How Packers Set NFL Record vs. Lions; Why It Matters vs. Commanders

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Micah Parsons impact runs deeper than quarterback sacks and pressures.

During Sunday’s victory against the Detroit Lions, quarterback Jared Goff threw 10 passes to running back Jahmyr Gibbs. Gibbs caught them all but for only 31 yards. It was the fewest receiving yards in a 10-reception game in NFL history; Alvin Kamara caught 13 passes for 33 yards for the Saints against the Buccaneers in 2023.

Why were the Packers so effective against the dynamic Gibbs, who in 2024 averaged almost 10 yards per catch and had two receptions of longer than 30 yards?

“Well, if you look on tape, a lot of the checkdowns that they’ve hit on people were explosives,” defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said on Tuesday, two days before the Packers host the Washington Commanders, who feature one of the NFL’s most dynamic pass-catching backs, Austin Ekeler.

“(Jared) Goff drops back, they’ve got those dynamic receivers and you get so much depth in coverage, so now the checkdown is caught and it goes for about 15. When you start to pressure a quarterback and it speeds them up, what that allows you to do in some underneath zones is when the quarterback has to quickly get rid of the ball and check the ball down and doesn’t have time to sit back and try to throw it deep and allow the defenders to get even deeper, it’s all tied in.”

That was evident time and time again. Rather than catching a pass at the line of scrimmage and sprinting forward for 10 or 12 yards, Gibbs caught the ball and was hit. Take the opening third-and-7, for instance. On Parsons’ first snap with the Packers, he shot inside of right tackle Penei Sewell to flush Goff from the pocket. He checked it down to Gibbs, who evaded one tackle but was hauled down by Lukas Ness for a loss of 2.

Gibbs during his first two seasons caught 104 passes and averaged 8.9 yards after the catch, according to Pro Football Focus. Against Green Bay, he averaged only 3.2 YAC.

Jeff Hafley likes to freeze the video to see how many defenders are in the frame. On the first pass to Gibbs, it's just about everybody. pic.twitter.com/X4Q46JwMBY
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 10, 2025

Why? Because the Lions, either through the play-calling of new offensive coordinator John Morton or the decision-making of Goff, were petrified of the Parsons-fueled pass rush.

Rather than wait for Jameson Williams and Amon-Ra St. Brown to get downfield to stretch the coverage vertically, Goff unloaded the ball to Gibbs and hoped for the best. Hope is no plan against the elite speed of linebacker Edgerrin Cooper. Of his 12 tackles, six came on passes to Gibbs. None of them came after Gibbs gained a first down.

“If you’re Coop, and the quarterback’s about to get hit and you feel it, you can start to break faster because you’re sped up. So that’s rush plus coverage tied into zone coverage. You saw a lot of catch-tackles.

“As soon as they caught the ball, there was multiple people there. That starts up front, and then it goes to those guys getting their feet in the ground, getting their eyes on the quarterback and anticipating when he’s going to set and transfer and throw the ball, and I felt they did a really good job of doing that. We didn’t do that good enough last year.”

Last season, the Packers allowed the third-most receptions and the third-most receiving yards to running backs.

“So that was a big emphasis that we made,” Hafley continued. “But then give credit to the players because I felt the way they broke on the ball – I mean, 10 catches for 30 yards, when I heard that the other day, that was kind of shocking to me, but that’s an unbelievable job by those guys.”

The performance against Gibbs might as well be a million years ago. Hafley had long since put the Detroit game to bed to focus on Thursday night’s showdown against the Washington Commanders, who reached the NFC Championship Game last season.

In 12 games last year, running back Austin Ekeler caught 35 passes for 366 yards. Two years earlier, he caught 107 passes for the Chargers. He’ll be joined in the backfield by seventh-round rookie Jacory Croskey-Merritt, who is unproven in a pass-catching role after catching seven passes in 13 career FCS games.

A key factor for any defense, whether it’s run or pass, is getting as many defenders as possible to the ball. Detroit’s first pass of the game came on second-and-9. It was a one-man screen to Gibbs with a tight end out front. Linebacker Quay Walker overran the play and missed the tackle but six other defenders were there to clean up.

“When I’m watching film, when I hit the pause button at the end of the play and you see 11 guys all in the clip, that is like the greatest thing in the world for a coach,” Hafley said. “One, it shows they’re bought in. Two, it shows they love each other because they’re playing hard for each other and they’re giving everything they have to each other.

“That’s one of the greatest things as a coach. You find out a lot about your team when you hit the pause button; you find out how much they love football, you find out how much they love each other and how hard they’re going to play for each other. That’s what we’re going to have to do again Thursday night because that’s a fast player and that’s a fast team.”

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