DETROIT — They haven’t ceded the throne just yet.

But even with reinforcements on the way, the Lions are looking a bit besieged.

Their NFC North title defense took a crippling blow with a 31-24 loss to Green Bay before a Thanksgiving crowd of 66,662 at Ford Field. And what’s painfully clear now, after the Packers completed a season sweep of their division rivals — capping it with another defiant fourth-down conversion late — is that it’s going to take more than a little home cooking for the Lions to keep their playoff hopes alive.

It took 10 wins to make the postseason in the NFC last season, and nine the year before that — each time with tiebreaker help. But by the look of things, it might take 11 to get in this time around. And judging by the Lions' reactions Thursday afternoon, from head coach Dan Campbell's podium pragmatism to a locker room that was decidedly downcast, you can tell they know this: The season is far from over, but their margin of error is all but gone.

“Like I told the team, it's frustrating, I know," Campbell said. "But we’ve got a lot to be thankful for, even after a loss. And, look, we dug ourselves a little bit of a hole. That's the bottom line. We are in a little bit of a hole. But that's just what it is."

What they are now is 7-5 on the season, more than a full game out of the NFC playoff picture and two back of the division lead heading into December, where they’ll begin a stretch run that ranks as one of the toughest in the league. First up is a prime-time home game against Dallas next Thursday, and then a trip to Los Angeles to face Matthew Stafford and the NFC-leading Rams.

And a day after the Lions’ championship hopes were buoyed by the news that All-Pro center Frank Ragnow was coming out of retirement to help make that playoff push — “We’re fired up,” Campbell said Thursday — the Lions got another reminder of just how heavy the head that wears the crown can be. Star receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown left Thursday’s game early with an ankle injury and didn’t return. And while Campbell said he’d know more about his status Friday, he indicated St. Brown “could be out for a week or two, if we’re lucky.”

By then, though, they could be almost out of luck. And this entire season has felt like that for the Lions, really. Uneven. Uncertain. Unsure. So it only made sense that this emotional roller-coaster ride made another stop Thursday in Detroit, where the Lions were lucky to snap a seven-game Thanksgiving losing streak against the Bears last year, before lurching back in motion.

Another big loss

As staples go, the Lions and the Packers are right up there with turkey and gravy. This was the 23rd all-time Thanksgiving meeting between these two franchises, the NFL’s most common holiday matchup. And the stakes were as high as they’ve been in recent memory, with both Detroit and Green Bay fighting to keep pace with division-leading Chicago in the NFC North.

A win Thursday could’ve vaulted either team past the Bears (8-3) and into first place with five weeks left in the regular season, as Chicago plays at Philadelphia on Friday. A loss wouldn’t be a death knell, by any means. But it would make the road to a home playoff opener exceedingly difficult. Particularly for Campbell's two-time reigning champs, who’d already dropped two of their first three divisional games this fall.

That included the season-opening matchup at Lambeau Field, where the Packers ended their recent woes against the Lions with a dominant showing. They held Detroit to a season-low 246 yards — 46 on the ground — and a lone touchdown in the final minute of that 27-13 rout. That was Micah Parsons’ debut for the Packers after a blockbuster trade with Dallas in late August, but it was also the rollout of a new-look offensive line for the Lions, and it was an ominous start, with Jared Goff getting sacked four times and hit nine times in all.

Once the backbone of this team, that unit has felt more like a wishbone the past couple months, as a combination of injuries and inexperience has played arguably the biggest role in this team’s surprising inconsistency. One week, the Lions are running circles around the Bears or the Commanders. The next, they’re circling the wagons after an ugly loss to the Eagles or a narrow escape against the Giants.

Thursday, it was more of the former. The Lions were missing a pair of starters on the line, as center Graham Glasgow joined the walking wounded this week with a back injury. But they also were without their top two tight ends and their third receiver, as Brock Wright (neck) and Kalif Raymond (ankle) weren’t able to play. And when St. Brown (ankle) limped off the field after getting his right leg rolled up on Detroit’s second offensive series, Campbell’s call sheet took a beating, too.

It's one thing to gameplan for a division rival on a short week without a real practice. It’s another when you have to scrap some of those plans and start making things up as you go, because as Goff noted, St. Brown "is obviously such a big part of our offense, a lot of it goes through him."

"Yeah, when you lose a guy like Saint, it's tough," Campbell said. "I mean, there's so many things that he brings to our offense. ... There's a million jobs he does, and he does them at a high level. So it hurts when you lose him. He and LaPorta were kind of those guys for us."

Lions need wins, and help

Other guys did step up Thursday, as Jameson Williams bounced back from a catch-less game against the Giants with seven grabs for 144 yards and a score. Practice-squad call-up Tom Kennedy came up with some key receptions as well, and rookie Isaac TeSlaa's touchdown catch midway through the third quarter pulled the Lions within 24-21 in this one.

But in the end, the Lions were beaten at their own game, as Jordan Love and the Packers converted on all three of their fourth-down attempts — the first two for touchdowns in the second quarter, including one that felt like a gift after the refs picked up a false-start flag, and the third to seal the win late — while Goff & Co. came up empty on those critical plays.

"Really, when you look at it, both sides of the ball," Packers coach Matt LaFleur said, "the fourth down was the difference in the game."

You can blame Campbell for passing up a 38-yard field goal with the Lions trailing by 10 with nearly 11 minutes left. Or you can point to Goff's errant throw — and Williams' drop — on the play they ran. You could argue he should've punted instead of going for it at midfield on the Lions' first possession of the third quarter. Or you could criticize the ill-fated run Goff appeared to check into at the line of scrimmage.

Likewise, you could ask where the Lions' pass rush has gone the last month, producing just four sacks in the last four games, and none Thursday on Love, who was hit just twice all afternoon despite dropping back to pass 35 times. Same goes for the turnovers: The Lions have forced only two in their last five games (a 2-3 stretch) and came up empty-handed — again — against the Packers.

All that is fair game after a loss like that, especially at this point in the season. But the point Campbell kept coming back to in his postgame press conference is the only one that matters now: What's done is done. So now what are the Lions gonna do about it?

“I guess what I'm saying is this,” said Campbell, whose Thanksgiving record as the Lions' coach fell to 1-4 with Thursday's loss. “With where we're at with the division, it's more that you need a little help. You've got to do your job. You've got to win. And you need a little help. And that's what it is. But it all starts with you doing your job, which is us finding a way to win the next one in front of us. It really is that simple.

"It's frustrating. It sucks. It's tough. But we did it to ourselves. And we're the only ones who are going to get out of it."

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