Both the Commanders and Packers come into Thursday Night Football feeling optimistic after Week 1. Washington cruised to a 21-6 win over New York, while Green Bay authored an emphatic 27-13 victory over Detroit. But something's got to give in Week 2.
The Commanders and Packers must navigate a short week and get ready for a quality opponent. Both organizations made the playoffs in 2024 and each have their hopes of getting back to the postseason this winter. As a result, this early-season game could have playoff seeding ramifications down the road.
That makes getting a win on Thursday night all the more important.
But which team will come out on top? And what will be the keys of the game?
Here are three bold predictions for the Commanders vs. Packers matchup in Week 2 of the 2025 NFL season.
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Both Jordan Love, Jayden Daniels will score rushing touchdowns
Modern NFL quarterbacks are expected to have some threat of mobility. That's part of what makes Jordan Love and Jayden Daniels such dangerous quarterbacks.
The threat of a quarterback scrambling with the football can put a ton of stress on opposing defenses. It allows teams to scheme up creative run-focused plays and gives quarterbacks a rip cord they can pull if the pocket is breaking down.
Love in particular may not be the most potent rushing quarterback. But he can make defenses pay if they don't account for him.
And Daniels, of course, is an electric runner in addition to being a great passer.
I predict that both Love and Daniels will score a rushing touchdown on Thursday Night Football.
The Love portion of this prediction is the risky part, as he's only had five rushing touchdowns in this NFL career.
Jacory Croskey-Merritt lets fantasy managers down with disappointing outing
Commanders running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt received a ton of hype this offseason.
The rookie running back out of Arizona was a popular fantasy football pick based on his expected role. Croskey-Merritt proved that theory correct in Week 1.
He logged 10 carries for 82 yards and a touchdown against the Giants on Sunday. Croskey-Merritt also led the Commanders in rushing yards, though Daniels had the most carries on the team with 11.
So why am I down on him in Week 2?
Part of the prediction is the out of control expectations placed on the seventh-round running back.
Croskey-Merritt still shares a backfield with Austin Ekeler. He also has rushing production vultured away from him by Daniels and Deebo Samuel.
None of this to say that the rookie is a bust. However, I think many NFL fans may need to reevaluate their expectations for him during his rookie season.
I believe this Packers game will be a real wake-up call in that regard.
Green Bay bottled up Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, who are individually much more dangerous than Ekeler or Croskey-Merritt.
Don't panic too much, the rookie will still get his touches.
But the Commanders will have to start passing the football if they want to get past the Packers.
Packers win by 10 points thanks to strong defensive performance
It will be fascinating to see what the Packers do with Micah Parsons in Week 2.
Green Bay did a great job deploying Parsons on a short week on Sunday against Detroit. But now that Parsons has been around the team for a few weeks, his role could change. Or at the very least, his snaps could increase.
Both teams are playing on a short week, so Packers fans may not see the complete vision of what Green Bay has in store for Parsons. But more should be on the way.
The defenses in this game should be a huge storyline, and not just because of Parsons.
In many respects, the Packers and Commanders have similar offenses. They function with a similar style and have roughly the same level of talent across the board.
If neither team has the advantage on offense, the difference could be whichever defensive unit is able to play better.
That could be a problem for the Commanders.
Washington's defense is good, but not great. They are strong up the middle and have a few playmakers in their secondary. But they don't match up well against Green Bay's o-line and could get pushed around for the whole game.
I can easily see them giving up plenty of rushing yards to Josh Jacobs. If that happens, Green Bay will be able to dictate the pace of the game and play exactly how they want.
Ultimately, I have the Packers winning this game by at least 10 points purely because of their defense.
Let's also throw on one defensive score for the Packers to make this prediction even more spicy.
