The Green Bay Packers traveled to Motor City to take on the Detroit Lions for the second time this season.
Matt LaFleur’s aggressive play-calling helped keep the Lions’ defense on its toes, but as good as Jordan Love was, Micah Parsons was –once again– the man of the hour.
Micah Parsons Makes NFL History in Win Over Lions
Parsons dominated from the very second he set foot on the field, and he finished the game with eight tackles, four QB hits, three tackles for loss, and 2.5 sacks. As pointed out by Packers insider Matt Schneidman, he has now set a new mark with that performance:
“Micah Parsons has 2.5 sacks today. He’s now the first player in NFL history (sacks became a stat in 1982) with at least 12 sacks in each of his first five seasons,” Schneidman wrote on X.
Parsons has been one of the most dominant pass rushers in league history since the Dallas Cowboys selected him from Penn State in 2021. He has never had fewer than 12 sacks in a single season, not even last year when he missed four games with an injury.
The new Packers star is now up to 12.5 sacks for the season, the third-most in the league behind Myles Garrett (18) and Brian Burns (13).
Parsons entered the game ranked 14th in our PFSN Impact Metrics with an 85.0 grade, just below Lions star Aidan Hutchinson (85.5). It’s safe to say that, with that dominant performance and a win, the tables will turn on that list pretty soon. Hutchinson finished the game with three total tackles, and the Lions didn’t sack Jordan Love once.
Through the first five seasons of his career, Parsons is now up to 65.0 sacks, the fifth most behind only Reggie White (81.0), J.J. Watt (74.5), T.W. Watt (72), and Derrick Thomas (66.0). Two of those players are Hall of Famers, and the other two will be first-ballot inductees, so Parsons is on an outstanding trajectory.
Packers Defense Dominates Lions’ Erratic Offense
All in all, Jeff Hafley’s defense did an outstanding job of containing the Lions’ explosive offense.
Coach Campbell’s reckless decision-making ultimately came back to haunt them, as the Packers secured two crucial stops on fourth down.
The Packers held the Lions to 352 total yards and shut down the middle of the field to keep their explosive runs to a minimum.
And with Micah Parsons wreaking havoc at the line of scrimmage and obliterating Jared Goff in a crucial third-and-goal, this will be a defensive performance to hang their hats on for the remainder of the season.