Washington (1-0) at Green Bay (1-0)
Thursday, 8:15 p.m. EDT, Amazon Prime Video
BetMGM NFL Odds: Packers by 3 1/2.
Against the spread: Commanders 1-0; Packers 1-0.
Series record: Packers lead 22-17-1.
Last meeting: Commanders beat the Packers 23-21 at Landover, Maryland, on Oct. 23, 2022.
Last week: Commanders beat the New York Giants 21-6 at home; Packers beat the Detroit Lions 27-13 at home
Commanders offense: overall (2t), rush (2), pass (12t), scoring (13t)
Commanders defense: overall (5), rush (10), pass (10), scoring (1)
Packers offense: overall (22), rush (21t), pass (18t), scoring (6t)
Packers defense: overall (6), rush (1t), pass (18), scoring (6t)
Commanders player to watch
WR Deebo Samuel. The Packers grew accustomed to dealing with Samuel during his years with the San Francisco 49ers. Samuel joined the Commanders in the offseason and had seven catches for 77 yards to go along with a 19-yard touchdown run in his first game with his new team.
Packers player to watch
LB Edgerrin Cooper. The 2024 second-round pick from Texas A&M followed up an impressive rookie year by having a career-high 12 tackles in Green Bay’s season opener as the Packers kept Detroit out of the end zone until the game’s final minute.
Key matchup
Commanders running game vs. Packers run defense. Washington rushed for 220 yards on 32 carries against the Giants. Rookie seventh-round pick Jacory Croskey-Merritt ran for 82 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries in his debut. Quarterback Jayden Daniels rushed 11 times for 68 yards. The Packers allowed Detroit just 46 yards on 22 carries.
Key injuries
Commanders: Although Washington only had a walkthrough Tuesday, P Tress Way (back), WR Noah Brown (knee) and RB Austin Ekeler (shoulder) would have been limited participants if there had been a full workout.
Packers: CB Nate Hobbs (knee) didn’t play Sunday and was listed as an estimated limited practice participant this week. OT Zach Tom (oblique) and OG Aaron Banks (ankle/groin) left Sunday’s game.
Series notes
The Packers have won each of the last six times Washington has visited Lambeau Field. Washington’s last road victory over the Packers was a 20-17 game at Milwaukee in 1988. The Commanders’ last win over the Packers at Lambeau Field was a 16-7 decision in 1986. This marks the Commanders’ first trip to Lambeau Field since 2021, when the Packers beat them 24-10.
Stats and stuff
Daniels’ 891 career yards rushing are the most by any Washington quarterback in his first 17 games. Robert Griffin III rushed for 840 yards in his first 17 games. … Samuel is tied for fourth in the NFL with 36 touchdowns from scrimmage since 2021. The only players with more during that stretch are Ja’Marr Chase, Mike Evans and Davante Adams. … Ekeler has an NFL-leading 2,435 yards after the catch since 2021. Samuel is third with 2,229, behind only Ekeler and Chase. … Commanders WR Terry McLaurin is seeking his sixth straight season with at least 1,000 yards receiving. No other player in franchise history has more than three straight 1,000-yard receiving seasons. … Commanders LB Bobby Wagner has recorded at least 100 tackles in 13 straight seasons. … Packers RB Josh Jacobs has scored a touchdown in a franchise-record nine straight games. … Packers QB Jordan Love has thrown 195 consecutive regular-season passes without an interception, though he was picked off three times in their playoff loss to Philadelphia last season. He hasn’t been intercepted in his last eight regular-season games. … Packers K Brandon McManus has made his last 17 regular-season field-goal attempts, though he did miss one in Green Bay’s playoff loss. … The Packers haven’t allowed a sack in four of their last seven games. … Packers DL Rashan Gary recorded 1 1/2 sacks against Detroit to increase his career total to 40 1/2. He’s the eighth player to have at least 40 sacks for the Packers. … DL Micah Parsons recorded a sack while playing less than half of Green Bay’s defensive snaps in his Packers debut. Parsons’ workload figures to increase as he recovers from a back issue. … The Packers are 22-10-1 in September games over the last 10 seasons. Only Kansas City (24-6) has a better September record in that time. … Packers coach Matt LaFleur was a quarterbacks coach for Washington from 2010-13. LaFleur was also a quarterbacks coach for Atlanta from 2015-16, when current Commanders coach Dan Quinn was the Falcons’ head coach.
Fantasy tip
TE Tucker Kraft scored the Packers’ first touchdown of the season after having a solid 2024 campaign in which he caught 50 passes for 707 yards and seven touchdowns. Many of Green Bay’s wideouts missed much of training camp with various injuries that could impact them early this season, so look for Kraft to continue making an impact.
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The Associated Press
