I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but the Green Bay Packers have had quite the summer. With their first round draft pick this year, they selected WR Matthew Golden, the first time in several decades that they’ve selected a WR this high. Then, less than two weeks ago, they made one of the most shocking trades in recent memory for a generational talent in Micah Parsons. It’s only natural that the team’s season opener against the Detroit Lions would be one of the most highly anticipated games of the weekend,
and what a game it was. Across all areas of the field, the Packers absolutely dominated with a 27-13 win over their division rivals, their first win against the team since 2023. Without further ado, let’s dive in and look at the winners and losers from the opener at Lambeau Field.
Winner: Jordan Love
With the Packers QB playing much of the 2024 season injured, fans have been looking forward to seeing what the offense looks like with a much healthier Jordan Love. The past few years, we’ve seen the offense get off to some very slow starts to open the season, but today was different. Love looked like a veteran when on the field, staying calm and cool the entire game (it helped that he was given all day in the pocket!) His touchdown pass during the team’s first drive of the game was an absolute laser.
He also had a beauty of a pass to Romeo Doubs a couple of drives later, one that showed off the absolute power behind his arm. Love has been dealing with an injury to his thumb on his non-throwing hand and had surgery to repair it not long ago. He’s been wearing a brace since he returned to practice, and there’s been some speculation as to how this may affect his play, particularly handoffs. If today was any indication, I don’t think the thumb looks like it’ll be an issue moving forward. Love finished the day 16/22 for 188 yards and 2 TDs for a 128.6 rating. He had no picks (if they don’t count, they don’t count!) and no sacks taken.
Winner: Offensive Line
If this play continues throughout the whole season, Jordan Love is going to need to pony UP for his offensive line’s Christmas gifts. The line gave Love ALL. DAY. to throw the ball, and they were able to make some huge plays as a result. It took the team 53 seconds to score one of their TDs, thanks not only to Jordan Love’s big arm, but to the offensive line for giving their QB what felt like years to throw the ball. If this holds up, this offense has the potential to be really special. If I’m wrong, I actually never said this.
Winner: Josh Jacobs
If you’re wondering where the losers are, you’re going to have to wait. I’m too jazzed up. Josh Jacobs had a quiet day today, but he looked really solid, especially as a blocker. Multiple plays could’ve blown up had Jacobs been anything less than stellar, but stellar he was. He also had a rushing TD today, making it his 9th straight game with a touchdown, a franchise record. Jacobs finished the day with 19 carries for 66 yards (3.5 avg) and a score. It remains to be seen if we’re going to get the kind of numbers we got from Jacobs last year, but today, he was one of the team’s unsung heroes.
Loser: THE REFS
I had to pick a loser (I didn’t, I can write what I want!) and I felt like being a brat today, so we’re going with the refs! There were some extremely questionable calls made today, and some questionable no-calls, all of which seemed to benefit the Lions. Xavier McKinney was flagged for taunting after *checks notes* standing and staring menacingly at a guy after a tackle, giving the Lions 15 free yards. I want to make it very clear, though: this type of behavior is okay when the Lions do it. In my opinion, the taunting penalties are ridiculous, and I don’t think they’re hurting anyone. That aside, if we’re going to make it a rule, can we at least enforce it consistently?
It wasn’t just the taunting with the refs today, either; there were multiple hands to the face penalties committed by Lions OT Penei Sewell on Micah Parsons, which were just not called. I’m not sure what else would’ve been needed here to make the call, but come on. Thankfully, these didn’t ruin the game for the Packers, but things like this can very easily alter the result of a more competitive outing. I guess we should thank the Lions for not being competitive.
Winner: Micah Parsons
FINALLY, I’VE BEEN WAITING TO TYPE ABOUT THIS MAN. First of all, I want to thank Jerry Jones and the Cowboys organization. I’ve always dreamed of having a player who can wreck an entire game like Micah Parsons can, and this was absolutely worth the wait. We’ll get into the defense as a whole in just a moment, but I wanted to talk about Micah specifically, because what a guy.
His mere presence on the field was a literal game-changer. He was being double-teamed constantly. He made Penei Sewell, one of the best in the league, look like a rookie at times. Even when being double-teamed, he was able to create such heavy pressure that Lions QB Jared Goff was either running for his life or was getting rid of the football immediately. Towards the end of the game, Parsons recorded his first sack as a Packer, and it was perfect. You know those scenes in horror movies where we can see the bad guy behind the unsuspecting victim who thinks they’re finally safe?
Beautiful, just beautiful. Now, the Lions are obviously going through a ton of change right now with a new offensive and defensive coordinator, as well as a handful of injuries to some of their most important guys. But it cannot be overstated how big of an impact Micah Parsons singlehandedly had on a team that’s been dominant over Green Bay for the last couple of years. I cannot wait to see what happens when Parsons is more acclimated with the defense. Parsons finished the game with one total tackle, but the box score doesn’t matter unless you’re a Cowboys fan reading this with an agenda to push.
Winner: Defense
When Micah Parsons wins, the defense wins. When the defense wins, WE ALL WIN. Except the Lions. They did not win. Like I mentioned above, Micah Parsons was being double-teamed like crazy when he was on the field. This, of course, opened things up for guys like Rashan Gary and Lukas Van Ness. As we predicted when the team originally traded for Parsons, Gary and Van Ness feasted. We’ve had our problems with these two being wildly inconsistent over the years, but it turned out all we needed was a hall-of-fame-level talent taking the attention away from them.
Both Gary and Van Ness recorded sacks (there was almost a safety multiple times too!), with Gary getting 1.5 and Van Ness getting .5. Also joining the sack action (sacktion?) were Devonte Wyatt and Micah Parsons with 1 each. We knew DC Jeff Hafley would have fun coaching this unit with an addition like Parsons, and I think this game was just the tip of the iceberg. They were on the field for quite some time today, with multiple long drives by the Lions offense, but this defense was textbook “bend, don’t break”. As the season progresses and these guys really start to mesh with one another, we could see absolute dominance. Again, if I’m wrong, this paragraph never happened.
The Packers have quite a short week ahead of them as they prepare for a Thursday Night Football game against Jayden Daniels and the 1-0 Washington Commanders. The team is luckily staying at home, so there’s no travel cutting into an already shortened schedule. Can the team keep rolling, and can the defense make its mark against one of the Cinderella stories of the 2024 season?
