The Green Bay Packers have found a winning combination to start the 2025 season. A fast start on offense, combined with a consistently disruptive front and a few big plays late, have powered a 2-0 start with wins over the Detroit Lions and Washington Commanders to open the year.
On Thursday night, the Packers raced out to a 14-0 lead, held a 17-3 lead at halftime and led 27-10 deep into the fourth quarter. For the second straight week, the Packers held a three-score lead late and won comfortably over an NFC contender.
Here are five game-deciding stats to know from Thursday night’s primetime win:
25 of 52
Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels was under pressure on 25 of his 52 dropbacks, or 48.1 percent, per PFF. On those 25 pressured dropbacks, Daniels completed only eight passes, took four sacks and scrambled four times. The Packers had eight players with at least two pressures, including four or more from Micah Parsons (eight), Devonte Wyatt (seven), Rashan Gary (four) and Edgerrin Cooper (four). Another dominant performance from pass-rushing group stifled another good quarterback. The Packers have produced pressure on 41 of 95 (43 percent) opponent dropbacks to start 2025.
Love shreds from clean pockets
Jordan Love continues to be a killer when protected in the pocket. On 18 dropbacks without pressure against the Commanders, Love completed 15 of 18 passes for 224 yards, two touchdowns and two big-time throws, per PFF. All quarterbacks struggled under pressure, but the best can consistently execute when kept clean. That’s been Love to start 2025. Through two weeks, Love has completed 29 of 35 passes (82.9 percent) for 394 yards (11.3 yards per attempt), four touchdown passes, zero interceptions, zero turnover-worthy plays, three big-time throws and a passer rating of 151.7.
Nixon and Valentine
Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels targeted Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine nine times. He completed just one of the nine passes for seven yards. The one catch — given up by Valentine to Terry McLaurin — came late and didn’t create a first down. Nixon forced five incompletions, including a fourth down stop. While Deebo Samuel created some production underneath, Nixon and Valentine locked down the perimeter. McLaurin ran 48 routes but finished with only 48 receiving yards. Big time stuff from the Packers corners. Thanks to a lot of empty dropbacks, Daniels averaged only 4.8 yards per pass attempt.
51 rushing yards allowed
The Commanders rushed for 220 yards in the opener. On Thursday night, the Packers allowed only 51 yards on 19 attempts and didn’t give up a gain of more than five yards on a designed run. The Packers completely negated the rushing value of Jayden Daniels, who ran seven times but gained only 17 yards. He also lost 21 total yards on four sacks. Austin Ekeler and Jacory Croskey-Merritt combined for 34 yards on 12 designed runs. During the first two weeks, the Packers have allowed 97 rusing yards on 41 rushing attempts — 2.4 yards per attempt.
Explosive plays
The Commanders ran 65 plays but had zero runs of more than 10 yards and just one passing play of 20 or more yards (a 20-yard touchdown pass to Zach Ertz after Quay Walker missed a tackle underneath). Jeff Hafley’s defense has been excellent at keeping everything in front and forcing teams to take the long route to points — and relying on disruptive plays to eventually end drives. On offense, the Packers had three players with a run of at least 10 yards and three players with a catch of at least 20 yards, including a 57-yarder from Tucker Kraft setting up a touchdown and a tremendous catch downfield from Malik Heath. Jordan Love averaged 9.4 yards per attempt and 15.4 yards per completion, and he even mised a few deep shots to Matthew Golden and Dontayvion Wicks. The far more explosive team won the game easily.
This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: 5 game-deciding stats to know from Packers’ primetime win over Commanders in Week 2
Reporting by Zach Kruse, Packers Wire / Packers Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
