Jerry Jones's inability to extend Micah Parsons's contract looks like a boon for all of the 538,967 Packer "owners" out there. After an uncertain holdout-shaped summer for the dominant edge rusher and pillar of an otherwise defective Dallas defense, Jones opted to resolve the impasse with a megatrade that immediately changed the look of the NFC North. The Packers, already one of the league's more obstinate defenses last season, souped up their D with an A-lister who inspires as much fear in opponents as he does excitement in fans. Parsons is an urgent problem for any offense scheming against Green Bay, and with a pulverizing opening-day win over the Detroit Lions, the Pack put the rest of the conference on notice.
An absurdly cool garbage-time catch from Isaac TeSlaa made the final score look a little more respectable at 27-13. But overall, Sunday's hyped clash of contenders looked instead like a Packers-Lions drubbing from 20 years ago. In their first outing without sought-after offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, who's now coaching the Bears, QB Jared Goff and the Detroit offense looked toothless in the red zone. They were able to hold the ball for long stretches of time but looked incapable of really flooring it, earning just six points from a trio of drives that lasted a combined 22:15.
Perhaps even more important than the franchise's changes on the sideline was the loss of sturdy center Frank Ragnow, who had been one of the best at his position during the Lions' rise to prominence, but announced his retirement at age 29. While Goff's counterpart, Jordan Love, played mistake-free football with a few big plays added in, the Lions averaged just 4.7 yards per pass as their signal-caller was consistently forced into short, hurried throws. Parsons is still learning the system in Green Bay, and thus played less than half of the team's defensive snaps, but he did his fair share to contribute to Goff's bad day. In increasing order of individual devastation, here is Parsons forcing a completion behind the line of scrimmage on third-and-7, beating his man and making Goff throw a pick to avoid a head-on collision, and, finally, chasing down Goff with terrifying speed for his first sack as a Packer.
The physical work that Parsons put in on the field was obviously helpful for Green Bay's win. After this first week, however, it's the emotional boost that feels especially powerful. Parsons didn't come cheap, but it's always a thrilling feeling, as a fan or a player, when your team has the confidence and the courage to bring a valuable new employee into the mix. It instantly puts concepts like "final piece" in everybody's heads, and it announces to the rest of the room that they're expected to meet a very high standard of performance.
"I just feel like his presence out there was different," Love said. "The energy he brought to the crowd when they announced his name, and then to be able to get that sack, was big-time."
The Packers have been long stuck on that border between "good" and "great," most recently losing in the first round to the Eagles after an 11-6 year. It's still a long road—one that goes through Dallas in Week 4, by the way—but such a comprehensive victory over one of their major rivals means everybody is happy with the direction they're traveling.
