GREEN BAY, Wis. – Hours after the Green Bay Packers watched the Chicago Bears give them no help when they botched the end of the early Thanksgiving game against the Detroit Lions, the Packers thought they could better help themselves Thursday on Lambeau Field.

Green Bay took care of business the Miami Dolphins 30-17 in the finale of the three-game Thanksgiving Day series to stay within shouting distance of the division-leading Lions (11-1). The Packers will still need help to overtake Detroit, but they can start the process with a win at Ford Field in next Thursday night’s NFC North showdown.

They are in much better shape than they were in the Week 9 loss to the Lions at Lambeau Field. The Packers are coming off decisive victories over the San Francisco 49ers and Dolphins – the only two games this season in which quarterback Jordan Love has not thrown an interception. Without wide receiver Romeo Doubs (concussion) against the Dolphins, Love threw a pair of touchdown passes to Jayden Reed, and Green Bay added a rushing score from Josh Jacobs – his third straight game with a touchdown and his fifth rushing TD in those games.

Here’s what you need to know for both teams:

Crucial game: It happened early, but the tone was set for the rest of the night when Packers backup quarterback Robert Rochell recovered a cushioned punt from Miami’s Malik Washington inside his own 10-yard line. Instead, the Dolphins got the ball after a three-and-out from the Packers on the first drive of the game, Love got the ball back and threw the first of his two touchdown passes to Reed, and the Packers never looked back.

Most surprising achievement: Maybe the Packers have a pass rush they can count on after all. At least they were able to do that for a while in the second quarter, when it was still a 14-3 lead. At that point, Lukas Van Ness came home and sacked Tua Tagovailoa on second down, then Kingsley Enagbare sacked him on third down to force a punt. For Van Ness, it was his second straight game with a sack, after recording just one and only two quarterback hits in the first ten games of the season. Even defensive tackle Kenny Clark, who didn’t have a sack through the first 11 games of the season, finally got one in the fourth quarter.

Promising trend: Two weeks ago, the Packers had one of the worst red zone offenses in the NFL. They ranked 27th with a 48.7% touchdown rate inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. They then scored nine consecutive touchdowns on drives inside the red zone before finally settling for a field goal on their opening third-quarter possession against Miami. After going 5-for-5 on red zone touchdowns against the San Francisco 49ers, they reached the end zone on their first four possessions inside the 20 against the Dolphins. It was the second-longest streak in the NFL this season, according to ESPN Research. The Packers had to settle for another field goal in the red zone with 5:02 left in the fourth quarter, but by then the game was in. — Rob Demovsky

Next game: at Lions (8:15 PM ET, December 5)

The Dolphins brought more than 3,000 pounds of cold weather gear to Wisconsin for their primetime game against the Packers, and it still took them almost three quarters to warm up.

Miami allowed more than 7 yards per play in the loss – another disappointing performance in low temperatures. The loss ended a three-game winning streak and hampered their already improbable playoff push after a 2-6 start to the season.

Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa completed 37 of 46 passes for 364 yards and two touchdowns, but an offense that had undergone surgery on third down over the past month converted just 4 of 14 attempts and turned the ball over twice on downs.

Miami fell behind 27–3 in the third quarter but appeared to be on the verge of a comeback after scoring a touchdown and driving to the Packers’ 1-yard line immediately afterwards. Trailing 27-11, the Dolphins failed to convert on fourth and goal, effectively cooling the game.

The Dolphins now sit two games behind the Denver Broncos for the final seed in the AFC playoff field, and have the 14th toughest remaining schedule, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index — giving them a less than 20% chance of clinching the spot to get. playoffs.

QB breakdown: Tagovailoa didn’t particularly move the needle in either direction on Thursday. He averaged 6.9 air yards per attempt heading into the final drive, but he was sacked five times by a ruthless Packers defense. He was very efficient when pressured, completing 7 of 8 passes for 62 yards. However, he missed Tyreek Hill on multiple throws that are normally completions and overthrew De’Von Achane on fourth down late in the second quarter – opening the door for the Packers to drive down the field and kick a field goal as the time passed. half. With an inefficient run game rendered useless by negative play script, Tagovailoa and the Dolphins offense struggled to finish drives in the blowout loss.

Promising/worrying trend: It has to be the Dolphins’ cold-weather performance – which is less of a “story” as players and coaches have described it and more of a rock-solid fact. Tagovailoa’s record in sub-50-degree temperatures dropped to 1-7, and the Dolphins lost their seventh straight outdoor game when temperatures were below freezing at kickoff. They play two more road games in potentially frigid weather, against the Cleveland Browns and New York Jets in the final two weeks of the regular season.

Biggest hole in the game plan: Stopping the flight. Miami had held five straight opponents under 100 rushing yards entering Thursday night’s game; the Packers eclipsed 100 yards in the first half. Four players recorded at least 20 rushing yards for Green Bay, which moved the ball at will thanks to the success of its run game. The Packers averaged 7.3 yards per play during a non-league Thanksgiving nightcap on Thursday. — Marcel Louis-Jacques

Next game: vs. Jets (1 p.m. ET, December 8)