Former NFL quarterback Cam Newton praised the Green Bay Packers as early Super Bowl contenders this season, and it has a lot to do with Micah Parsons' arrival. After the Packers' 27-18 win against the Washington Commanders on Thursday Night Football, Parsons set Super Bowl expectations for his team, and Newton couldn't have agreed more. He's all in on the Green Bay.
Newton believes Parsons has changed the Packers' culture for the 2025 NFL season, and could feel the difference from the players' approach to the fans in the stands at Lambeau Field, he said, per ESPN's First Take.
“There are a slew of expressions that you can kind of go with just the presence of Micah Parsons,” Newton said. “I got a defensive wrecker. I got a mood-shifter. I got a tone setter. I got attitude-adjuster. I got so many different things that I can say because, as I'm watching that game, the thing that sticks out the most is that the Green Bay Packers just look different. They feel different. The aura is just abundant, and it's just oozing with, ‘We're the best team in the NFL.' Not just the NFC.”
For Newton, Parsons' presence in the Packers' win against the Commanders has created a domino effect for the betterment of the team.
“When you see the impact of what a Micah Parsons can bring to the table, Jordan Love starts to look different, too,” Newton added. “The receiver core starts to act different. Everybody in the whole stadium is even cheering different. Everybody in the whole stadium is even cheering different, and that's the thing that, when you say game-changer, this man has literally lifted the level of play from start to finish. And the excitement is apparent.”
"The aura is just abundant, and it's just oozing with, 'We're the best team in the NFL.'"
Cam Newton on the now 2-0 Packers after statement win over the Commanders 🗣
(via @FirstTake)pic.twitter.com/qDpN8Mp9za
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) September 12, 2025
Micah Parsons sets Super Bowl expectations for Packers

Two games into his tenure with the Packers, and linebacker Micah Parsons has already set the bar for expectations. After beating the Commanders, Parsons said the Super Bowl is a goal, he revealed during his postgame interview with Amazon Prime.
“I think we can do great things, but at the end of the day, as you all know, it just goes week by week,” Parsons said. “We got to consistently put that effort, that energy every week, and then great things could happen. We can get back to that Bowl.”
"We can get back to that Bowl."
Micah Parsons, 2 weeks in, sets his expectations with the Packers 🗣
(via @NFLonPrime)pic.twitter.com/RnhQMtXvLa
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) September 12, 2025
The Packers will face the Browns in Week 3.