GREENBAY, Wisconsin – Micah Parsons arrives at Green Bay to help the Packers leave their recent NFC North fight behind.
Jordan Love threw two touchdown passes and Parsons was fired for his Green Bay debut as the Packers achieved a great defensive performance in Sunday's 27-13 win over the Detroit Lions.
The Packers opened at home for the first time since 2018, beating two defending NFC North champions in last year’s divisional match 1-5.
“Obviously, I think an important goal for us is to be able to get here, start the season quickly and start the season with the right tone,” Love said. “It's amazing to be here for Week 1 here and get such a dominant victory, and that's exactly what we've been working on.”
The Packers won the 13th straight home opener, the longest winning streak since the Miami Dolphins won 13 consecutive wins from 1976-88.
After 99-40 in the first half of the NFC North game last season, the Packers won points in the opening three games to lead 17-3 and they won't give up.
Love scored 16 of 16 out of 188 yards, 15 yards for touchdown passes, Tucker Kraft and Jayden Reed for 17 yards. Josh Jacobs added three yards to the fourth quarter, which allowed him to score touchdowns in nine straight games.
The Lions scored an NFL-high 33.2 points per game last season, until the last minute with the Green Bay defense against the Parsons didn't reach the finish line until the last minute, and Parsons was warmly welcomed by Lambeau when he was introduced before the game.
Parsons had been in a stalemate with the Dallas Cowboys in the offseason until Green Bay got him a week ago. The Packers sent two first-round picks and three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark to Dallas in exchange for Star Edge Rusher.
Parsons got his first sack with four minutes left in the game. He also put pressure on Evan Williams to a second-quarter interception.
“The last six months have been super exhausted, and it's super toxic to everyone,” Parsons said. “It's something I don't think there's a player going through. I think the fate of the player should have been decided earlier. The fact that I've traded before this season is really outrageous and tough. This is where I could have gotten better and better with these guys, and we might have a more dominant start.”
The Lions have won every single season of the past three seasons, but after countless offseason changes, this time never gave themselves many opportunities.
Detroit lost four-time Pro Bowl center Frank Ragno to retire, offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn were given a coaching opportunity after setting a winning team record of 15-2 last season.
Jared Goff scored 39 of 39 yards with a touchdown and an intercepted shot. David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs were hit for 44 yards in 20 carry.
The Lions scored just six points from the first three drives into the red zone, with Detroit scoring the only touchdown from Goff to Isaac Teslaa with 55 seconds left.
“They came out and we didn't do that well enough,” said Lions coach Dan Campbell. “Our coaches weren't good enough, including me, and we didn't do well enough. Like I told the team, it was hard to get in and not sure to get close to your best game. You hate losing seasons and that's so bad, that doesn't seem to be.”
Detroit fell 17-6 in the third quarter and entered the brink of the game in the third quarter when Brian Branch scored a significant touchdown on the 35-yard interception return. However, the defensive rate fine against rock Ya-sin voided the game.
Green Bay then scored the next 10 points to eliminate the game.
“We made some key mistakes at the worst,” Campbell said. “You take them out of the equation and it looks different.”
Injuried
Lions: Safety Daniel Thomas was injured in the first quarter and cornerback Terrion Arnold was injured in the third quarter.
Packers: Nate Hobbs, listed as suspicious, did not compete after having knee surgery at training camp. Cornerback Bo Melton (shoulder), defensive winger Brenton Cox (groin), offensive tackle Zach Tom (hip) and defender Aaron Banks (ankles) stayed in the second half.
Next
The Packers will host Commander Washington Thursday night.
The Lions will open their home schedule next Sunday to the Chicago Bears.
——–
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl