Acme Packing Company
On Sunday afternoon, the Green Bay Packers officially put the rest of the NFC North — and frankly, the rest of the NFL — on notice that they are a serious Super Bowl contender. Green Bay dominated the Detroit Lions, who went 15-2 and were the NFC’s #1 seed a year ago, controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides of the football and coasting to a comfortable 27-13 victory.
While their offensive explosiveness was largely responsible for an early 17-3 lead, the defense will be the biggest story throughout the upcoming short week. The Packers contained Detroit’s talented running game all game long, holding Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery to less than 50 yards on the ground combined. With a big lead, the pass rush got fired up, buoyed by the team’s big new addition from a week ago.
Micah Parsons made his Packers debut and although he didn’t fill up the box score early on, he was making a major impact when he was on the field. He got quick pressure on Jared Goff frequently in passing situations, helping to free up other Packers defenders for big plays. His pressure helped force an interception by Evan Williams in the first half and a sack by Lukas Van Ness in the second, and then Parsons eventually tracked down a scrambling Goff in the fourth quarter with the game largely out of reach to record his first sack as a Packer.
It was a dominant performance by the Packers’ offensive line throughout the game on Sunday, as Jordan Love was barely touched through sixty minutes. Detroit officially logged just two quarterback hits in the game while Love had an efficient game, going 16-for-22 for 188 yards and two touchdowns. But Parsons and the resurgent Packers defense will be the story in the coming days, and they will have a chance to take out another member of last year’s NFC playoff field in a few days when the Washington Commanders come to Lambeau Field.
The Packers opened up with the football and marched right down the field to post an early touchdown. Rookie receivers Matthew Golden and Savion Williams each recorded their first NFL catches on the initial drive, with Golden’s converting a 3rd-and-6, while Love converted another third down earlier on the series with a 20-yard gain to Romeo Doubs. Tucker Kraft helped draw a personal foul penalty on Brian Branch, who tore off Kraft’s helmet and then threw it away from the Packers tight end to draw the flag, and then Kraft delivered the first score of the Packers’ season. Jordan Love delivered a perfect throw to Kraft at the goal line over the middle on 3rd-and-9 from the 15, fitting the ball between two defenders and giving the Packers a 7-0 lead.
Green Bay’s defense took the field with Micah Parsons on the sideline, but he took the field on 3rd-and-long following two short gains by the Lions offense. Parsons delivered a pressure against All-Pro Penei Sewell,...
