The Commanders and Packers entered the ring together in Lambeau as approximate equals: Both coming off of two-touchdown wins four days ago, and both looking to mount deep playoff runs. It stood to reason that this game could tell us some things about both teams, and in that regard it did not disappoint.
QUARTERBACKS
The lack of interest in doing anything too fancy or cutesy on offense that the Packers developed in the second half of 2024 has very much carried over into this season. Is Jordan Love elite, is he an overpaid game manager, is he something in between - the Packers do not care one iota. Through two weeks, this is a team that is telling you that the fastball is coming and daring you to hit it. Continuing to dispense with any West Coast-style short passing and just let him dial up the splash plays, Jordan Love needed a mere 19 completions to rack up 292 yards through the air in this one. Five different Packers' receivers had receptions go for 15-plus, and that's not including the perfect, front pylon touchdown to Jayden Reed that Love dropped in the bucket from 39 yards out that was called back. The Packers have accepted that they don't have the right personnel at receiver to run a high-volume pass offense... and perhaps not even the right quarterback. But they do have the guys to churn out big plays against defenses being physically manhandled by the Packers' elite run game. That appears to be the recipe until someone can hit the fastball here.
While he appeared as unflappable as ever, Jayden Daniels had to be at least a little frustrated in this one. You can have all the talent in the world (like Daniels just about does), and you can have a great scheme for utilizing it (so far so good, Kliff Kingsbury) - but at the end of the day it's a team sport, and if your team is getting mauled nonstop all that goes out the window in a hurry. After an opening round flurry of punches that had the Commanders on the ropes on both sides of the ball, making it to halftime down 'only' 11 and outgained 'only' 274-82 felt like good fortune for Daniels and the offense, because they were very nearly run out of the gym.
But man is there ever no quit in this kid. Even having to claw out every inch all night long, Daniels and the thoroughly harried Commanders' defense somehow managed to hang around, and hang around, until finally they were able to break through: Daniels found Zach Ertz near the left corner of the endzone early in the fourth quarter, and he took it the rest of the way for Washington's first touchdown. Somehow, despite most of their keisters having been kicked clear into the parking lot to that point in the game, this was a one-score game in the fourth quarter. The Packers would finally quit playing with their dinner a few minutes later, but even with the game's outcome almost mathematically decided with the Packers up 17 with under seven minutes to play, Daniels kept at them, ultimately finishing 24-of-42 for 200 of the most hard-scrabble yards passing you'll ever see, including a garbo time TD for Deebo. The Commanders didn't get the win they wanted, but they reminded us that they do not lack for moxie.
RUNNING BACKS
The surest anytime touchdown scorer on Earth came through once again. Josh Jacobs didn't hit any especially big plays against Washington (despite 23 carries, his long gain of the night was a modest 10 yards), but that's not what the Packers need him for. The Packers tenderized the Washington front with Jacobs-sized kidney shots all night, as has been their wont since last winter. And with his two-yard plunge midway through the second quarter, Jacobs made it 11 straight games with at least one rushing touchdown, far and away the longest active streak in the league.
It was blood from a stone for the Washington running backs all night long. Austin Ekeler and Jacory Croskey-Merritt ran into the waiting arms of Green Bay defenders in their own backfield much of the time; they were lucky to 'eke' out even 34 yards on their 11 carries. Croskey-Merritt and Daniels looked to have a bit of a miscommunication on his lone target of the evening, which is an area that the two will now likely have to work to improve quickly. With the Commanders trailing by 17 late in the game, Austin Ekeler leaked out into the flat before trying to plant and accelerate up field. He immediately crumpled to the turf and grabbed in the vicinity of his right Achilles. Hoping for the best, but this certainly had the look of a season-ending injury, and one that further shakes up a depth chart that just lost Brian Robinson. Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Jeremy McNichols and probably Deebo Samuel will team up to absorb the touches vacated by the loss of Ekeler.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Speaking of: Two games, two touchdowns for Deebo Samuel in a Commanders uniform. After scoring on a jet sweep last week against the Giants, this time it came through the air: Down 17 with under three minutes to go, Samuel housed a 10-yard cheapie. Meaningless to that game's outcome, but plenty meaningful to the fantasy owners that rolled the dice on him in drafts a couple weeks ago. A fresh application of salt in the wound for Terry McLaurin drafters though, as his 5/48/0 line constituted only the thinnest of bounce backs from Week 1's box score flop. But with the Commanders in the prone position all night, Daniels was looking McLaurin's way plenty, as evidenced by his nine official targets, tying with Deebo for the team lead on the night. Patience, better days are ahead. Daniels also dialed up Noah Brown's number four times, but he mostly let it ring, with as many heinous drops as receptions (one) before departing with a groin injury. Considering he was already nursing a knee issue coming into this game, it may be a minute before we see Mr. Brown again. Luke McCaffrey had his second most productive fantasy outing of his young career, but that still only amounted to a late 19-yard reception and a vanity two-point conversion. Curiously, Washington looked to rookie Jaylin Lane for a critical fourth down conversion with the Commanders down 14 and under eight minutes left in the game. Incomplete, and the Packers effectively iced the game on the ensuing drive.
We're going to see Matthew Golden start hitting waiver wires in the coming days. After finishing among the league leaders in training camp hype just a couple weeks ago, Golden followed up his ho hum 16-yard pro debut with a USDA-grade goose egg Thursday night. He's a distant fifth on the team in targets so far, and he quite possibly cost himself his first NFL touchdown when some nonconfrontational route-running allowed Commanders' rookie Trey Amos to hustle his way back into a rep where he'd been vaporized for the pass breakup. Talk about a letdown. But before you find the nearest lifeboat, could I interest you in a glimmer of hope? Because when Jayden Reed went out of bounds on that aforementioned touchdown-that-wasn't, Washington's Quan Martin came down perfectly on Reed's stacked shoulders, breaking his collarbone. Reed's now looking at a long-term absence, and Golden is far and away the most logical beneficiary... if he's ready to work, that is. After Golden's faux pas at the goal line, Romeo Doubs was all too happy to catch a simple little deep slant a couple of plays later to close out Green Bay's first scoring drive of the night. Little else was asked of Doubs on the night (five targets), and little else was given (28 yards). He remains a guy that's awful hard to trust in any given week. Dontayvion Wicks had a similarly front-loaded night, going for most of his 44 yards in the early going. In the fourth quarter, rookie 'wide receiver' and Cordarrelle Patterson impersonator Savion Williams took a direct snap out of the Wildcat and went screaming around the left side for 15 yards before slipping and hitting the deck somewhat cartoonishly. The catch of the night on the Packers side probably went to third-year reserve receiver Malik Heath, who had a picturesque double toe tap on a 37-yard sideline shot that kickstarted Green Bay's second touchdown drive of the night.
TIGHT ENDS
Banner night for the tight ends in this one. Continuing his twilight renaissance with gusto, Zach Ertz established new regular season highs as a Commander in both receptions (eight) and yards (84), with a late touchdown as the cherry on top. We knew the Commanders' plan to lean heavily on Deebo Samuel and Austin Ekeler was likely going to run aground at some point, but not eight days into the season. Daniels will need to lean on Ertz for the foreseeable future, so keep firing him up as one of the best cut-rate tight end plays going.
After leading the NFL in YAC per reception in 2024 and leading the Packers in routes run last week (granted, he still only ran a measly 17 of 'em), perhaps more of us should have seen the Tucker Kraft legacy game incoming. After not topping 80 yards in a game since Week 5 of last season, Kraft blew away his previous career-best with 124 yards receiving on six receptions. A big chunk of the damage was courtesy of a 57-yard catch and run on Green Bay's second drive, but Kraft was clearly Love's favorite target on the night. With Jayden Reed on the shelf until Halloween at least, probably there won't be too many Tucker Kraft owners out there that go away from him in their lineups anytime soon. Luke Musgrave also made a couple of nice catches.
Kickers: Released by the Commanders last summer for some unpleasant press before ever playing a snap for them, Brandon McManus extended his impressive streak of consecutive extra point tries made to 91 against his old team... sorta. He did doink a 48-yard attempt, but mostly atoned with two other makes, including a 56-yarder to put the game away for good. It was a rough night for Matt Gay, who was attempting his first field goals for his new team after coming over from the Colts in free agency. It went poorly. Gay missed two of three kicks, including a 52-yard doink on their opening drive of the second half that would have pulled the Commanders within eight. Gay didn't hesitate to take all of the blame afterward, which may not have been fully warranted; all three of Gay's attempts were from beyond 50 yards, and the Commanders lost by nine points, which I'm told is more than six. Defenses: The Commanders managed to keep the tornado from taking the house up, which was about all that could have been asked of them here. The Packers won the battle in the trenches by unanimous decision and spat out chunk gains left and right, but the Commanders made enough timely stops to keep Green Bay from disappearing over the horizon until the very end - Green Bay failed to convert on eight of 13 third/fourth down plays. But finally, after burying it under a couple thousand words of preamble we arrive at the lede: Green Bay's defense is capital F For, capital R Real. The Packer defense began to come into its own down the stretch last year and was already poised to be a top 12 unit in 2025. The Micah Parsons trade looks to have been the piece needed to vault this group into the upper echelon: Green Bay has logged four sacks in each of its first two games and has yet to allow a touchdown before the fourth quarter. This is a DST you can feel good about trotting out for the foreseeable future - particularly in their Week 4 trip to Dallas for Sunday Night Football. Jerry, set out your best groaning suit.
Green Bay has put the NFC North, and possibly the whole conference on notice: It might just be time to meet the new boss, same as the 106-year-old boss.
—Luke Wilson