FEATURE

Packers 27 Commanders 18 Game Balls & Lame Calls

The Packers continue to stack success, rolling into legitimate NFC contention.

Sep 12, 2025

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Your Green Bay Packers are 2-0, having defeated the 15 win NFC North Champion Detroit Lions and NFC runner up Washington Commanders, and never even really looked tested through any of it. Another dominant performance for the green and gold (or green and white, on Thursday), predicated on a fast start from the passing attack, clock chewing from an effective running game, and a defensive front that, so far, looks like a group of world beaters. That's a formula for an extremely hard team to beat.

It's been as ideal of a start as even the most optimistic fans among us could have expected. The team is on the road for four out of the next five games that they will play, and did exactly what they had to do in order to put themselves in the most ideal position for this road stretch.

Game Balls

Tucker Kraft

If he wasn't already "broken out" for the national audience, Tucker Kraft certainly is now. Six catches on six targets for 124 yards, 74 yards after the catch and a touchdown. Kraft YAC n' Cheese is here and he's a matchup nightmare. The Commanders had no answers for Kraft all night, but I thought Thursday night was a great example of what the offense can look like with the heavy 12 personnel offense that we've been seeing hints of all summer. Luke Musgrave had a solid night himself, not only catching but showed a level of improvement in blocking as well.

Once again the receiving room avoided a recorded drop, and the entire unit looks sharp and in lock step with Jordan Love. Jayden Reed was on course for a monster game before his unfortunate injury, and LaFleur will likely draw up a gameplan that involves Matthew Golden in that role against the Browns.

Keisean Nixon & the entire coverage unit

For all the hoopla during the preseason about the Packers' cornerback room, Keisean Nixon, Carrington Valentine and Nate Hobbs showed exactly why the front office put so much faith in them. Let's take a look at the numbers:

Keisean Nixon: Six targets, one reception for nine yards with five PBUs
Carrington Valentine: Four targets, one reception for seven yards with one PBU.
Nate Hobbs: One target, zero receptions, zero PBUs.

The Commanders were forced by the pass rush to utilize the quick game all night long, meaning alot of the Commanders pass yards came against linebackers, who altogether allowed 106 yards. Jeff Hafley & Co. allowed the underneath throws all night, and continued to swarm the ballcarrier with energy, just like they did against Detroit.

Keisean Nixon gets a game ball for the incredibly physical, aggressive coverage he showed all night, showcased by the five PBUs he had on Thursday night. Want to guess how many Nixon had in all of 2024? Six.

Time will tell if the cornerbacks (and the defense as a whole) can continue the absolutely stellar level of play to this point. The name of the game in the NFL is to stay adaptive, and NFL offense will adjust to what the Packers defensive line is doing. So far, Jeff Hafley has earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to making his own adjustments effectively, and having his players ready to do so as well.

The Pass Rush

It's impossible to quantify the exact impact that Micah Parsons has had on how good this group looks, but isn't it incredible how that one move turned what was the team's biggest liability, into perhaps its greatest strength? We all remember that moment in the wildcard loss last year, when the Packers rush let Jalen Hurts stand tall in the pocket for approximately a half century. We all remember how Brain Gutekunst called for urgency as the offseason began, and bid his time before making what might be remembered as the most aggressive move in Packers history. The impact on that move has been immediate, and wildly effective.

Jayden Daniels ran wild on defenses in 2024, but never looked comfortable in the pocket (or even really on the run) in this game. Add him to the club with Jared Goff, and we're two-for-two on shutting down a couple of the NFC's top QBs. The team notched five sacks, four QB hits, and 23 hurries (a little over half of Daniels' total dropbacks). Add onto that two batted balls by one Devonte Wyatt, and it's a heck of a day at the office for the pass rushers.

Stopping Jayden Daniels was always going to be a tall task, but they and the linebackers did an excellent job at keeping contain as well, allowing just 17 yards on seven attempts. Let's give some credit to Demarcus Covington as well, and thank our Lord and Savior Vince Lombardi that Jason Rebrovich was shown the door last offseason.

Lame Calls

Run Blocking

Let's start by giving credit for another great day of pass blocking from the offensive line (in my opinion, both sacks on Jordan Love were more on him than the OL). But there's an elephant in the room. If there's an area of concern for this Packers offense as we head into a ten-day absence of Packers football, it's a concerning lack of "push" from the offensive line on running plays. I highlighted this last week, but this was an area of concern last year as well. No one is pushing the alarm button on this yet, especially following an 84 yard performance by Josh Jacobs. But a lot of that yardage was Jacobs making something out of nothing, and it's certainly an area to keep an eye on.

Offensive Lessons

It feels a bit odd to say, but doesn't it still feel like there was a little meat still on the bone at the end of this game? We've already talked about the penalties, but there's still those small miscues, those three and outs, the stuffed runs and the missed connections between Love and his receivers. Maybe it's just a by-product of the treatment we as fans got from Aaron Rodgers for so long, but it just feels like the team is this close to going absolutely nuclear on the offensive side.

This is less of a full "Lame Call", maybe call it a half. You might even want to call this a positive, depending on your view of evenly-filled water glasses. 27 points is nothing to sneeze at, and gets you a win more often than not in the NFL. The offense was effective, and Jordan played an extremely impressive game. But I can't shake the feeling that there's another level to this group that we haven't seen since the playoff win against Dallas.

Three and Out

-- The Packers had an unfortunately long list of injuries as they headed into Thursday's matchup, and will need to add Jayden Reed to the list, as Matt LaFleur confirmed post game that the receiver suffered a broken collarbone. I'm sure the team is looking forward to a ten day mini-bye before their week three matchup. Zach Tom and Aaron Banks were reportedly game time decisions for the team, which spells some optimism that both will be ready before a matchup with Myles Garrett. Zanye Anderson may also be a candidate to return in that time, was a Questionable designation on Thursday. Some other names to keep an eye out for a week three return are Ben Simms, Warren Brinson and Bo Melton, but we won't see Cox for al least a month following his IR designation.

-- There seems to be a bit of uncertainty at returner for the Packers, and it's interesting that through two games this year, Matthew Golden started the game returning punts but did not finish the game doing so, replaced both times after fielding a single kick. Instead, Keisean Nixon took the punt returns for the rest of the game. At kick returner, Emmanuel Wilson joined Savion Williams on returner duties, even after not seeing a snap on the unit last week. I'll be very interested to see how those groups shake out in Cleveland next week.

-- Today's word of the week is actually two (I know, way to cop out of the rues of my own segment). "Stack Success". We've heard that phrase used all offseason by the players and coaches, but especially from Matt LaFleur himself. It's clear that a big emphasis within the building is to keep their momentum going, and to let each win contribute directly to the next. The way this team has been playing over the beginning of the season, the sky's the limit. But it's going to be up to the players, coaches and staff to maintain that same momentum, and build on it. After all, the name of the game in the NFL is to be playing your best football in January, not September.

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Co-Owner of the thirteen time world champion Green Bay Packers. Sometimes I write about them. Follow me on Twitter at https://x.com/kjones_in_co and on Substack for film breakdowns!

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