Snaps, Stud, Dud and Defining Play

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Two games, two statements made by the Green Bay Packers. With a sporadic but explosive offense and a suffocating defense, the Packers beat the Washington Commanders 27-18 on Thursday night.

Here’s a look at the snap counts and additional analysis.

The Packers ran 68 snaps on offense.

Quarterback: Jordan Love went the distance, though he played only 67 snaps at quarterback. The other quarterback snap went to receiver Savion Williams. Williams played a lot of wildcat quarterback last season at TCU. His 16-yard run might have been a 35-yard touchdown had he not slipped on Lambeau’s infamous primetime turf.

As for Love, he averaged 15.0 air yards per attempt in a bombs-away attack.

Running backs: Josh Jacobs carried the load in the backfield. While he played “only” 53 snaps, he got all 23 of the handoffs that went to the backs. Chris Brooks played 13 snaps in passing situations or in a tandem with Jacobs. He caught three passes for 27 yards, including 16 on a third-and-19 checkdown on the opening series. Emanuel Wilson, last year’s primary backup, played only five snaps and didn’t get the ball.

Receivers: Jayden Reed, who led the team in receptions and receiving yards each of his first two seasons, suffered a broken collarbone while making a big-time touchdown catch that was overturned by a penalty.

With Green Bay’s receiver depth eroded, they’ll be leaning on Romeo Doubs (50 snaps), Matthew Golden (40) and Dontayvion Wicks (37). Golden had two runs for 15 yards and zero receptions on two targets; better passes from Love might have meant two catches for 125 yards and two touchdowns.

Malik Heath (22) might get more opportunities, too. Moments after Love missed a bomb to Golden, Heath’s impressive 37-yard catch at the sideline jump-started Green Bay’s second touchdown drive. The big winner could be Savion Williams, whose 11 snaps included zero targets but two runs for 24 yards.

Tight ends: Or, with Reed out, the Packers will play with more two-tight-end sets. Tucker Kraft was sensational with six catches for a career-high 124 yards. He has a touchdown in each game. He missed the end of the first touchdown drive with an injury but returned to play 62 snaps. Luke Musgrave and John FitzPatrick each played 21. Musgrave’s two catches for 32 yards meant 156 of Love’s 292 yards went to the tight ends. Ben Sims was a healthy scratch again.

Offensive line: Left tackle Rasheed Walker, left guard Jordan Morgan, center Elgton Jenkins and right guard Sean Rhyan played every snap. What started as a rotation at right tackle became one-sided, with rookie Anthony Belton playing 51 snaps and veteran Darian Kinnard playing 17. 

PFF didn’t charge either of the two sacks to the linemen. Belton was flagged for holding and Rhyan was guilty of holding, as well.

The Packers played 69 snaps on defense.

Defensive ends: Who played the most snaps? Micah Parsons, who went from 30 snaps to 49. He’s ready for more. “Man, I just hope I’m full go,” Parsons said. “Honestly, it’s pissing me off. I tell them, ‘It does worse than good.’ I get tight and stuff. Hopefully, they just let me off. They can’t hold a dog back forever, man.” Parsons had only a half-sack but was dominant with eight pressures.

Rashan Gary played 43 snaps, Lukas Van Ness played 35 and Kingsley Enagbare played 20. Gary has one sack, giving him 2.5 for the season. Making his NFL debut, rookie Barryn Sorrell played eight snaps and had a half-sack.

Defensive tackles: Devonte Wyatt played a career-high 49 snaps in Week 1, then played 51 on Thursday. He had one sack, two quarterback hits and two pass deflections. PFF credited him with seven pressures. While Colby Wooden is the other starter, Karl Brooks doubled up on snaps, 48 to 21. Because Washington doesn’t have much of an interior running game, rookie Nazir Stackhouse played only three.

Linebackers: Quay Walker played every snap and Edgerrin Cooper was shaken up and missed one. They were superb again, especially Cooper, who led the team in tackles for a second consecutive week. Isaiah McDuffie played only seven as the team spent most of the night in nickel.

Cornerbacks: Keisean Nixon played every snap. He was targeted five times and broke up five passes in an absurd performance. It was the most PBUs by a Packers player since Jaire Alexander as a rookie in 2018. Mike McKenzie has the franchise record with six. 

After missing Week 1 as he recovered from knee surgery, Nate Hobbs started and played 32 snaps. He was flagged for defensive holding on fourth down but had excellent coverage on a deep pass to Terry McLaurin and didn’t give up a catch. Carrington Valentine played 42 snaps and gave up one short completion.

Safeties: Evan Williams didn’t start last week but went the distance this week alongside Xavier McKinney. Javon Bullard focused on his nickel duties and played 58 snaps. He’s among the fastest players on the field. McKinney had three tackles and one pass breakup.

“It’s a little boring right now, but it’s fun,” McKinney said. “It’s fun to have guys like that and really just the whole D-linemen, they’re getting there so fast, they’re making our jump hella easy.”

Washington was fortunate to not have been blown off the field in the first half. Trailing 14-3 and setting up shop at Green Bay’s 44 to start the second half, the Commanders had a chance to get back into the game with a statement drive.

Instead, on third-and-3 from Green Bay’s 24, Micah Parsons lined up against rookie right tackle Josh Conerly and alongside Edgerrin Cooper. Here was the result.

The Commanders missed a 52-yard field goal and the Packers took advantage with a short-field field goal to lead 17-3.

Even if the numbers didn’t say it, Tucker Kraft emerged as one of the top tight ends in the NFL last season. Maybe the numbers will show it this season. Kraft was unstoppable. He caught 6-of-6 targets for 124 yards and one touchdown. He’s a wrecking ball in the flat – just ask Commanders safety Will Harris – and an athletic playmaker, which he showed on his 57-yard catch.

Rich Bisaccia’s special teams were terrible against the Commanders. His unit gave up a 50-yard kickoff return to Deebo Samuel, which gave the Commanders an opportunity to seize momentum to start the second half. Each punter punted four times; Washington had 50 return yards and Green Bay had 1.