The Green Bay Packers finished up their game against the division rival Detroit Lions with a 27-13 win in dominant fashion. While the Packers have a quick turnaround with a game on Thursday Night Football against the Washington Commanders, here are five takeaways from their first win of the season.
**The Offense Was Strong**
You couldn't have asked for a better start out of Jordan Love and the Packers' offense today. From the first drive of the game, the Packers hummed down the field in the passing game with Romeo Doubs, Matthew Golden, Tucker Kraft, and Josh Jacobs contributing on the drive. Some nice plays throughout the game from Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks, and great pass blocking set up Jordan Love to be able to sling it around the field. The first quarter saw Jordan Love hit eight different targets for receptions, and they would only continue to spread the ball around the field. The run game got going when it needed to later in the game, while the offensive line started to dominate in both the run and the pass game. Spreading the ball around was the key for the offense yesterday, as the highest targeted receiver would have only five targets in Jayden Reed, and it would lead to ten different players having a reception. The big plays included a first drive Tucker Kraft touchdown, a deep ball from Love to Doubs that was hauled in, a touchdown from Jayden Reed, and a few nice grabs out of Dontayvion Wicks and Matthew Golden throughout the game. The offense got off to a nice start in Week 1, and they will look to carry that momentum into Week 2 on Thursday Night against the Commanders in Lambeau again.
**The Defense Was FLYING Around**
The addition of Micah Parsons showed out today not only along the Defensive Line, but in coverage as well. While Parsons wasn't the only one flying around today, he would play 45% of the snaps on a snap count, and record three pressures, a tackle for loss, a sack on Jared Goff, as well as one of the pressures resulting in a bad throw from Goff that was intercepted by Evan Williams. Speaking of Evan Williams, besides the interception, he would be targeted a total of three times yesterday. On the three plays that Williams was targeted, he would allow a passer rating of an impressive 2.8% yesterday. Besides Williams and Parsons, Edgerrin Cooper was all over the place, as was Javon Bullard, and Quay Walker. The trio of Cooper, Bullard, and Walker would be the top three leaders in tackles overall today with Cooper having tweleve, and eight solo. The defensive line was capped out by Devonte Wyatt, Colby Wooden, Karl Brooks, Lukas Van Ness, and Nazir Stackhouse who all made separate plays throughout the game today. As far as the stats go, the Packers' defense would hit the ball carrier in the backfield 16 out of 22 run plays yesterday. The 72.4% rate of hitting the ball carrier in the backfield was the highest it has been since Lions' Head Coach, Dan Campbell was hired. Another fun stat for the defense includes the run game with Micah Parsons on the field. When Parsons stepped on the field for a run play yesterday, the Lions had seven carries for -2 yards. These stats just go to show how good this defense was yesterday against an offense full of playmakers.
**Micah Parsons**
One of the stories of the day, is the debut of Micah Parsons. The effect was felt in a short amount of time for Parsons, as he was on limited snaps. While the snaps may have been limited, the effect that Parsons was able to make on the game wasn't anything short of elite. In just 29 snaps, Parsons would record three pressures, one of which resulted in an Evan Williams interception, a tackle for loss, and he capped it off with a fourth quarter sack of Jared Goff to finish his Packers debut. As I mentioned in the point earlier, the run game for Detroit went for seven carries, and -2 yards with Parsons in the game. Overall, Detroit averaged only 2.6 yards per carry in one of the best rushing offenses from the season prior. Parsons' snap percentage will only work up, but it was a scary good start for the new Packers' Edge.
**Edgerrin Cooper**
Speaking of people who made an impact throughout the game in a big way, someone that flew under a lot of the radar was Edgerrin Cooper. Cooper would lead the team in tackles with tweleve, including eight solo. There were multiple plays that Cooper would crash in on while being in the run, as well as in open field that stood out today. Multiple plays saw Cooper blitz, as well as crash down on the run, but the thing that stood out in film was the speed Cooper was playing at. He truly looked like an All-Pro Linebacker yesterday with the way that he was making play after play no matter what side of the field the ball was on. The duo of Cooper, and Quay Walker was firing on all points today as both had great games. Walker would finish alongside Javon Bullard for the second highest amount of tackles yesterday.
**Jordan Love**
Last but not least, Quarterback One, Jordan Love. The offense seemed to be firing on every major point today. Not only was Love moving the offense down the field nonstop, but it was also done against a very good Detroit Lions defense. While the offensive line played amazing yesterday, giving Love plenty of time to throw and read the field, Love was on point with majority of his passes as well, as he would go 16/22, 188 yards, and two touchdowns with no interceptions. From the first drive, to the two play, sixty-five yard drive that resulted in a touchdown to Jayden Reed, to the final drive to put the dagger into the game with a Josh Jacobs touchdown, Love had the offense moving down the field from the first drive until the dagger to closeout the game. The offensive scheme played well into Love's game as well, where he could spread the ball around. Spreading the ball around helped keep the Lions' defense on their toes throughout the contest, and Love would go on to hit ten different receivers for at least a reception or more.
The Packers will now look to carry that momentum forward against the Commanders on Thursday Night Football, while the Lions have another in division matchup against the Chicago Bears.