Jordan Love threw two touchdown passes, Micah Parsons got his first sack as a Packer and Green Bay beat the Detroit Lions 27-13 behind a bruising defense at Lambeau Field on Sunday.

Love was 16-of-22 passing for 188 yards and Josh Jacobs extended his franchise record by rushing for a touchdown in a ninth straight game. But the Packers won with defense. They held the Lions to 246 total yards, and although Jared Goff completed 31 of 39 passes, he threw for just 225 yards. His lone touchdown came with less than a minute left, when rookie Isaac TeSlaa made a spectacular catch as he was falling out of bounds. It was the first game for the Lions without last year’s offensive coordinator, Ben Johnson, who left in the offseason to become the head coach of the Chicago Bears. (The defense also lost its coordinator, with Aaron Glenn going to coach the New York Jets.)

Green Bay controlled the line of scrimmage, helped on defense by the presence of Parsons, the edge rusher traded from Dallas on Aug. 28. He chased down Goff in the fourth quarter for his first sack as a Packer, drawing a roar from the Lambeau crowd.

The Packers wasted no time establishing the lead, capping off an 83-yard game-opening drive with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Love to Tucker Kraft. Love tossed another touchdown pass, this time 17 yards to Jayden Reed in the second quarter. It was more than enough. The Lions threatened to get into the end zone on a couple of occasions prior to their late touchdown, but each time, the Packers defense stiffened and Detroit settled for field goals by Jake Bates.

Here are some key takeaways from the game.

Parsons shines in limited time

Parsons only played 29 of 65 defensive snaps, but the Packers saw in a limited sample size just how valuable he can be for an already stout defense. On Parsons’ first defensive snap, he beat All-Pro right tackle Penei Sewell inside to pressure Goff into a short completion for a loss of 2 on third-and-7 well inside Lions territory. On safety Evan Williams’ red-zone interception late in the second quarter, Parsons beat Sewell inside again after a juke to help speed up Goff’s throw that Williams jumped. On defensive end Lukas Van Ness’ third-quarter sack, Parsons pushed Sewell all the way back to Goff, who stepped right into Van Ness after the 2023 first-rounder bullied left guard Christian Mahogany. Parsons’ most impressive snap came in garbage time, when he muscled through traffic to chase Goff across the field for his first sack. According to Next Gen Stats, Parsons hit 18.47 miles per hour on the play. Maybe the Packers will keep him on a snap count the entire season after how well his debut went. — Matt Schneidman, Packers beat writer

LaFleur gambles and wins

Head coach Matt LaFleur showed off his inner Dan Campbell in the fourth quarter with an 11-point lead. The Packers faced a fourth-and-1 from the Lions’ 10-yard line and with 9:11 on the clock. Instead of settling for a field goal to turn a two-possession lead into a two-touchdown lead, LaFleur snuck Love for a first down, bum thumb and all. Two Jacobs runs later and the Packers took a three-score lead to put the game away. That’s the kind of statement the Packers needed to make against a Lions team that has bullied them at Lambeau Field the last couple years. — Schneidman 

The Lions get pushed around

The Lions have claimed this division — one that once belonged to the Packers — two years in a row. Detroit had won six of the previous seven contests vs. the Packers. You wouldn’t know it from this one. Green Bay looked like it was ready to seize it back. The Lions scored just 13 points, barely even sniffing the end zone until a garbage-time touchdown in the final minute. Goff was under constant pressure, with Parsons’ impact immediately felt (even on a pitch count). Detroit’s young offensive line was overmatched — both in pass protection and in the run game. Defensively, the Lions bottled up the run game, but Green Bay didn’t need it. Detroit’s pass rush was borderline non-existent, and Green Bay took advantage of good field position to hang 27. The Lions were outplayed. A lot to clean up for Campbell and company. — Colton Pouncy, Lions beat writer

Week 2 is suddenly crucial for Detroit

Some growing pains were to be expected with new coordinators. Perhaps some rust, too. But the Lions are 0-1 to start the year. The takes about missing Johnson will be out in full force after a 13-point stinker for new OC John Morton. And now the Lions will try to avoid an 0-2 start against none other than … Johnson and the Bears. Week 2 is already shaping up to be a crucial game for the Lions. They haven’t lost two in a row since the 2022 season. They’ll try to avoid that at home next week. — Pouncy

(Top photo of Jordan Love: Todd Rosenberg / Getty Images)