It was a career night for Tucker Kraft as the Green Bay Packers jumped to 2-0 on the season after defeating the Washington Commanders 27-18 on Sept. 11 in Green Bay.
Kraft finished the game with six receptions, totaling 124 yards and one touchdown.
The tight end led both teams in receiving in this one, but to take it one step further, this was Kraft’s first 100-yard receiving performance and in turn the highest receiving total of his career.
This was the first time a Packers tight end registered 100 receiving yards in a game since Jimmy Graham did so in 2018.
A big chunk of Kraft’s receiving yards came on Green Bay’s first scoring drive of the game in the first quarter. After rookie Matthew Golden was tackled on the Packers’ 4-yard line, Jordan Love and the offense stared down a 96-yard field to score a touchdown. On the third play of the drive, Love surveyed the field before finding a wide-open Kraft streaking down the seam, eventually coming away with a 52-yard gain. That drive ended with a Romeo Doubs 5-yard touchdown reception.
“Hopefully I can keep stacking games like that,” said Kraft of his performance. “It is the first time that I have ever gotten over 100 yards including college, so I am feeling it now — you just tackled that many more times.”
Along with Kraft’s big day, it was another dominant performance from Green Bay’s defensive unit in this game.
Washington, which made it to the NFC Championship game last season, was held to 230 total yards. Quarterback Jayden Daniels threw for 200 on 24-of-42 passes and two touchdowns.
It was Washington tight end Zach Ertz who led the Commanders in receiving, as he totaled 64 yards and a touchdown on six receptions. Deebo Samuel was the other recipient of Daniels’ touchdown passes, finishing the game with 44 yards on seven receptions.
As it did in the team’s first game of the season against the Detroit Lions, the Packers defense excelled against the run. The Commanders were only able to muster 51 rushing yards on 19 attempts.
“We came out and did it again — played consistently,” said Packers defensive lineman Micah Parsons, on how the defense built upon the week one victory. “We gave up things we did not want to, some more points than we wanted to, but we made (Washington) earn everything, and that is just important.”
As for Green Bay’s offense, Love registered another solid game in 2025, as he completed 19-of-31 passes for 292 yards and two touchdowns. With Kraft having the big game for the receivers and tight ends, Dontayvion Wicks finished second on the team in receiving, totaling 44 yards on four receptions. Malik Heath added another 37 yards, while Luke Musgrave recorded 32 yards.
In the running game, Josh Jacobs led the Packers, taking 23 carries for 84 yards and one touchdown. Jacobs’ second-quarter touchdown extended his franchise record of most consecutive regular season games with a rushing touchdowns to 10.
Wide receiver Savion Williams was the team’s second-leading rusher as he finished the game with 24 yards on two carries. The exciting play from Williams came when he took the snap on a sweep to the left. He faked a reverse to Love who was running to the right and picked up 16 yards.
Even without starting offensive linemen Zach Tom and Aaron Banks, who were both out due to injury, things seemed to click for the Packers offense for the most part.
Those successes may take a little halt in the near future though, as wide receiver Jayden Reed was knocked out of the game with a shoulder injury on a touchdown reception that was called back due to a holding penalty. Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said in his post-game press conference that Reed left the game after breaking his collarbone.
A broken collarbone can take anywhere from six to 12 weeks to heal, so it is likely that Green Bay is without one of its top pass catchers for a majority of the regular season.
“He is going to miss a lot of time,” said LaFleur. “Certainly I would expect him back at some point this season, but obviously it is a big blow to us. He is a guy that is a catalyst for our offense and our football team quite frankly. Fortunately for us, I feel like we have a pretty deep wide receiver room and there are going to be opportunities there for other guys to step up and take advantage of.”
Without Reed and Christian Watson for the foreseeable future, players like Matthew Golden, who did not record a catch in the team’s Week 2 game, and Luke Musgrave have an opportunity to make a major impact.
By way of its defense, Green Bay looks like one of the better teams in the NFL through the first two weeks and will look to continue that momentum before matching up with the Cleveland Browns on Sept. 21.