It was an electric day at Lambeau Field as the Green Bay Packers dominated the Detroit Lions on opening day.
The Green and Gold won 27-13, but the game wasn’t even really that close.
The offense started strong, scoring on each of its first three drives, taking an early 17-3 lead as the defense put a ton of pressure on Lions QB Jerrod Goff.
Michah Parsons received an uproarious welcome as he was announced in the starting lineup, and another when he picked up a big sack late in the game. The defensive line and linebacking corps were utterly dominant throughout the game, securing a total of 4 sacks and 9 tackles for loss, and only gave up a touchdown with less than one minute left.
A key piece to that was a timely interception by Evan Williams, who told SeehaferNews.com that he read it the whole way.
“It was a formational tell,” he revealed. “They had #14 (Amon-Ra St. Brown) in the slot and he is a guy that they want to get the ball to on late downs. Really it was mostly just disguised. We had a good show and I was rotating down. Goff was looking at my initially, then he snapped his eyes to the receiver. Really my feet did the work before I really realized what was going on.”
Willams was also on the kick off team, and had a couple of plays that won’t be on Sports Center, but he set several picks, which allowed his teammates free rushes to the returner.
“I feel like Coop out there!” he joked, referring to Edgerrin Cooper who had a team leading 12 tackles.. “It’s fun to be able to experiment, be able to get other guys free.”
Linebacker Isaiah McDuffie, who ended the day with four total tackles, noted that the Packers weren’t exactly sure what to expect out of the Lions as this was their first game with a new offensive coordinator.
“Going into game one, especially with a new OC, it’s a rules game,” he explained. “You’ve got to paly with your fundamentals because you don’t know what you are going to get. I think we did a good job of doing that today.”
He was also happy to have Parsons on the squad, saying, “Anytime you can get a guy like that it definitely helps us as a team and helps us as a defense.”
Offensively, Jordan Love remained clean, taking zero sacks, a fact that Right Guard Sean Rhyan couldn’t be more proud of.
He said the game plan up front was simple.
“Play our game. We weren’t going to play anybody else but our game,” he explained. “Playing to our standards, no one else’s and everything else will work itself out.”
The Lions started the matchup showing multiple different fronts, from four down linemen to only three, and even three down linemen with linebackers on the edge standing up.
Rhyan, who split time with Jordan Morgan, says none of it was surprising to the Packers’ front five.
“For the most part we were pretty clean in regards to targeting,” he noted. “We had a couple mental errors, but nothing glaring. All fixable.”
Josh Jacobs may have set a new franchise record with his 9th consecutive game with a touchdown, but his stats were not as good as one may have hoped.
He ended the day with 66 yards, with 58 of those coming in the second half.
Rhyan says the o-line just needs to tighten things up.
“It’s just little things,” he noted. “Half a gap, half a man, and we get that block and we will pop it. We just got to be able to do it.”
Right Tackle Zach Tom went down in the second half with a hip injury, allowing the recently acquired Darian Kinnard to take the final four drives.
When he got the call to jump in, his mindset was simple.
“Just do my job. Rely on my teammates next to me,” he explained. “Time was short, but at the end of the day it’s a business and you have to be ready.”
The former Chief and Eagle says he was thoroughly impressed by the what the fans at Lambeau brought to the table.
“The atmosphere was amazing,” he said with a smile. “The fans showed up. Every third down it was ringing in my ears. It, a little bit, reminded me of college, just how involved the fans are.”
The Packers start their season 1-0, but don’t have much time to celebrate.
They will be back on the hallowed turf of Lambeau Field on Thursday as they welcome Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders to Title Town.
Washington is coming off of a 21-6 win over the New York Giants in week one.
The game will be aired on 1240 WOMT.
