Packers barely even needed Micah Parsons to terrify the rest of the NFC

NFL fans had a pretty good idea that the Green Bay Packers were going to be a good football team this year. But when they successfully traded for four-time Pro Bowl defensive end Micah Parsons from the Dallas Cowboys just a week before the start of the season, the outlook on their 2025-26 campaign got a heck of a lot brighter.

Sunday's 27-13 victory over last year's NFC North champions, the Detroit Lions, was just exhibit A in building the case for the Packers being a legitimate Super Bowl contender.

Parsons only logged a single tackle in the game but it was a crucial sack late in the fourth quarter. Green Bay's pass rush had Detroit QB Jared Goff frustrated all game, resulting in an interception late in the first half that prevented a touchdown.

Packers displayed all-around dominance that should frighten the rest of the NFC

The addition of Parsons on defense was key in shoring up Green Bay's ability to be one of the most imposing teams in the conference, but scoring points is the name of the game and the Packers did plenty of it.

QB Jordan Love threw for 188 yards and two scores, while RB Josh Jacobs punched one in himself. Love distributed the ball across 10 different targets, with none topping 100 yards on the day. Typically, the latter part of that sentence would be a problem but three of those receivers had 30 or more total yards in the contest.

The Packers put up 266 yards of total offense against Detroit and averaged an impressive 5.7 yards per play. That's the kind of clip they'll need to sustain if they want to match or better their 11 wins from last year.

There's still a lot more season to be played, but Green Bay is showing early signs that they have the all-around dominance to be a true Super Bowl contender.