Well that escalated quickly.
The Lions came into Lambeau Field having gone 3-1 in the last four regular season games in Green Bay. Detroit — yes, Detroit — was one of the most prolific offenses last year by being ranked No. 1 in points and No. 2 in yards.
The Packers not only pulled out the Lions teeth, but they declawed them by winning 27-13 thanks to a tuned-up defense highlighted by Micah Parsons, who was playing his first game as a Packer.
“I thought he was pretty impactful in the limited snaps that he played,” said Packers coach Matt LaFleur.
Parsons only played 45 percent of the Packers defensive snaps but he made everybody better. He had a sack and a hurry opened up holes and lanes for everyone else up front.
That defense was just different. The entire unit looked like it was on roller skates. They were flying to the ball and it wasn’t unusual to see 4-6 green jerseys swarming to the ball carrier at any given time. Jahmyr Gibbs only rushed for 19 yards on Sunday, which was his lowest output since he tallied 17 in Week 2 as a rookie in 2023.
Just the mere presence of Parsons made Jared Goff think twice and it also caused him to hurry a throw that was picked off by Evan Williams late in the first half. Speaking of Goff, his average depth of target on Sunday was only 4.2 yards. Since Goff became a Lion in 2021, he has tallied eight games where has posted an average depth of target less than five yards. Conversely, Jordan Love’s average depth of target was 10.8 on Sunday as he casually slung the ball all over the place.
“It’s like watching a highlight film,” said Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, whose unit registered four sacks and nine tackles for loss. “I kind of want to downplay this thing a little bit, but I’m excited that he’s here.”
And just think about it, Parsons generated this much excitement after only playing 30 snaps. There were 12 guys that played more than him, including Lukas Van Ness, who Parsons is really rooting for this season.
“I think Van Ness is going to have his best year yet this year,” said Parsons about the third-year pro that has averaged 2.5 sacks a season. “I’m going to make sure of it. That guy is a very selfless player. He’s very selfless. He’s one of those guys that can go anywhere, he plays the run, he does everything. He’s the high-quality player that you just want to be around. So I’m going to make sure that guys gets as many plays as possible. I believe in him, and I told him, I said, ‘I think you can be like a Cameron Wade. You can be like a Julius Peppers.”
Those are monumental words from Parsons. Peppers played for the Packers from 2014-2016 and helped Green Bay go 32-16 in that span — including two NFC Championship Game appearances.
I know it’s just one game, but we all just witnessed a statement. This team looks different than other roster constructions. That is nearly unbelievable because of just one player, but that player barely played and he still caused a huge impact.
The rest of the league is currently on notice.