GREEN BAY, Wis. – Remember when the Green Bay Packers couldn’t beat any playoff-caliber teams?

They took care of that twice in a matter of five days to start the season. They defeated the Washington Commanders 27-18 on Thursday night at Lambeau Field after opening the season with a win over the Detroit Lions there Sunday.

Last year, the Lions won 15 games and the Commanders prevailed in 12 on their way to the NFC Championship Game. The Packers became just the fifth team in the Super Bowl era (since 1966) to win their first two games against teams that won 12 or more contests the previous season.

This after going a combined 0-6 last season against the Lions, Minnesota Vikings and Philadelphia Eagles.

It also gives the Packers a 2-0 start for the first time since 2020, when they started 4-0 on their way to a 13-win campaign.

The Commanders fell to 1-1 and returned home to play the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 3.

Here are the most important things to know from Thursday night for both teams:

Green Bay Packers (2-0)

What to make of the QB performance: Just think of the yardage the Packers will pile up when Jordan Love connects on the deep balls. He missed Matthew Golden deep twice in the first half, yet he still had 214 yards passing through two quarters — his most in the first half in his career and the most by any Packers quarterback since Aaron Rodgers in Week 4 of 2020 against the Falcons with 228 yards. Love finished with 292 yards.

The Parsons factor: Defensive end Micah Parsons faced multiple double teams — and even a triple team on one play — yet still managed a half-sack and three QB hits. He also drew an illegal-hands-to-the-face penalty and likely forced a false start against the Commanders. He was held on the sack he shared with Edgerrin Cooper, but that penalty was declined. Overall, the Packers recorded 12 hits on Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels.

Most surprising performance: The surprising part about Tucker Kraft’s six-catch, 124-yard, one touchdown game was that it was his first career 100-yard receiving performance. As good as Kraft was last year in his 50-catch, seven-touchdown season, he did not hit the 100-yard mark in a contest. Kraft was a budding star going into this season, and he might be on his way to full-on stardom.

Trend to watch: Teams should know by now what’s going to happen when the Packers get near the goal line: Josh Jacobs is getting the ball and scoring. It happened for the 10th straight regular-season game Thursday, when Jacobs scored on a 2-yard run to give the Packers a 14-0 lead in the second quarter. Jacobs got the ball on the play before, too, and rushed for 5 yards on first-and-goal from the 7. Jacobs extended his franchise record for consecutive games with a touchdown and became just the fourth player over the past 30 seasons with a rushing touchdown in at least 10 straight games, joining LaDainian Tomlinson (18 straight from 2004-05), Jonathan Taylor (11 straight in 2021) and Priest Holmes (11 straight in 2002).

Next game: at Cleveland Browns (1 p.m. ET, Sept. 21)

Washington Commanders (1-1)

The Commanders wanted to distance themselves from last season, preferring to look forward. Thursday’s game, unfortunately for Washington, will provide that distance.

The Commanders looked nothing like the team that surprised the NFL by reaching the NFC Championship Game in January.

Though the final tally was 27-18 and the Commanders were only down one score early in the fourth quarter, make no mistake: Green Bay dominated this game.

The Packers made Daniels look ordinary and held an offense that ranked seventh in yards last season to 230 overall.

They made Washington’s defense look pedestrian, gaining 406 yards and hitting numerous big plays.

Worse for Washington, it also lost multiple key players during the game — defensive end Deatrich Wise Jr., (quad), receiver Noah Brown (groin), tight end John Bates (groin) and running back Austin Ekeler (Achilles) all left the game.

It was the Commanders’ first of five Prime Time games this season. But it was a forgettable performance — one they’ll want to distance themselves from as soon as possible.

Trend to watch: Matt Gay was once one of the NFL’s better kickers from 50 yards and beyond; in his first five years he made 25-of-36 from that distance. However, he has now made just 1-of-3 this season and is 4-of-12 since the start of last season. Washington had hoped he solved its kicking issues after using four place-kickers last season, but his inability to connect from long distance makes that questionable.

Biggest hole in the game plan: Take your pick. But Washington’s defense looked slow against Green Bay’s offense. Too often Packers targets were running open, which is why they had eight plays of 15 yards or longer — one for 57 and another for 37. The Packers hurt them by sending receivers in motion, who then beat the corners to the outside when Washington played man coverage, as well as with play-action passes down the field.

What to make of the QB performance: No team has made Daniels look as pedestrian as the Packers did Thursday night. Credit the Green Bay pass rush and its speed to chase him down when he scrambled. The Packers sacked Daniels four times and held him to 17 yards rushing. He threw for 200 yards, but most of that came when the Commanders were down 17. His offensive line provided little help, notably rookie right tackle Josh Conerly Jr., who has struggled in the first two games in pass protection.

Next game: vs. Las Vegas Raiders (1 p.m. ET, Sept. 21)

Coach Mike Hesson has told his Pakistan team to “focus on the job” in Sunday’s highly charged Asia Cup clash with arch-rivals India.

The match in Dubai is the first time that the neighbours will have met in cricket since a brief but deadly border conflict in May and emotions will be running high.

The New Zealander Hesson said : “I guess, from my perspective, just like any time you enter a match, whether it be a final of a world event or whatever, it’s about keeping everybody focused on the job at hand and that’ll be no different on the weekend.”

The eight-nation Twenty20 tournament began on Tuesday with Afghanistan beating Hong Kong by 94 runs.

India crushed hosts the United Arab Emirates by nine wickets on Wednesday.

Pakistan begin their campaign against Oman on Friday, but all the talk is already of world champions India two days later.

“We know that India are obviously hugely confident and rightfully so in terms of how well they’ve played,” Hesson said of the Asia Cup holders, who skittled UAE for just 57 in 13.1 overs.

India cruised to victory in just 4.3 overs.

Since winning the World Cup last year they have won 18 of their 21 T20Is.

Hesson is excited to be part of a blockbuster, which will be watched by a packed stadium in Dubai and hundreds of millions of television viewers.

“Look, I’ve certainly watched many games from afar, so certainly being on the other side of the fence, I guess, being right and amongst such a highly charged event is going to be exciting,” he added.

Pakistan enter the Asia Cup with a tri-series win in the UAE also involving Afghanistan and UAE, and confidence is growing.

“We’re very much focused on improving as a team, sort of day by day, and not getting too far ahead of ourselves,” said Hesson.

India, Pakistan, Oman and UAE are in Group A while Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Hong Kong and Bangladesh form Group B.

The top two teams from each Group will qualify for the Super Four stage. The top two teams will then play the September 28 final in Dubai.

The Green Bay Packers had yet another commanding win to begin the new season, taking down the Washington Commanders, 27-18, to start 2-0 on the year. 

The Packers defeated the Detroit Lions in Week 1 at home, and Lambeau Field’s first night game of the campaign had a sold-out crowd loving what they saw from Matt LaFleur’s squad on Thursday night. 

Meanwhile, after looking great in their season opener against the New York Giants, the Commanders’ offense was flustered against a Packers defense that shined in Week 1. 

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After looking great in their season opener against the New York Giants, the Commanders’ offense was flustered against a Packers defense that shined in Week 1 against the Lions.

Keeping Jayden Daniels in the pocket, the second-year quarterback was forced to throw the ball, but the Packers’ secondary was blanketing receivers in coverage and making it hard to get anything going. 

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The Commanders were forced to punt on their first three possessions, but Jordan Love and the Packers’ offense were able to go 96 yards on their second drive to find seven points with a Romeo Doubs quick slant for the score. Tucker Kraft, the game’s leader in receiving yards with 124 on just six catches, had a massive 57-yard reception to quickly flip the field into Washington territory during the drive.  

Green Bay would find the end zone once more in the first half, courtesy of another 90-plus-yard drive. Malik Heath’s insane toe-tap grab on the sideline, which was reversed after video replay review, was a massive 37-yard swing for the Packers during the drive. Josh Jacobs kept his touchdown streak going with now 10 straight regular-season games he’s found colored paint on a two-yard run to make it 14-0. 

Meanwhile, Matt Gay got the Commanders on the board with a 51-yard field goal in the second quarter, but he was unable to convert from 58 yards before the half was over. And when the second half started, Gay couldn’t turn a solid Commanders drive into three more points, banging the ball off the right goal post. 

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Romeo Doubs (87) scores a touchdown against Washington Commanders cornerback Mike Sainristil (0) in the first quarter at Lambeau Field on Sept. 11, 2025. (Jeff Hanisch/Imagn Images)

But while the Commanders struggled with their offense, their defense was keeping the Packers at bay entering the fourth quarter with a 17-3 ballgame in favor of Green Bay. Daniels saw the opportunity with only 15 minutes left to play, and orchestrated a 50-yard touchdown drive where his trusty tight end Zach Ertz fought his way in with a 20-yard catch-and-run score to make it a 17-10 game. 

Now, the pressure was on Green Bay to get back to scoring, and Love was up for the task. The Packers went 65 yards, and Love used his own tight end, finding Kraft for the easy touchdown. 

With the two-touchdown deficit, the Commanders were in desperation mode. Daniels was able to get his offense into the end zone, with Deebo Samuel getting his second touchdown of the season. But even with the two-point conversion to make it 27-18, the clock wasn’t the Commanders’ friend in the end. 

Looking at the box score, Love was 19-of-31 for 292 yards with two more touchdown passes to his early-season resume, while Jacobs had 84 rushing yards on 23 carries and his score. 

Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) passes against the Washington Commanders in the first quarter at Lambeau Field on Sept. 11, 2025. (Jeff Hanisch/Imagn Images)

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For the Commanders, Daniels was 24-for-41 for 200 yards and two touchdowns, while being held to just 17 yards on seven carries. As a team, Washington rushed for just 51 total yards compared to Green Bay’s 137. 

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