s job Thursday was made more difficult because the Lions lacked a running game.

Kevin Smith’s longest run was 6 yards and he finished with 43 on 18 carries for the Lions.

“This is the type of game that you hit your head on a wall about,” Smith said.

The Lions have turned their Thanksgiving game into a laughingstock.

They have lost a franchise-high six straight games on the holiday by an average of 23.2 points and eight of nine in their showcase game.

“It’s a different feeling in this locker room — especially on national television to come out like that,” Detroit center Dominic Raiola said.

The Packers, meanwhile, are feeling good since losing consecutive games early in the month to Tampa Bay and Minnesota.

Now, they get a long break before hosting Baltimore on Monday Night Football.

“We want the opportunity to get healthy before we have a big-time opponent coming into Lambeau,” McCarthy said.

Aaron Rodgers said he was scared briefly that he had a knee injury against Detroit, but bounced back and finished with three touchdown passes — matching a career high — and 348 yards passing.

He connected with Donald Driver, Donald Lee and James Jones for scores. Driver had seven receptions for 142 yards, including a 68-yard catch.

Rodgers and Driver credited their much-maligned offensive line.

“There were a couple times when I held the ball for 4 or 5 seconds — maybe more,” Rodgers said. “When you have that kind of time with the kind of players that we have, we feel like we’re going to make plays.”

Green Bay played without cornerback Al Harris and linebacker Aaron Kampman, both of whom had season-ending knee injuries in last week’s win.

“Our defense was huge,” McCarthy said. “That was the No. 1 factor in our success.”

NOTES: Detroit rookie TE Brandon Pettigrew, a first-round pick, hurt his left knee on the first drive and did not return. .. Green Bay OT Chad Clifton (hamstring) and Jordy Nelson (shoulder) were injured during the game. … Stafford joined Dan Marino, Dave Krieg and Vince Ferragamo as the four QBs who have thrown four INTs a game after throwing at least five TDs since 1970, according to STATS, LLC. … The Lions are 33-35-2 on Thanksgiving.