The Packers elevated Micah Robinson from the practice squad.  The healthy scratches were OL Donovan Jennings, TE Ben Sims, and DL Warren Brinson.  So, Stackhouse got the nod over Brinson.  Nate Hobbs, Zayne Anderson, and Barryn Sorrell were inactive due to injury.  Malik Willis and Micah Robinson were active but did not play.  

OFFENSIVE LINE: (5.00)

The offensive line was very good as pass protectors.  The statisticians were a little unkind to Detroit, listing them with just 2 QB hits and no sacks.  I thought Aidan Hutchinson had 3 QB hits.  Nevertheless, the offensive line gave Jordan Love ample time, which led to several successful deep shots.  

The run blocking left much to be desired.  The Packers finished with 78 yards on 25 carries, a 3.1 yards/carry average.  A lot of the success came in the second half.  The Packers still cannot be confident that they can gain a yard on third and fourth down.  DJ Reeder has been clogging the interior for many years and it looks like first round pick Tyleik Williams can play in the NFL.   The Packers converted 4 of 10 third down opportunities and they converted their only 4th down opportunity, gaining a yard on 4th and one.

Rhyan and Morgan alternated at right guard.  When Tom left the game due to a hip injury, Darian Kinnard was first up off the bench at right tackle.  Kinnard gave way to Belton in garbage time.  When Banks left the game due to an ankle injury, Morgan moved to left guard.  

TIGHT ENDS: (1.60)

Tucker Kraft caught 2 passes for 16 yards including a 15-yard laser from Jordan Love for a TD.  Musgrave caught one pass for 4 yards.  Brian Branch is a good player, and he came up and made a good open field tackle on Musgrave.  I am still hoping to see Musgrave make someone miss or break a tackle.  Jon Fitzpatrick caught 1 pass for 2 yards.  The Packers used Fitzpatrick and RB Chris Brooks for blocking quite a bit and the tight ends did quite a bit of chipping before running their routes. 

RUNNING BACKS: ( 1.11)

Jacobs gained 66 hard yards on 16 carries for a 3.5 yard average.  Jacobs had 8 rushing yards in the first half but added 54 yards in the second hafl.  He added 1 reception for 4 yards and more importantly, a great pick up in pass pro that led to a deep pass completion.  Once again, Jacobs got yards out of nothing, including on his 3-yard touchdown run.  Brooks caught one pass for 2 yards, though he did well to just catch such an errant pass, and he had 3 assisted tackles on special teams.  Wilson gained 4 yards on a garbage-time carry.

QUARTERBACKS: (1.00)

Love completed 16 of 22 passes (72.73%) for 188 yard (8.55 yards per attempt), and 2 TDs.  Love had no interceptions, though he had one that was erased by a Detroit penalty.  His laser over the middle for a touchdown to Kraft was a big time throw.  The Packers continue to be good at completing deep passes.  They completed four passes for 19 yards or longer.  Love's thumb did not seem to cause any trouble on handoffs.  The only drop in the game was a would-be interception by Alex Anzalone.    

WIDE RECEIVERS: (2.30)

Romeo Doubs led the Packers with 68 yards including a 48-yard bomb early that made it clear to Detroit that the Packers were going to take some deep shots and could connect.  Reed caught 3 of 5 targets for 45 yards including a 17-yard touchdown pass.  Reed beat Terrion Arnold twice for big gains.  Reed may have been on a pitch count due to his recent foot injury, but he also only played in 3 wide receiver sets.  He had a nice 20 yard punt return to give the Packers excellent field position at the Detroit 36 yard line.  Matthew Goilden caught both of his targets for 16 yards, all in the first quarter.  Love only completed 4 of 6 attempts for 21 yards in the second half, so all of the pass catchers did most of their damage in the first half.  

DEFENSE:

The defense held Detroit to 13 points, which included a garbage time touchdown late in the fourth quarter.  The defense does not have any really weak starters.  Going into training camp, I worried that perhaps they lacked enough difference-makers.  They managed to hide McDuffie, while Bullard was the other defensive player who had an up and down game.  He had to cover LaPorta quite a bit, and at times he did an admirable job.  I thought 8 of Goff's 31  completions came with Bullard in coverage.  Some of those completions came in zone coverage where Bullard was simply the closest player rather than necessarily at fault. Valentine threw his body around and was physical in run support.  The Packers will have options when Hobbs returns.

DEFENSIVE TACKLE: ( 1.88)

Wooden led the defensive tackles with 6 tackles (3 solo), 2 tackles for loss and 1 QB hit.  Wyatt had 3 tackles (1 solo), 1 sack and 3 QB hits.  Stackhouse had an assisted tackle.  Karl Brooks had no statistics.  The defensive tackles throttled the Lions' offensive line.  The Lions gained 46 yards on 22 carries, a 2.1 yard average, with 14 of those yards coming on the individual brilliance of Jahmyr Gibbs.  The tackles got some penetration at times, providing some pressure up the middle.  I am not yet willing to anoint the defensive tackles becasue the Lions interior offensive linemen were question marks.  Graham Glasgow is a long-time NFL player but he is below average more often than average.  Detroit's guards were Christian Mahogany, 6th round pick in the 2024 draft who played 65 snaps last year, and Tate Ratledge, a second round pick in this year's draft.  They can only play the guys opposite them.

EDGE: (2.12)

The Edge guys, on the other hand, played very well against a pair of high quality offensive tackles.  Gary was solid with 7 tackles (3 solo), 1.5 sacks, a tackle for loss, and 3 QB hits.  Van Ness had an encouraging game with 4 tackles (1 solo), 0.5 sacks, 1 TFL, and a quarterback hit.  ESPN listed Van Ness with 4 pressures.  Enagbare had 2 assisted tackles.  Parsons had 1 solo tackle, 1 sack, 1 tackle for loss and 1 QB hit.  ESPN listed Parsons with 3 pressures, including a pressure on the pass Evan Williams intercepted.  Cox got hurt fairly early and did not return.  He had no statistics.  The edge was set and there was plenty of pressure with just 4 rushing the passer.  

LINEBACKERS: (2.29)

Edgerrin Cooper had an outstanding day.  He finished with 12 tackles (8 solo), and he was everywhere.  Quay Walker had a fine day with 9 tackles (6 solo), a tackle for loss, and 2 passes defensed.  Walker's run fits looked good, and his coverage was decent.  I was against exercising Walker's fifth-year option because I do not believe he is worth the roughly $15M that two linebackers (Demien Sherwood and Nick Bolton) recently signed for.  If he plays well enough to change my mind, that would be great.  McDuffie had 3 tackles (1 solo).  The Packers sucessfully hid McDuffie for the most part by limiting his coverage snaps.  Hopper has a lot of season left to show everyone what he can do. 

Niemann had no less than 3 assisted tackles (1 solo) on special teams.  He looks like a wonderful signing.  Niemann led the Chargers in special teams tackles in 2021 and 2024 but they released him.  Houston signed him to a 2 year, $6M deal but they released him on August 26, taking a $3.25M dead money hit.  There is no information as to how much the Packers are paying Niemann.  The linebacker room looks chocked full of talent.  I was worried that the Packers would not release Isaiah Simmons, but they did, and I was surprised and concerned when they released Christian Welch, but he passed on to the practice squad. 

DEFENSIVE BACKS: (4.71)

Valentine and Nixon (with help from a good pass rush) shut down Detroit's wide receivers, including St. Brown ($30M per year) and Jameson Williams ($27M per year).  Valentine was physical in run defense.  He gave up a touchdown reception but TeSlaa made an incredible catch despite excellent coverage by Valentine.  None of the other cornerbacks played a defensive snap.  McKinney and Bullard were the starting safeties, as the Packers started the game in a base defense.  Bullard moved to the slot when the Packers were matching in nickel and Williams came in at safety, with McDuffie and Hopper leaving the field.  Bullard had 9 tackles  (7 solo) amd McKinney had 5 tackles (2 solo).  Evan Williams had 3 tackles (1 solo) and an interception.        

SPECIAL TEAMS:

Whelen looked worth every cent of his new deal, reportedly for 2 years and $6M.  He punted 3 times for a net of 48.3 yards and landed 2 of them inside the 20.  He flipped the field once and pinned Detroit deep in their own territory.  Detroit was unable to move the ball and Reed had a nice 20 yard punt return to the Detroit 36 yard line, setting up a field goal.  McManus made all three of his point afters and made both of his field goals.