The Green Bay Packers are 2-0 to start the 2025 season after a 27-18 win over the Washington Commanders on Thursday night.
Green Bay’s defense was stout yet again, holding Jayden Daniels to 200 passing yards on 42 attempts with 24 completions. Daniels, who set a new NFL record for rushing yards by a rookie in 2024, was held to just 17 rushing yards on seven carries. Green Bay also sacked Daniels four times.
The Commanders reached the NFC Championship Game last season with the seventh-ranked offense, but had a very frustrating night against Jeff Hafley’s defense.
Offensively, the Packers will be without Jayden Reed for a while, as Matt LaFleur confirmed he suffered a broken collarbone. Reed is a tremendous weapon in this offense, but fortunately, Green Bay has done a good job surrounding Jordan Love with talent, including a budding star at tight end, who is leading off this week’s list of standouts.
TE Tucker Kraft
It was a career night for Kraft as he broke the 100-yard receiving mark for the first time in his career, catching six passes for 124 yards to lead all receivers. Kraft started with two massive catches on the team’s first touchdown drive, including a 57-yard catch-and-run. He then delivered a nice stiff arm on the second touchdown drive for a 17-yard pickup to get the ball to Washington’s 12-yard line. The third-year tight end then capped off his night with an 8-yard touchdown catch to give the Packers a 24-10 lead in the fourth quarter. Kraft hopes to be one of the best tight ends in the league by the end of the season, and certainly looked like one in Week 2.
DT Devonte Wyatt
Green Bay’s pass rush was dominant once again this week, and Wyatt played a huge part. He sacked Daniels on Washington’s opening drive, which led to a three-and-out, and tied his career-high for pressures with six, according to Pro Football Focus. When he wasn’t getting pressure, Wyatt remained effective by batting down two passes at the line of scrimmage.
CB Keisean Nixon
The secondary did a great job against a pass-heavy approach, but it was Nixon who stood out the most with the best performance of his career. Nixon provided sticky coverage throughout the night, setting a new career-high for pass breakups with five after finishing with seven all last season. One of his breakups came during the fourth quarter to force a turnover on downs and prevent any sort of comeback. Entering the season, there was some uncertainty around Nixon taking over for Jaire Alexander as the Packers’ No. 1 corner, but he looked the part on Thursday.
QB Jordan Love
Last week, Love completed passes to 10 different receivers for 188 yards and two touchdowns to finish with a 128.6 passer rating. This week, Love was brilliant again, completing 19 of 31 passes for 292 yards and two touchdowns for a passer rating of 113.9. He also had a 14-yard scramble to get the ball inside the Commanders’ 20 on the first scoring drive. It’s still early, but Love has been one of the best quarterbacks in the league through the first two weeks.
Edge Micah Parsons
During his four seasons in Dallas, Parsons pretty much lived in his opponents’ backfield. Two weeks into his Packers tenure, and it’s been more of the same. Parsons was integral in keeping Daniels out of sync as he led the team with eight pressures, according to PFF. Parsons was able to generate quick pressures consistently and combined for an impactful sack with Edgerrin Cooper on a third down. The sack came on the opening drive of the second half and led to a missed 52-yarder from Matt Gay to keep Green Bay’s lead at 14-3.
LB Edgerrin Cooper
Speaking of Cooper, the second-year linebacker turned in yet another impressive performance on Thursday. In addition to his half-sack, he had a career-high four pressures and also logged a team-high 10 combined tackles and two quarterback hits. Cooper continues to fly around the field and has been one of the best players on one of the best defenses in the NFL to start the season.
Edge Rashan Gary
Gary recorded a sack for a second straight week to go along with four pressures and three stops, which are tackles that constitute a failure for the offense, per PFF. Now at 2.5 sacks and nine pressures, Gary has looked really good to start his seventh NFL season.
S Javon Bullard
After an uneven performance in the season opener against the Lions, the second-year safety looked much better this week, finishing with five solo tackles and four stops. Bullard was quick to get ball carriers to the ground to prevent yards after the catch. On one play, he made a nice read to blow up a screen to Deebo Samuel that resulted in no gain. Expect Bullard to continue to play a big role in the Packers’ secondary.