Two of NFC's hottest teams face off as North-leading Lions visit Green Bay

Detroit (6-1) at Green Bay (6-2)

Sunday, 4:25 p.m. EST, FOX.

BetMGM NFL Odds: Lions by 3 1/2

Against the spread: Lions 6-1; Packers 4-4

Series record: Packers lead 106-76-7

Last meeting: Packers beat the Lions 29-22 in Detroit in a Thanksgiving Day game on Nov. 23, 2023.

Last week: Lions beat the Tennessee Titans 52-14 at home; Packers won 30-27 at Jacksonville

Lions offense: overall (6), rush (6), pass (11), scoring (1)

Packers offense: overall (5), rush (5), pass (9T), scoring (6)

Lions defense: overall (20), rush (5), pass (27), scoring (8)

Packers defense: overall (15), rush (10), pass (19), scoring (11T)

Turnover differential: Lions plus-10; Packers plus-7

S Kerby Joseph. He has career-high five INTs after he had four in each of his first two seasons. Joseph, a third-round pick from Illinois, is the first Lion to have five INTs in the first seven games of a season since Hall of Famer Yale Lary in 1962. He has three INTs in three games against Green Bay.

S Xavier McKinney grabbed his NFL-leading sixth INT of the season against Jacksonville. He’s the first Packer ever to have six INTs in the first eight games of a season. McKinney also has recovered a fumble this year, giving him an NFL-leading seven total takeaways.

Lions RBs Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery vs. Packers run defense: The Lions averaged 175.5 yards rushing in two games with the Packers last season. David Montgomery ran for 121 yards and three touchdowns to lead a 211-yard rushing attack in the Lions’ 34-20 victory at Green Bay. When the Packers won the rematch in Detroit, the Lions still ran for 140 yards on 31 attempts. Green Bay’s run defense has improved this year. But the Packers still have been vulnerable at times, allowing Philadelphia’s Saquon Barkley, Indianapolis’ Jonathan Taylor, the Los Angeles Rams’ Kyren Williams and Houston’s Joe Mixon to surpass 100 yards.

The Lions have ruled out LB Malcolm Rodriguez (ankle), DL Josh Paschal (illness) and DT Brodric Martin (knee). ... Lions RB Sione Vaki (knee) and DL Mekhi Wingo (ankle) are doubtful. ... Packers QB Jordan Love left in the third quarter of the Jaguars game with a strained groin. Love was listed as questionable after practicing on a limited basis Thursday and Friday. ... Packers S Evan Williams (hamstring) has been ruled out. ... Packers C Josh Myers (wrist) is doubtful. ... Packers CB Jaire Alexander (knee), CB Corey Ballentine (ankle) and RB Josh Jacobs (ankle) are questionable.

The Packers’ Thanksgiving Day victory at Detroit last season snapped the Lions’ four-game winning streak in this series. The Packers had beaten the Lions five straight times before that. … The Lions have won in each of their past two visits to Lambeau Field. That included a 20-16 victory in the 2022 regular-season finale that prevented the Packers from reaching the playoffs and marked four-time MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ final game with Green Bay.

The Lions are 6-1 for the first time since 1956, when they won seven of their first eight games. ... Detroit has won five games in a row for the first time since 2016 and is a victory away from its longest streak in a season since winning the last seven games of the 1995 season. ... The Lions have run for 100-plus yards and scored a rushing TD in each of the first seven games for the first time since 1936. ... Detroit has scored a franchise-record 162 points over a four-game span, the most by an NFL team since Baltimore had 172 points over four games in 2019. ... The Lions have 30-plus points with four TDs in four straight games for the first time since 1971. ... The Lions have more TDs on offense (24) than incompletions (19) in their past five games. ... Detroit's 52 points last week trailed only the franchise-record 55 it scored against Chicago in 1997. ... The Lions tied a team record with six players scoring a TD against the Titans. ... Detroit has won two games by 38-plus points for the first time in a season since 1936. ... The Lions have a takeaway in 11 straight games, going back to last season, and have an INT in their first seven games for the first time since 1981. ... If Goff throws for 2-plus TDs and has a passer rating of at least 110, he will join Patrick Mahomes (2018), Tom Brady (2010) and Aaron Rodgers (2011) as the four NFL QBs since 2000 to have those numbers in six straight games. … The Packers have 1,255 yards rushing, their highest total through the first eight games of the season since 1971. Jacobs leads the way with 667 yards rushing, which ranks fourth in the NFL. … When Love left the Jaguars game without having thrown a TD pass, it ended his string of nine straight games with multiple TD passes. That streak would have gone to 11 if playoff games were included. … Packers TE Tucker Kraft has five TDs over his past five games. … Packers K Brandon McManus has kicked a game-winning field goal in the final play of each of his two games since coming to Green Bay. He had a 45-yarder in a 24-22 victory over the Houston Texans and a 24-yarder against the Jaguars, his former team. … The Packers have an NFL-leading 19 takeaways. … According to Elias Sports Bureau, this marks the first time since a 10-3 Green Bay team faced a 12-1 Denver squad in Dec. 8, 1996, that Lambeau Field has hosted a game in the ninth week of the season or later matching two teams with a winning percentage of at least .750.

With Lions WR Jameson Williams finishing a two-game suspension this week for violating the NFL's performance-enhancing substance policy, Kalif Raymond may be worth picking up if he’s available in your league’s waiver wire. Raymond has only 13 catches for 162 yards and two touchdowns this season, but he had five receptions for 90 yards the previous time the Lions faced the Packers.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

Green Bay Packers' Jaire Alexander breaks up a pass intended for Jacksonville Jaguars' Parker Washington during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

Green Bay Packers' Jayden Reed makes a first down catch in front of Jacksonville Jaguars' Darnell Savage during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Green Bay Packers' Josh Jacobs runs during the second half of an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Detroit Lions tight end Sam LaPorta, center, runs the ball after a catch past Tennessee Titans cornerback Jarvis Brownlee Jr., right, during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Detroit Lions wide receiver Kalif Raymond (11) scores a touchdown against the Tennessee Titans during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Detroit Lions wide receiver Kalif Raymond (11) celebrates his touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the Tennessee Titans, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

MARIETTA, Ga. (AP) — Election officials in Georgia’s third-largest county said they’re late in mailing more than 3,000 absentee ballots to voters just a few days before the election.

Election officials in Cobb County north of Atlanta were using U.S. Postal Service express mail and UPS overnight delivery in an effort to deliver the ballots on time. Mail-in ballots must be returned by Election Day on Tuesday in order to be counted.

“We want to maintain voter trust by being transparent about the situation,” county Board of Elections Chairwoman Tori Silas said in a statement Thursday. “We are taking every possible step to get these ballots to the voters who requested them."

Silas blamed the delay on faulty equipment and a late surge in absentee ballot requests during the week before the Oct. 25 deadline.

The late absentee ballots were being mailed with prepaid express return envelopes, which election officials said would ensure they could be returned on time

Georgia voters have shattered early turnout records since advance voting began Oct. 15. As of Friday afternoon, more than 3.8 million ballots, reflecting more than half the state's active voters, had been cast, according to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's office. The tally includes more than 238,000 absentees.

In Cobb County, election officials said voters whose awaiting absentee ballots were late could still vote in-person on the final day of early voting Friday or on Tuesday. The county's election headquarters planned to stay open to accept hand-delivered absentees through the weekend and on Monday.

However, the Board of Elections said that more than 1,000 of the absentee ballots being mailed late were being sent to people outside of Georgia.

A county spokesperson, Ross Cavitt, declined to comment Friday on what number, if any, of the late ballots still needed to be mailed, citing pending litigation.

Two civil rights groups, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Poverty Law Center, filed a lawsuit Friday asking a Cobb County judge to extend the deadline for counting absentees postmarked by Election Day to Nov 8, three days later.

The complaint was filed on behalf of three Cobb County voters who said they still had not received absentee ballots by mail as of Friday. The lawsuit said that although county election officials “have taken some steps to help alleviate the problem, those actions are not nearly enough to safeguard their right to vote.”

A woman holds up her sticker that signifies that she has officially voted in the state of Georgia, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jason Allen)