Week 1 shaped up to be a party at Lambeau Field Sunday afternoon following the Green Bay Packers' late offseason trade acquisition of All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons from the Dallas Cowboys.
The action between the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions played out exactly that way from the pregame introductions, where Parsons was announced last running out the tunnel to a roaring ovation, to the halftime buzzer. Green Bay emerged victorious 27-13 over the Lions to snap Detroit's three-game winning streak at Lambeau Field. The Packers have now won seven of their last eight Week 1 games at home dating to 2007, the final season of the Brett Favre era.
Quarterback Jordan Love surgically picked apart Detroit's defense with 17 points on the Packers' first three drives, including two touchdown tosses -- one to tight end Tucker Kraft (15 yards) and another to wide receiver Jayden Reed (17 yards). On Green Bay's third drive of the game, the second touchdown drive, the Packers found the end zone in just two plays, on two throws from Love.
Love dropped a dime to wide receiver Romeo Doubs on a post route over the middle of the field for an explosive gain of 48 yards, and then he hit Reed with ease on a vertical route to the end zone for a 17-yard score. The Packers quarterback finished the afternoon with 188 yards passing and two touchdowns on 16 of 22 passing. It wasn't the most efficient outing for Pro Bowl running back Josh Jacobs, but he was able to extend his franchise-record streak of games with a rushing touchdown to nine on a three-yard plunge into the end zone with 7:57 left to play. That score put Green Bay up 24-6, and Jacobs finished the contest with 66 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries.
Parsons checked into the game on the third play of the Lions' opening series to another raucous ovation with Detroit facing a third-and-7. He provided an immediate impact, beating Lions All-Pro right tackle Penei Sewell to the inside to pressure Jared Goff into a short checkdown to Jahmyr Gibbs. The play went for a loss of two, and the Lions were forced to punt after a three-and-out.
Parsons also helped force Goff to rush a third-down throw that resulted in Detroit settling for a 30-yard field goal on its second drive of the game. He also sped up Goff on another third-and-7 throw inside the red zone just before halftime, which allowed safety Evan Williams to undercut the pass for an interception. Parsons recorded a sack, and he registered multiple quarterback pressures. His impact trickled down into one-and-a-half sacks for Pro Bowl edge rusher Rashan Gary, a sack for former first-round defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt and half a sack for former first-round pick edge rusher Lukas Van Ness. Goff finished the game with 225 yards passing, a touchdown and a pick on 31 of 39 passing while being sacked four times. His lone touchdown came on a fourth down fade route to rookie wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa from 13 yards out with 55 seconds remaining.
The Packers (1-0) will return to action at Lambeau Field on "Thursday Night Football" against the Washington Commanders (1-0) in Week 2. The Lions will head home to Detroit to take on the NFC North rival Chicago Bears in Week 2.
See four takeaways from Sunday's game below.
