The Packers opened the 2025 season with an outstanding win. Beating the division champ of the last two years resoundingly, Green Bay now has to deal with another NFC Championship contender coming to Lambeau tomorrow night. What should fans be keeping an eye on as the Packers look to go 2-0 to start the season for the first time since 2020?
Packers Offensive Line Depth
While the win over Detroit was a huge one – it did come with a few small blemishes. Both Zach Tom and Aaron Banks were forced to leave the game. Tom with a hip issue and Banks with an ankle. While Morgan and Kinnard filled in well, any more injuries could be a real problem for the team moving forward. Additionally the Commanders are coming off a game where they did this:
It should be noted however that the Giants fielded one of the worst o-lines in the league last year, and there’s reason to believe it may still be atrocious.
The Plan of Attack for Jayden Daniels
Since arriving in Green Bay, Jeff Hafley has wanted to do one thing on defense. Win the battle at the line with just four guys. Last year he tried doing this via simulated pressures, because none of the pass rushers was able to step up.
Bringing in Micah Parsons was supposed to be the big thing that unlocked this. At least against the Lions that’s exactly what happened. The team was no longer forced to rely on blitzing or simulation, the Packers front four simply controlled the game.
This makes the matchup against the Commanders and Jayden Daniels such a fascinating follow up to the Lions game.
This stark of a difference has to at least weigh in the minds of Green Bays coaching staff as this game approaches. Does Hafley continue to send just four against a middling Commanders offensive line? Or does he embrace the blitz (at least for one week) to try and replicate what the Giants were able to do in portions of the game?
Can Jordan Love Eliminate “Those” Plays
To begin with – Jordan Love played an excellent game on Sunday. He was in command of the offense. He knew how to attack whatever the Lions threw at him. His stat line would’ve been even better had Jayden Reed not dropped an absolute dime in the third quarter (a difficult catch but one that needs to be made). That all being said, if not for a little luck his stat line could have been much worse as well.
On back to back plays in the third quarter preceding the Reed drop, Love was bailed out of picks not once, but twice. First, pressure from Hutchinson leads Love to a throw to Kraft that Lions LB Alex Anzalone simply drops. On the next play, pressure again leads to a quick throw from Love that is picked off by Brian Branch. If not for a penalty it would’ve been six points for the Lions.
Luck plays a role in the NFL every year to be sure. This goes for whole teams as well as individual players. Love got lucky yesterday. If he is going to take the next step however, those are the exact kind of plays that he needs to weed out.
Have The Packers Turned Over A New Leaf?
A common link to Packers losses in the past has been discipline. Whether it’s penalties, missed tackles or bad blocks, a lot of Packers losses in the past several years have stemmed from self inflicted wounds.
Not against the Lions. In the opener, the Packers committed just four penalties (two on special teams) and not a single one on offense. You would also be hard pressed to point out many missed tackles as well. Packers defenders swarmed to the ball against Detroit’s speedy weapons. No stat illustrates this than Jahmyr Gibbs stat line – 10 catches for a paltry 31 yards.
While individual performances certainly stood out, it was how clean a game the Packers played that stuck out the most. If the youngest team in the league has finally grown up a bit, the rest of the league, starting with Washington, is in big trouble.
