The Packers moved to 2-0 after a dominant 27-18 win over the Washington Commanders Thursday night. This is the first time Green Bay has been 2-0 since 2020.
It is very early in the NFL season, but the Packers have beaten the Lions and Commanders in dominant fashion so far. To recap on last season, and to reiterate just how impressive these wins are, the Lions finished 15-2 last season while the Commanders finished 12-5.
While the score was a little closer than the actual dominance of it all, the Packers ended the game with 404 total yards while the Commanders were held to just 230.
Green Bay was averaging 6.4 yards per play. The Commanders were earning 3.5. The Packers run defense once again showed up big, holding Washington to just 51 rushing yards, and the Packers offense outgaining them with 135.
The game could have been a little cleaner for Green Bay. 10 penalties for 77 yards proved the execution wasn’t the cleanest, but down two starting offensive linemen definitely contributed to that.
Green Bay’s defense looked aggressive once again, totaling 33 pressures against Washington. Jayden Daniels was visibly uncomfortable the whole night and had little time to let plays develop.
Per PFF, Micah Parsons led the team with eight pressures on the night. Thank you, Jerry. Devonte Wyatt also had quite the night with six pressures and a sack.
“What I’ve been telling everyone: Defense wins championships”, the words of Micah Parsons.
Keisean Nixon had arguably the best game of his career with five pass break ups. When asked if the swagger was different this year, Nixon replied “Yeah, we got Micah Parsons.”
Jordan Love had quite the night, completing 19 of his 31 passes for 252 yards and two touchdowns. So far on the season, Love has earned a completion percentage of 66% and a 120.0 passer rating.
Tucker Kraft earned his career high in yards on Thursday with 124 on the night. Those 124 yards came on six catches, and he even managed to find the endzone. According to Kraft post-game, that was his first ever game with 100+ receiving yards.
When asked about this accomplishment, Kraft responded with “We’ve got practice on Monday.”
Dontayvion Wicks seemed to be Love’s go-to early in the game. He finished the game with 4 catches for 44 yards. Wicks seems to have his hands in order and looks much more confident catching the football this season thus far.
In less exciting news, Jayden Reed went down early in the first quarter after an apparent collarbone injury. Reed was hurt during a touchdown catch, that was later called back due to offensive holding.
After the game, it was revealed that he did in fact sustain a broken collarbone and will be out 6-8 weeks. Reed is set to have surgery next week. The hope is he will be back in November.
All in all, another really outstanding performance by the Packers. LaFleur had this to say post-game, “I think it’s great. But it’s just the start.”
“There’s a long season ahead of us, you can’t take it for granted. I think you’ve got to keep competing, pushing, and there was opportunities to really put this game away tonight and I don’t think we did that. So, that gives me a lot of ammo when we get with the guys on Monday to kind of get after them a little bit.”
Matt LaFleur is doing a good job of tempering expectations, but it’s hard to ignore the impressive performances the Packers have put up so far.
This team, the energy, and the confidence they carry is different from any teams of recent years. If this Packers team can find a way to keep this level of play up, they will soon be viewed as the biggest threat in the NFL.
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