Pride of Detroit
It’s September, and that can only mean one thing: football is back! We had college football kick off on Saturday, August 30, but now it’s time for the big boys to play. No more training camp, no more preseason games, and no more debating who should be WR5 and CB6; the real games start now. To kick off the 2025 season, the Detroit Lions have a fun challenge, going on the road to take on the Green Bay Packers. This game already had some hype coming into it, but with the big trade the Packers made, it amplified the matchup.
In case you haven’t heard, the Packers traded two first-round picks and defensive tackle Kenny Clark to the Dallas Cowboys for EDGE Micah Parsons last week. This is an aggressive move by the Packers, something they don’t seem to do often. It also gives the impression that this team is forcing its Super Bowl window open. Quarterback Jordan Love has done fine as the starting quarterback, and running back Josh Jacobs has given the Packers a true run game, but now the pressure is more on the defense to keep up when things aren’t what they used to be. Gone is their top cornerback, Jaire Alexander, and now their top run defender, Clark. While they still have EDGE Rashan Gary, he hasn’t appeared to be the same player he was before he tore his ACL back in 2022.
Adding Parsons and signing him to a four-year $186 million deal is something else. Parsons will be a great help for this defense and the pass rush, but is it enough to turn the Packers into a title contender? What I question is the contract amount and how much Parsons can truly take this team into becoming a Super Bowl contender. Teams that build their franchises up like the Lions tend to have more success, and teams like the Packers that think making a big trade like this is enough to push them into the Super Bowl in February are risking it all for their shot to win.
The Packers are a good team, but were they one player away from winning the championship like the Los Angeles Rams were when they traded for Matthew Stafford? No, but let me go into why and how the Packers are a different team from just a year ago as we prepare for Week 1 on Sunday!
Last season for the Packers was an improvement from their 2023 campaign to a degree. Their record moved up to 11-6, but they fell to third place in the division due to the Lions and Minnesota Vikings having very strong seasons. The Packers made the playoffs as the seventh seed and couldn’t get past the eventual Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles, losing 22-10.
The offense...
