Micah Parsons picked up his first sack in the green and gold, as the Green Bay Packers laid a beat down on the Detroit Lions, by a tune of 27-13 on Sept. 7 in Green Bay.
While the game was filled with a lot of positive notes for the Packers, none may have been as encouraging as Parsons’ fourth-quarter sack on Lions quarterback Jared Goff. As Goff was rolling out to his right after a broken play, Parsons chased him down, reminiscent of a tiger taking down its prey.
“It looked like the speed of light, or a shooting star coming out of the sky and closing ground fast,” said Packers head coach Matt LaFleur. “I mean, that’s why he is here. I mean, that was really exciting to see. I know our crowd reacted the right way as well.”
It was no secret that Parsons was the main attraction in this game, as the crowd cheered as loud as ever when he was announced during the defensive introductions. In total, Parsons finished the game playing 29 snaps and recording one sack on three pressures.
“I couldn’t be more happy to get my first win in Lambeau,” said Parsons, on his first game with Green Bay. “Having amazing fans – just everything overall, it was a one-of-one experience for me and I told (Jordan Love) that is our first win, and we are going to keep staking them.”
Parsons was just one cog in the system for a Packers defense that stifled the Lions all afternoon. Green Bay held Detroit’s dynamic rushing duo of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery to just 44 yards, as the team totaled nine tackles for losses.
With Detroit struggling to run the ball, it was also unable to find success in the pass game. Goff finished the game completing 31-of-39 passes for just 225 yards and one touchdown, adding an interception. Packers safety Evan Williams was on the receiving end of Goff’s interception.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Packers started out hot and never looked back. Green Bay went into halftime with a 17-3 lead, as Love threw two first-half touchdowns to Tucker Kraft and Jayden Reed. In total, Love finished the game completing 16-of-22 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns. While the strong passing attack tapered off in the second half, Josh Jacobs and the running game picked up the slack.
After finishing the first half of the game with just eight yards on the ground, Jacobs and the run game picked up late, as he finished the game with 66 rushing yards on 19 carries. Jacobs also added a touchdown late in the fourth quarter for his first score of the season. Jacobs’ late-game touchdown also gives him the franchise record for most consecutive games with a rushing touchdown with nine.
While the Packers had somewhat of its way with the Lions’ defense, it was put into some tough spots. In fact, on Green Bay’s opening drive, Love completed passes on third-and-long three times, including a 15-yard touchdown pass to Kraft on third-and-nine, that Love fit through a very tight window.
“I think we had a great plan coming in for our third downs, and obviously third downs come down to executing and going out and making plays,” said Love. “I think early on they were playing a lot of man and guys were going out and winning their one-on-one matchups. You know, I think the O-Line did a great job. They gave me a lot of time back there and kept me clean. I think it all starts up front.”
In total, Green Bay converted on five third-down plays in the game.
With it seemingly like both Green Bay and Detroit are going to be in contention for the NFC North title, starting off with a win over the Lions is obviously a great start to the season for the Packers, as it already gives the team an early tiebreaker when it comes to playoff seeding.
“It all starts with the NFC North,” said Love. “So to have a North team come in here Week 1, be able to get the job done and go 1-0 in the North is the start we wanted.”
