Within the Week 2 version of “Thursday Night time Soccer,” the Inexperienced Bay Packers (1-0) play host to the Washington Commanders (1-0).
These are two groups that obtained their seasons began with resounding victories over division rivals. The Packers hosted the Detroit Lions and blew them out of Lambeau Subject. The Commanders hosted the New York Giants and summarily despatched them packing again up I-95.
This recreation will characteristic star gamers on either side of the sector, as we’ll get to see guys like Micah Parsons, Jayden Daniels, Jordan Love, Terry McLaurin and a complete lot extra doing their factor on a nationwide stage. It ought to be an extremely enjoyable night time for soccer followers throughout the nation.
Which of those two NFC contenders will enhance to 2-0? We’ll discover out quickly sufficient. Earlier than we break down the matchup, here is a take a look at how one can watch the sport.
The place to observe Commanders vs. Packers reside
- Date: Thursday, Sept. 11 | Time: 8:20 p.m. ET
- Location: Lambeau Subject (Inexperienced Bay)
- Stream: Amazon Prime
- Comply with: CBS Sports App
- Odds: Packers -3.5; O/U 48.5 (through DraftKings Sportsbook)
Wager NFL Week 2 video games and NFL odds at DraftKings, the place new customers get $300 in bonus bets and over $200 off NFL Sunday Ticket.
When the Commanders have the ball
The Packers’ protection completely dominated their recreation towards the Lions in Week 1:
The Packers held them to only 246 yards even supposing they ran an unbelievable 65 performs — yielding a mean of simply 3.8 yards per play. To place that in perspective, think about that the Lions ranked second within the NFL with a 6.2 yards-per-play common a 12 months in the past, whereas the Chicago Bears ranked final at 4.5 per play.
Gone have been the explosive beneficial properties we have gotten so used to seeing from Detroit over the previous few years. The Lions gained 20 or extra yards on a scrimmage play simply as soon as all recreation, per Tru Media. They’d 76 explosive performs in 2024, the third-most of any crew within the league, and so they additionally created explosives on the fourth-highest fee on a per-snap foundation. However the Packers have been having none of that on Sunday. They’d the Lions working in what appeared like a five-by-five-yard field all recreation lengthy.
They will face a similarly-tough however stylistically completely different problem on Thursday night time towards Washington, the place the principle risk is the quarterback himself in Jayden Daniels.
The Commanders piled up yards (432) however not factors (21) of their season-opening win towards the Giants. That is as a result of they ran the ball with an unbelievable diploma of success, with Daniels speeding 11 instances for 68 yards, Jacory (Invoice) Croskey-Merritt carrying 10 instances for 82 yards and Austin Ekeler and Jeremy McNichols combining for 51 yards on their 10 carries.
Inexperienced Bay, in the meantime, did nearly nearly as good a job as attainable of shutting down Detroit’s personal explosive run recreation. In line with Tru Media, the Lions failed to achieve the road of scrimmage on 31.8% of their speeding makes an attempt, and so they averaged NEGATIVE 0.1 yards earlier than contact per carry. Sure, they have been, on common, contacted within the backfield each time they ran the ball. That is how dominant Inexperienced Bay’s defensive entrance was towards Detroit’s offensive line. After all, they did not must cope with the specter of the quarterback run, in order that makes this matchup a wholly completely different drawback to unravel.
With the success of their speeding assault towards New York, the Commies did not want Daniels and the passing recreation to do the heavy lifting, however he managed to get fairly a bit going by means of the air anyway. There have been a few missed connections, together with a deep shot to Terry McLaurin that would have been a landing, however Washington obtained Deebo Samuel (who additionally had a 19-yard speeding landing) going early and infrequently (seven catches for 77 yards) and hit on 4 move performs of 15 yards or extra.
The query right here will likely be whether or not this improved offensive line, which yielded stress on solely 29% of Daniels’ dropbacks in Week 1 however ranked twentieth in common time to stress (2.48 seconds, through Tru Media) can maintain up towards what appeared on Sunday like essentially the most ferocious move rush within the league.
Parsons did not play a full complement of snaps, however boy was he impactful when he was on the market. Regardless of speeding typically towards Penei Sewell, Parsons made a major mark on the sport with a number of pressures, considered one of which pressured Goff into an interception, and he later got here up together with his first sack as a Packer by chasing a scrambling Goff down from behind late within the recreation. Early snap totals have him taking part in lower than 30 snaps, however nonetheless managing a sack, a success and a rush. He was that good regardless of not having practiced all summer time or arrived in Inexperienced Bay till final week.
And his presence opened issues up for gamers like Rashan Gary, Lukas Van Ness and Devonte Wyatt to have large video games. That trio mixed for 12 pressures, through Tru Media, in addition to three sacks and 7 quarterback hits. They spent the whole thing of the sport harassing Goff into fast, beneath throws whereas the defensive backs rallied shortly to the ball. The typically-stalwart Detroit offensive line was made to look a large number in its first recreation after seeing Frank Ragnow retire and Kevin Zeitler go away in free company, so dominant have been Inexperienced Bay’s rushmen all recreation lengthy.
Parsons ought to have a fuller complement of snaps on Thursday night time, and his presence will possible show a major drawback for Washington to unravel, simply because it does for everybody else. And if the move rush is getting dwelling, then Daniels goes to must work his magic to each purchase time and scramble down the sector. That is not one thing the Packers needed to cope with when taking part in the statuesque Goff in Week 1, so it will be attention-grabbing to see how their rushmen regulate to a a lot completely different form of problem.
If the Packers do handle to get stress, they’ll constrict the area the Commanders’ offense has to work with in the identical manner they did to the Lions. Washington could attempt to get its offense shifting horizontally first in order that it could possibly open some issues up down the sector, which has all the time been one of many methods Kliff Kingsbury tries to assault. If the horizontal stuff works, then McLaurin and Samuel may discover extra room to function than did Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams, who have been restricted to lower than 70 yards between them in Week 1. Both manner, Inexperienced Bay’s secondary — which had a wonderful recreation final week — may have its work lower out to stay with these guys on prolonged performs and coming as much as sort out towards the run.
With Micah Parsons already wreaking havoc, the Packers definitely appeared like a Tremendous Bowl contender vs. Lions
Jared Dubin
When the Packers have the ball
In contrast to Inexperienced Bay’s protection, Washington’s didn’t face a severe offense within the first week of the season. Russell Wilson appeared just like the worst quarterback within the NFL for a lot of the sport, and we didn’t actually get to see what the Commanders’ protection seems to be like towards an offense that may really problem a number of areas of the sector.
And Inexperienced Bay’s offense can definitely problem a number of areas of the sector. We noticed that even in restricted motion towards Detroit in Week 1, with Jordan Love and Co. out-gaining the Lions regardless of operating practically 20 fewer performs.
As we wrote final weekend:
They transformed half of their third- and fourth-down alternatives and so they have been environment friendly within the pink zone, scoring touchdowns on three of their 5 journeys contained in the 20-yard line and changing the 2 others into discipline objectives.
Jordan Love was each environment friendly and explosive, spreading the ball round to 10 completely different receivers. No one noticed greater than 5 targets on his 22 move makes an attempt, and no person caught greater than three passes whereas 5 completely different gamers had a minimum of two receptions. Romeo Doubs had the largest acquire, a 48-yarder on a beautifully-thrown deep ball that arrange Jayden Reed’s 17-yard landing seize one play later — a snag that gave the Packers a two-score lead they’d maintain for the remainder of the sport.
Josh Jacobs did not have his finest afternoon with solely 66 yards on his 19 carries, however he registered an excellent 47% speeding success fee and he discovered the tip zone but once more, scoring on the bottom for the seventeenth time in his 19 video games as a Packer.
The Commanders might want to discover a approach to drive Love into rushed selections in order that he takes the kinds of probabilities he is liable to absorb these conditions. Whether or not and the way they’re capable of generate a move rush stays to be seen, provided that their defensive entrance shouldn’t be essentially a power and the Packers’ offensive line is sort of good.
Washington remains to be relying on the likes of Dorance Armstrong and Deatrich Smart as its beginning edge rushers, with Von Miller and Jacob Martin approaching in rotational pass-rush roles. That is not an imposing group of rushmen, and it isn’t like Daron Payne, Javon Kinlaw, Jer’Zhan Newton and Eddie Goldman are pulling down the door from the within, both.
Given the comparatively unlikely likelihood of heavy stress, there’s going to be numerous stress on the Commanders defensive backs when working towards Inexperienced Bay’s rotation of large receivers. Doubs is more likely to lead the group in snaps, whereas Matthew Golden, Dontayvion Wicks and extra rotate throughout from him and Jayden Reed performs within the slot when the Packers go to 11 personnel seems to be.
Reed remains to be the premier risk even supposing he performs fewer snaps than the others, and the matchup of him and slot nook Mike Sainristil is one to observe. So is the one between tight finish Tucker Kraft and Washington’s linebackers (Bobby Wagner and Frankie Luvu) and safeties (Quan Martin and Will Harris). Kraft, like the remainder of the pass-catchers, would not get a ton of quantity, however he is explosive down the sector and a menace with the ball in his arms.
After all, Washington additionally has to cope with the Jacobs-led run recreation, which by no means actually obtained on observe towards Inexperienced Bay however which we all know will be extremely harmful. The Commanders held Giants operating backs to a pathetic 30 yards on 15 carries final week, however that is clearly a a lot completely different animal for them to comprise.
Prediction
Given what we noticed from Inexperienced Bay’s protection and what we already know the offense can do, it’s actually laborious to select towards the Packers — particularly at dwelling. On a brief week towards an opponent that wasn’t significantly challenged in Week 1, we’re rolling with the Pack to win, even coming off the excessive of an emotional victory over a division rival.
Choose: Packers 26, Commanders 20
