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Packers defense smothers Commanders, Jayden Daniels in 27-18 win: Key takeaways

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By Nicki Jhabvala, Matt Schneidman, Saad Yousuf and Matt Moret

The Green Bay Packers defense all but shut down the Washington Commanders’ offense in the NFL’s first “Thursday Night Football” game of the season, going on to win the bruising matchup 27-18. Green Bay combined for 404 yards, while Washington totaled just 230 yards in a game that left each side with injuries.

Packers quarterback Jordan Love had a great showing, racking up 292 yards and two touchdowns, including a pass to Romeo Doubs that opened the scoring with four and a half minutes left in the first quarter. Running back Josh Jacobs also recorded 84 rushing yards and a touchdown that made him the first Packer to score a rushing touchdown in 10 consecutive games.

Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels finished the first half with just 49 passing yards, which he boosted to 200 by the end of the game.

Both teams lost key players to injury during the first half.

Jayden Reed, a standout receiver for the Packers who had three catches for 45 yards and a touchdown against the Detroit Lions last week, left the contest less than five minutes into the first quarter. The team later ruled out Reed, 25, with a shoulder injury after he struggled to walk down the Lambeau Field tunnel while clutching his collarbone. Coach Matt LaFleur said postgame Reed fractured his collarbone and is headed to the IR. He is out for the foreseeable future, but the team expects him to return some point this season.

Commanders defensive end Deatrich Wise Jr. was carted off the field in the second quarter with a quad injury that sidelined him for the rest of the game. Wise’s injury occurred during an extra-point attempt following the Packers’ second touchdown. Packers tackle Anthony Belton fell back on Wise’s right leg during the play, and the entire Commanders bench gathered around the 31-year-old as he left the field.

Veteran Commanders running back Austin Ekeler also left the game with five and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter following a non-contact injury. Medical staff assisted him to the sideline as he hopped to the bench on one foot. He was carted back to the locker room and ruled out with an Achilles injury.

Washington never got its running game going, with rookie Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Ekeler and Daniels combining for 51 yards.

Green Bay held onto a double-digit lead throughout the first half. The score gap closed briefly after Daniels made a 20-yard pass to Zach Ertz for the Commanders’ first TD of the night, but Love extended the Packers’ lead on the next drive, hitting tight end Tucker Kraft in the end zone with an 8-yard pass.

Daniels connected with free-agency acquisition Deebo Samuel for a 10-yard touchdown with under four minutes left in the game. The Commanders successfully made a two-point conversion after the play, with Daniels firing a quick shot to Luke McCaffrey in the back of the end zone.

Brandon McManus, the Packers’ 12th-year kicker, missed his first try of the game when his kick hit the left upright, but he rebounded to make his next two field-goal attempts, one from 22 yards out and another from 56 yards. Commanders kicker Matt Gay likewise made two of his three field-goal attempts.

Kraft comes up big

Consider Thursday night Kraft’s coming out party. The third-year tight end had a semi-breakout season in 2024 but turned in the best game of his career against the Commanders to the tune of six catches for 124 yards and a touchdown. According to the Amazon Prime broadcast, Kraft’s receiving yards were the most by a Packers tight end since Richard Rodgers in 2015. On Kraft’s crucial touchdown catch to put the Packers up 14 with less than nine minutes remaining, Kraft perfectly sold the block before releasing into the end zone, where Love found him wide open. It’s nights like these that show why Kraft can be one of the NFL’s best tight ends this season.

Parsons delivers yet again

For the second consecutive game to start his Packers career, Micah Parsons’ influence could be felt beyond just the box score. Parsons only had two tackles and half a sack to go along with three quarterback hits, but he’s even more of a difference-maker on the field. He drew a hands-to-the-face penalty on right guard Nick Allegretti to force a third-and-17 that preceded a punt, drew a false start on left tackle Laremy Tunsil before chasing down a dump-off on second down and pressuring Daniels into an incompletion on third down.

In the second half, Parsons drew a hold on right tackle Josh Conerly Jr. but still shared a sack of Daniels with linebacker Edgerrin Cooper and later split Conerly and running back Jeremy McNichols to pressure Daniels into a 1-yard scramble. So far, he’s been worth every penny of the record-breaking $188 million deal he signed with the Packers.

Packers secondary holds strong

Packers cornerback Keisean Nixon told The Athletic before the season that he sees all the negative things fans say about him, and there have seemed to be a lot in recent years. Still, the Packers entrusted him as their No. 1 cornerback after the release of Jaire Alexander, and Nixon showed why on Thursday. Nixon had never broken up more than two passes in a game since entering the league in 2019 — he didn’t become a full-time defensive player until 2023 — until he broke up five against the Commanders.

Matt Schneidman in Green Bay

Commanders offense sputters

The Commanders haven’t looked this bad since at least 2023. Maybe earlier. The offense couldn’t generate much of anything against the Packers’ front, which dominated with its speed and power. The right side of Washington’s offensive line, with Conerly Jr., a rookie, and Allegretti, struggled the most, leaving Daniels under duress for much of the game.

Making matters worse, Washington’s receivers couldn’t get open, and in critical stretches, including a fourth-and-4 in the fourth quarter, Terry McLaurin was oddly not on the field. It’s baffling that the score was as close as it was for much of the game.

The Commanders’ defense was worse, allowing the Packers to pick apart the middle of the field. There were busted coverages, missed tackles and costly penalties (two holding calls on cornerback Marshon Lattimore).

Injuries piled up for Washington. The team later lost star blocking tight end John Bates and receiver Noah Brown to groin injuries. It was without rookie cornerback Trey Amos and left guard Brandon Coleman for stretches because of shoulder injuries, though both later returned. With Bates, Brown, Ekeler and Wise all going down, Washington lost four starters to injuries. Brutal.

If there were bright spots for the Commanders, they were their punt and kickoff teams. They gave Washington good field position, but the offense couldn’t do anything with it. Samuel returned two kicks for 78 total yards, and rookie Jaylin Lane picked up 50 yards on three punt returns. In coverage, safeties Percy Butler, Jeremy Reaves and Tyler Owens all made big stops to pin the Packers deep in their own territory.

— Nicki Jhabvala in Green Bay

(Photo of Packers’ Rashan Gary and Devonte Wyatt tackling Commanders’ Jayden Daniels: Patrick McDermott / Getty Images)



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ICE agent shoots dead man who tried to drive at agents, officials say

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US immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shot and killed a man near Chicago on Friday after he allegedly drove his car at a group of agents.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said ICE was trying to arrest the man, but he resisted and drove towards the group. An agent was then dragged along by his vehicle.

The agent, who the department said feared for his life, drew his gun and opened fire.

The driver, Silverio Villegas-Gonzales, was pronounced dead in hospital shortly after, officials said.

“During a vehicle stop, the suspect resisted and attempted to drive his vehicle into the arrest team, striking an officer and subsequently dragging him as he fled the scene,” the statement said.

The ICE agent suffered “severe injuries” in the incident, officials said, but was in a stable condition in hospital.

The Department of Homeland security said Mr Villegas-Gonzales had a history of reckless driving and was an undocumented migrant. He entered the country “at an unknown date and time,” they said.

A spokesperson for the local police department in Franklin Park said they were not involved in the incident.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said in an online post: “This is a developing situation and the people of Illinois deserve a full, factual accounting of what’s happened today to ensure transparency and accountability.”

Franklin Park is a suburb of around 18,000 people near O’Hare Airport north-west of Chicago. Around half of the population of the village is Hispanic.

Immigration officials have been ramping up enforcement activities in the Chicago area this week on the orders of the Trump administration.



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No Taylor Swift Deposition In Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni Case: Judge

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To paraphrase Taylor Swift‘s ‘Blank Space,” the superstar had a day that was a bit of a nightmare dressed like a legal dream with Justin Baldoni.

Now, just more than 24 hours after the It Ends With Us director-star again sought to drag Swift into his seemingly never-ending docket drama with Blake Lively, the federal judge overseeing the case has put the boot to any deposition from the Eras Tour performer.

At the same time, Judge Lewis Liman delivered a win to Lively. The Another Simple Favor star was granted a 10-day extension on depositions for Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios co-founders Steve Sarowitz and Jamey Heath as the discovery process moves into its final weeks.

“The Wayfarer Parties have filed a response opposing Lively’s request and seeking their own extension of the deposition deadline to the end of October for the purpose of scheduling deposition of non-party Taylor Swift,” the judge, the sibling of director Doug Liman, also wrote in a four-page order filed just now.

“The Wayfarer Parties contend that their requested extension is necessary because Swift’s preexisting professional obligations now prevent her from being deposed within the current discovery window,” he added, summarizing the effort to skip over Swift’s October 3 release of her new album The Life of a Showgirl and have her sit for questioning by lawyers sometime between October 20-25 over these nearly yearlong sexual harassment and retaliation allegations.

As he has in the past, Liman cut to the chase:

“The Wayfarer Parties have not similarly demonstrated good cause for their requested extension. The only justification they have provided for the extension is their assertion that Swift’s preexisting professional obligations now prevent her from appearing for a deposition prior to October 20, 2025. Importantly, however, the Wayfarer Parties have provided no discussion of when they began attempting to schedule the deposition. Discovery has been ongoing in this case for approximately six months. The Wayfarer Parties previously requested Swift’s deposition in May 2025 before ultimately withdrawing the subpoena. They have offered no evidence that they have served a renewed subpoena on Swift. Thus, at most, the Wayfarer Parties have demonstrated that scheduling the deposition now presents logistical difficulties; that does not answer the question of why the deposition ‘“’could not have been conducted earlier.” Having failed to demonstrate appropriate diligence, the requested extension is denied.”

Following a day that saw lawyers for Lively and Swift contradict the assertion from Baldoni’s side that the godmother to one of Lively and Ryan Reynolds’ children had “agreed” to the deposition and the requested extension because of the lead-up to her new album, there was silence from Baldoni’s camp after Liman’s order dropped. Reps for Baldoni did not respond to a request for comment.

For that matter, reps for the recently engaged Swift also did not reply, but that isn’t much of a surprise based on what her side said earlier in the day.

“My client did not agree to a deposition, but if she is forced into a deposition, we advised (after first hearing about the deposition just three days ago) that her schedule would accommodate the time required during the week of October 20 if the parties were able to work out their disputes,” attorney Douglas Baldridge wrote to Liman on Friday afternoon.

With the trial date of March 9, 2026 looming for Lively’s action against Baldoni and Wayfarer over what actually occurred on the set of IEWU and the so-called smear campaign that erupted around the Sony-distributed film’s premiere, it is unclear whether this will be the last we hear of Swift in the case. In May, Baldoni’s lead lawyer Bryan Freedman tried to subpoena Swift, but as Liman noted today, they put the kibosh on their action after a days-long media frenzy. Later, the Wayfarer team said it got what they needed voluntarily from Swift — who may or may not be on the outs with her old pal Lively. An assertion that Swift’s Baldridge later contested.

Earlier today, Lively’s lawyers called Team Baldoni’s desire to get IEWU soundtrack contributor Swift in the thick of the case just another move to “fuel their relentless media strategy.”

In that context, today was a success for Baldoni, who is now facing other accusations of verbal abuse and harassment from another woman. However, in a very rudimentary approach, the day belongs to Lively, who got what she wanted on all levels, at least this time.



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Taylor Swift Didn’t OK Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni Lawsuit Deposition

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UPDATE (Sept. 12): In an order Friday evening, Judge Lewis J. Liman denied Justin Baldoni’s request to depose Taylor Swift after the current discovery deadline, stating that Baldoni’s team “failed to demonstrate appropriate diligence” after only recently reaching out to Swift’s camp about scheduling the deposition. This means Baldoni has lost his shot at deposing Swift, foreclosing what could have been an intense court battle over whether the pop star would be forced to sit for questioning.

PREVIOUSLY: Taylor Swift‘s lawyers say the pop superstar has not agreed to sit for a deposition in Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s bitter legal feud over the movie It Ends With Us, refuting claims from Baldoni’s camp that the star had consented to the sit-down.

Baldoni’s attorneys wrote in a request for a discovery schedule extension on Thursday (Sept. 11) that Swift “has agreed to appear for deposition” but cannot do so earlier than Oct. 20 because of “preexisting professional obligations” — presumably referring to the rollout of her highly anticipated twelfth album, The Life of a Showgirl, which arrives on Oct. 3.

But Swift’s longtime attorney Douglas Baldridge says in a Friday (Sept. 12) court filing that this is false.

“My client did not agree to a deposition, but if she is forced into a deposition, we advised (after first hearing about the deposition just three days ago) that her schedule would accommodate the time required during the week of October 20 if the parties were able to work out their disputes,” wrote Baldridge.

Baldoni has been saying for months that Swift’s friendship with Lively makes her a key witness in the lawsuit, in which Lively alleges Baldoni sexually harassed her on the set of It Ends With Us and then orchestrated a retaliatory smear campaign after she complained.

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In June, the federal judge overseeing the legal battle granted Baldoni’s request to access Swift and Lively’s text messages as part of the document discovery process. Now, Baldoni wants to depose Swift.

The current discovery schedule has all depositions concluding by the end of September, in anticipation of a March 2026 trial date. But lawyers for Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, asked for an extension on Thursday for the Swift deposition.

Swift’s reps have previously slammed Baldoni for “creating tabloid clickbait” by dragging the star into the case despite her minimal involvement in It Ends With Us. Baldridge reiterated this position in his letter to the court on Friday, writing, “Since the inception of this matter we have consistently maintained that my client has no material role in this action.”

Lively’s lawyers have similarly lambasted Baldoni for involving Swift in the litigation, writing in their own Friday court response that the strategy is designed “to generate a media spectacle.”

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The Lively team is against extending the discovery cutoff to question Swift, saying it’s Baldoni’s own fault for waiting until this week to contact the singer’s counsel about scheduling her deposition.

“The Wayfarer defendants’ lack of diligence, and disrespect for Ms. Swift’s privacy and schedule, is astounding,” wrote Lively’s lawyer Michael Gottlieb. “Ms. Swift is someone whose calendar should be presumed to be packed with professional obligations for months in advance. At any point over the past six months, the Wayfarer defendants could have noticed a deposition, served a subpoena and negotiated an agreeable time and place for this deposition. But they did not.”

Judge Lewis J. Liman has not yet ruled on Baldoni’s discovery extension request.

The fiery legal battle between Lively and Baldoni has been in full force since last December, when the actress brought sexual harassment and retaliation claims against her It Ends With Us co-star and director.

Baldoni vehemently denied the allegations and countersued Lively and her inner circle for defamation, though Judge Liman later dismissed Baldoni’s counterclaims as legally invalid. Now, only Lively’s original allegations are headed toward trial this coming spring.

The Baldoni team has sought to involve Swift since the early days of the case, writing in court filings that Lively weaponized the “influential and wealthy celebrities” in her orbit to gain leverage over him while making It Ends With Us.

This story was updated on Sept. 12 at 2:27 p.m. ET to reflect that Swift has not agreed to a deposition.



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