With their 27-18 win over the Commanders on Thursday Night Football, the Green Bay Packers dominated an NFC contender at Lambeau Field for the second time in five days, clearly establishing themselves as one of the favorites to challenge the Philadelphia Eagles for conference supremacy.
The Packers are the first team in the NFL to two wins, and they've looked good doing it, as they've yet to trail while controlling each game from start to finish. Now they have a mini bye ahead of their first road test of the season, a Week 3 matchup with the Cleveland Browns.
Though Packers fans are right to be excited after two quality wins, last night's game came at a cost, as star receiver Jayden Reed went down with a broken collarbone in the first quarter. To make matters worse, Reed's injury occurred on a play in which he laid out to make a spectacular 39-yard touchdown catch on a perfectly placed ball from Jordan Love, only the play was negated due to a holding call on right tackle Anthony Belton.
Reed's health was in question leading into the season opener after he injured his foot in an August practice, but he looked no worse for wear in catching three balls for 45 yards and a touchdown against the Lions. Head coach Matt LaFleur eased him in by only putting him on the field for 18 snaps that game, but the Packers offense looked good whether he was on the field or not.
Even last night, the Pack moved the ball up and down the field even after Reed went down, as they scored in all four quarters while racking up over 400 yards of offense. LaFleur's ability to improvise his gameplan on the fly after losing Reed is proof that he's one of the best offensive minds in the game, the question is, can he sustain that level of efficiency for the next 6-8 weeks?
Losing Reed for so long hurts, but there are several reasons why Packers fans shouldn't be worried about the team's ability to survive without him.
The Packers are used to a receiver-by-committee approach
Since his rookie season two years ago, Reed has been the Packers' best receiver, leading the team in receptions and receiving yards each year. He's not a prototypical WR1, though, as his averages of 59.5 catches and 825 yards pale in comparison to some of the league's best wideouts.
Still, the Packers have been able to move the ball thanks to the efficiency of Jordan Love and a consistently excellent running game. Both look to be as good or better this year, as Love is fully healthy after dealing with an assortment of injuries last year, and Josh Jacobs has again assumed a workhorse role after running for over 1,300 yards in his first season in Green Bay.
The Packers are better equipped to deal with Reed's absence than they have been before. That's because tight end Tucker Kraft has emerged as one of the most dangerous receiving tight ends in the league, and the team also spent a first-round draft pick on a receiver (Matthew Golden) for the first time since 2002.
Golden hasn't been a major part of the offense yet, but with Reed out, he'll get a baptism by fire that should only help his development. It's not like he'll have too much on his plate, though, as including Reed, 11 different players have already caught a pass through two weeks. Love likes to spread the ball around, so although he'll miss Reed, he'll still have plenty of options, including Romeo Doubs, Dontayvion Wicks and deep threat Malik Heath.
The addition of Micah Parsons has made the defense look like one of the best in the league
The Packers shocked the NFL when they dealt for superstar edge rusher Micah Parsons just before the season started. Parsons has been even better than advertised, quickly acclimating to his new environs while being his typical game-wrecking force.
Micah Parsons, man pic.twitter.com/Unb2B0HP2M
— JP Acosta (@acosta32_jp) September 12, 2025
Parsons had a 30 percent pass rush win rate against the Commanders, and he made last year's Offensive Rookie of the Year Jayden Daniels look positively pedestrian, as the Washington quarterback spent most of the night running for his life as Parsons consistently beat double- and even triple-teams off the edge.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones did everything but pin the blame fully on Parsons for Dallas' poor defense against the run, but the Packers have had no such problems since he got to Titletown. Nobody on the Commanders ran for more than 17 yards, and that includes Daniels, who spent all last year looking like the second coming of Lamar Jackson.
The Lions Sonic and Knuckle'd their way to one of the league's best rushing attacks last year, but in Week 1, the Packers held David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs to a total of 44 yards on the ground. As of now, the Green Bay defense doesn't seem to have a weakness, and that should worry the rest of the league.
Defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley has already put himself atop the list of coordinators who will draw head coaching interest this offseason, and rightly so. His gameplans have been terrific against two top offenses, and from Parsons and Rashan Gary up front to two-time First Team All-Pro corner Keisean Nixon and Xavier McKinney in the defensive backfield, the Packers have the horses to hold any offense in check.
Reed should be back by time the Packers face the toughest part of their schedule
If there was any two month stretch of the schedule that Reed had to miss, this is the time. The Packers already have two big wins under their belt, and if his return timeline is accurate, he'll be back for a gauntlet of a finishing stretch that includes five games against divisional opponents, a trip to Denver and a possible Super Bowl preview with the Ravens in Week 17.
If there's one downside to Reed being out now, it's that the Packers are about to spend a lot of time away from Lambeau Field. They'll only be at home once in the next six weeks, though that stretch does include a Week 5 bye.
Green Bay should still be able to handle the Browns in Cleveland next week, especially with an extra few days to prepare. They only have to hope that Parsons isn't booked by the Cleveland PD for elder abuse for what he'll do to Joe Flacco.
Parsons will make his Dallas homecoming in Week 4, where he'll undoubtedly have a chip on his shoulder to prove to Jerry Jones that he made a grave mistake in shipping him out. The Cowboys have weapons on offense, but will likely still be without starting corner DaRon Bland, which makes the loss of Reed a wash. Dallas is an objectively worse team than the one that the Packers pulverized in the playoffs two years ago, and Green Bay is objectively better.
After the bye, Joe Burrow and the Bengals come to town, and in a lot of ways, they're similar to the Cowboys. Cincy has a defense that won't intimidate the Packers, especially in Lambeau, and Parsons and Gary should feast against the Bengals' sieve of an offensive line.
Road games in Weeks 7 and 8 at Arizona and Pittsburgh will both pose tough tests, but neither of those teams is exactly expected to be Super Bowl contenders. If Reed doesn't come back until the end of his timetable, he could miss a home game against the lowly Panthers and a huge Lambeau showdown against the Eagles. Not ideal, but not the end of the world, either.
As good as the Packers have looked, we can't expect them to run the table with Reed out, but they should be in a great spot at or near the top of the NFC when he gets back. In the end, his injury could be a blessing in disguise, as it will give his foot time to more fully heal, while also allowing his teammates to step up and prove that they can handle some added responsibility.