With Micah Parsons already wreaking havoc, the Packers certainly looked like a Super Bowl contender vs. Lions

The Green Bay Packers left no doubt on Sunday about who the better team was between them and the Detroit Lions. In a resounding 27-13 win that was nowhere near as competitive as the final score, the Packers dominated on both sides of the ball, looking every bit like the Super Bowl contender they fancied themselves when they traded for Micah Parsons shortly before the start of the season. 

Green Bay’s defense was the biggest story. 

Sure, Detroit held the ball for over 10 more minutes than did Green Bay, winning the time of possession battle 35:25 to 24:35, but the Lions were never really going anywhere when they had the rock. The Packers held them to just 246 yards despite the fact that they ran an incredible 65 plays — yielding an average of just 3.8 yards per play. To put that in perspective, consider that the Lions ranked second in the NFL with a 6.2 yards-per-play average a year ago, while the Chicago Bears ranked last at 4.5 per play. 

Gone were the explosive gains we’ve gotten so used to seeing from Detroit over the last few years. The Lions gained 20 or more yards on a scrimmage play just once all game, per Tru Media. They had 76 explosive plays in 2024, the third-most of any team in the league, and they also created explosives at the fourth-highest rate on a per-snap basis. But the Packers were having none of that on Sunday. They had the Lions operating in what seemed like a five-by-five-yard box all game long. 

The Packers constricted the air space around Jared Goff‘s receivers, and he found himself consistently checking down instead of attacking the intermediate or deep areas of the field, the way Detroit’s offense is designed. The Lions couldn’t get to their crossers or their deep posts because the pressure was bearing down on Goff seemingly right away every time he dropped back to pass, and the receivers couldn’t create yards after the catch because the coverage by Green Bay’s defensive backs and linebackers was just that sticky.  

Goff went 31 of 39, but he averaged just 5.8 yards per attempt. His average pass traveled just 4.2 yards downfield and landed 3.6 yards shy of the first-down marker, while he went deep only once on his 39 throws. He had just three games all of last season where he threw shorter overall passes (i.e. sub-4.2 air yards per attempt) or further short of the sticks (i.e. more than 3.6 yards to the sticks), and two where he didn’t throw any deep passes. 

The pass-catchers who have blitzed the league in recent seasons were largely held in check. Amon-Ra St. Brown gained just 45 yards on six targets. Jameson Williams was held to 23 yards on his five opportunities. Only Sam LaPorta, who repeatedly found himself open for check-downs in garbage time, was really able to put up a respectable stat line, and he was also the only one who created an explosive gain at any point. 

The Packers were just as dominant against Detroit’s ground attack. Jahmyr Gibbs, one of the most explosive runners and receivers in the NFL, had just one of his 19 total touches gain more than seven yards. He and David Montgomery, arguably the best 1-2 punch in the league over the last two years, combined for only 44 yards on their 20 carries. 

According to Tru Media, the Lions failed to reach the line of scrimmage on 31.8% of their rushing attempts, and they averaged NEGATIVE 0.1 yards before contact per carry. Yes, they were, on average, contacted in the backfield whenever they ran the ball.  That’s how dominant Green Bay’s defensive front was against Detroit’s offensive line. 

Overreactions from Week 1 of NFL season: Josh Allen best QB in NFL? Ravens won’t win SB with John Harbaugh?

Jeff Kerr

Parsons didn’t play a full complement of snaps, but boy was he impactful when he was out there. Despite rushing often against Penei Sewell, Parsons made a significant mark on the game with several pressures, one of which forced Goff into an interception, and he later came up with his first sack as a Packer by chasing a scrambling Goff down from behind late in the game. Early snap totals have him playing less than 30 snaps, but still managing a sack, a hit and a hurry. He was that good despite not having practiced all summer or arrived in Green Bay until last week.

And his presence opened things up for players like Rashan Gary, Lukas Van Ness and Devonte Wyatt to have huge games. That trio combined for 12 pressures, via Tru Media, as well as three sacks and seven quarterback hits. They spent the entirety of the game harassing Goff into quick, underneath throws while the defensive backs rallied quickly to the ball. The typically-stalwart Detroit offensive line was made to look a mess in its first game after seeing Frank Ragnow retire and Kevin Zeitler leave in free agency, so dominant were Green Bay’s rushmen all game long.

Compared with the defense, Green Bay’s offense practically did light work. And yet, it was still wildly impressive. The Packers out-gained the Lions by 20 yards despite running 18 fewer plays. They converted half of their third- and fourth-down opportunities and they were efficient in the red zone, scoring touchdowns on three of their five trips inside the 20-yard line and converting the two others into field goals. 

Jordan Love was both efficient and explosive, spreading the ball around to 10 different receivers. Nobody saw more than five targets on his 22 pass attempts, and nobody caught more than three passes while five different players had at least two receptions. Romeo Doubs had the biggest gain, a 48-yarder on a beautifully-thrown deep ball that set up Jayden Reed’s 17-yard touchdown grab one play later — a snag that gave the Packers a two-score lead they’d hold for the rest of the game. Josh Jacobs didn’t have his best afternoon with only 66 yards on his 19 carries, but he registered a very good 47% rushing success rate and he found the end zone yet again, scoring on the ground for the 17th time in his 19 games as a Packer.

It was, in a word, a complete performance, the kind that showed why the Packers were willing to sacrifice two first-round picks and a stalwart defender to pick up one of the best players in the NFL on the eve of the season. That’s the type of all-in move you make when you think you can win the Super Bowl right away. If the way they played in Parsons’ debut — with Parsons himself making a massive impact despite limited opportunities — is any indication, the Packers were right to think of themselves that way.

Source link