If the Packers used a Week 1 domination of the Lions as a major statement, they backed it up and then some in Week 2. The Packers (2-0) defeated the Commanders (1-1), 27-18, fueled by an explosive, efficient offense and a tremendous defense that seemed to move at a completely different speed than Washington’s offense.

Love finished with 292 yards passing and a pair of touchdowns, with six completions for 124 yards and a score going to Kraft. Micah Parsons officially recorded a half-sack, but his impact was much larger than that, and Green Bay sacked Jayden Daniels four times while smothering would-be pass catchers.

After a slow start — Jayden Reed’s shoulder injury being the main development — Green Bay’s offense got rolling on its second drive, fueled by a 57-yard completion from Love to Kraft after Kraft broke free down the middle. Love connected with Romeo Doubs for a 5-yard touchdown shortly thereafter.

Washington did not manage a single first down in the first quarter — a first since Daniels’ arrival — and Green Bay embarked on another long drive early in the second quarter, highlighted by a remarkable, twisting 37-yard catch from Malik Heath.

Josh Jacobs powered in from two yards out to make it 13-0. Commanders defensive lineman Deatrich Wise Jr. got carted off after trying to block the extra point (which was successful), adding to Washington’s woes. He was later ruled out with a quad injury.

Washington finally got on the board with a 51-yard Matt Gay field goal, but Gay missed a 58-yarder that could have cut the deficit further just before the half. But Green Bay’s Brandon McManus then doinked a 48-yard try as time expired.

Down 17-3 after a McManus field goal, Washington finally found the end zone via a 20-yard Zach Ertz catch-and-run. Green Bay answered, though, with another touchdown drive, this one capped by Love’s 8-yard touchdown toss to Kraft.

McManus nailed a 56-yard field goal shortly thereafter to extend the lead to three scores. Daniels found Deebo Samuel Sr. for a touchdown late, but it proved to be only window dressing — and a costly one at that: Austin Ekeler suffered a non-contact Achilles injury and was carted off the field.

Washington will hope to use the mini-bye to recuperate before hosting the Raiders in Week 3. Green Bay will hope to carry momentum over to a Week 3 visit to the Browns.

Takeaways

Parsons leads overwhelming pass rush

The Commanders know Parsons very well from his time in Dallas, and he just keeps dominating them: He now has 11 sacks in nine career games against Washington.

Parsons’ impact can’t be limited to sacks, though. He drew a penalty and caused a ton of havoc in the backfield throughout the night, even as he remains on a snap count. Washington tried chipping him and double-teaming him, and that only produced middling results. It also produced openings for other pass rushers: Rashan Gary and Devonte Wyatt both had a sack, and Edgerrin Cooper, Karl Brooks and Barryn Sorrell each had a half-sack.

It also wasn’t just the plays the pass rush made. It was the plays it didn’t allow Daniels to make. He ran for just 17 yards, and Washington had just 51 as a team.

The ability to get pressure with just four pass rushers also allowed Green Bay to play aggressively in coverage. Daniels’ 4.8 yards per pass attempt were his lowest in a full game in his career.

Love, Kraft spearhead big-play offense

Love had eight completions of at least 15 yards, spread out to five different receivers. Three went to Kraft, a testament to the tight end’s all-around abilities. He led all tight ends in average yards after catch last year, and he showed off his ability to get downfield, too. He broke several tackles Thursday night, leading to key extra yardage that either moved the sticks or made it a more manageable down and distance.

Love, meanwhile, found plenty of open targets downfield, and even when they weren’t open, receivers often made plays — Heath’s catch is worth watching again and again.

Love also didn’t throw an interception for a ninth straight start, which ties Aaron Rodgers for the second-longest streak by a Packers quarterback since at least 1950. When Love doesn’t put the ball in harm’s way, that usually leads to success: Green Bay is 13-4 in his starts when he doesn’t throw an interception.

Commanders offense struggles to find any success

The 18 points Washington scored isn’t by any means an impressive total, but it’s also perhaps even generous given the myriad issues. Josh Conerly Jr. had a rough night going up against Parsons. It’s been a rude introduction to the NFL for Conerly, the first-round pick our of Oregon, who switched from left tackle to right tackle and has promptly had to face Brian Burns, Abdul Carter and Parsons in his first five days of regular-season football.

Conerly’s struggles aside, Washington’s passing attack was anemic; Daniels went 1 for 7 on throws at least 15 yards downfield, with his receivers often blanketed, and Washington’s quick-hitting plays were completely smothered much of the night. Without the threat of the run game, Washington failed to find anything sort of rhythm, and their 230 total yards also marked the fewest since Daniels’ arrival.

US officials have issued an urgent appeal for help from the public as they continue to search for the shooter of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, releasing new videos and photos from the scene of the attack in Utah.

More than 24 hours after Kirk was shot while speaking in front of thousands of people at a Utah university, the state’s governor, appearing alongside FBI director Kash Patel and other officials, said “we need as much help as we can possibly get.”

“We cannot do our job without the public’s help,” Utah’s governor, Spencer Cox said, adding that the FBI had received more than 7,000 leads and tips so far.

The newly released video showed a person wearing a hat, sunglasses and a long sleeve black shirt running across a roof, climbing off the edge of the building and dropping to the ground. The suspect is believed to have fled into the local neighbourhood after firing the one shot and has not yet been identified.

Investigators said they had obtained clues, including a palm print, a shoe impression and a high-powered hunting rifle found in a wooded area along the path the shooter fled. But they were yet to name a suspect or cite a motive in the killing.

The direct appeals for public support at the night-time news conference, appeared to signal law enforcement’s continued struggles to identify the shooter and pinpoint the person’s whereabouts. Authorities didn’t take questions, and Patel did not speak at the news conference. The FBI is offering up to $100,000 for information leading to the identification and arrest of the person.

The death of Kirk – a close ally of President Donald Trump – has drawn renewed attention to the escalating threat of political violence in the United States which, in the last several years, has cut across the ideological spectrum. The assassination drew bipartisan condemnation from political leaders.

In appealing for information, Cox said on Thursday, “there is a tremendous amount of disinformation” online.

“Our adversaries want violence,” Cox said. “We have bots from Russia, China, all over the world that are trying to instil disinformation and encourage violence. I would encourage you to ignore those, to turn off those streams.”

Cox also pledged to find the killer and pursue the death penalty.

Kirk’s casket arrived in his home state of Arizona aboard Air Force Two, accompanied by vice-president JD Vance. Vance’s wife, Usha, stepped off the plane with Kirk’s widow, Erika.

Vance helped carry Kirk’s casket with a group of uniformed service members as it was loaded on to the plane. Kirk’s conservative youth organisation, Turning Point USA, was based in Phoenix.

“So much of the success we’ve had in this administration traces directly to Charlie’s ability to organize and convene,” Vance wrote on social media, referencing Kirk’s role in getting Donald Trump elected last year. “He didn’t just help us win in 2024, he helped us staff the entire government.”

Kirk was a provocateur and a divisive figure who is credited with helping bring young people, especially men, into the US president’s Make America Great Again (Maga) movement.

In a statement on Thursday, TPUSA wrote: “All of us have lost a leader, a mentor, and a friend. Above all, our hearts are with Erika and their two children. Charlie was the ideal husband and the perfect father. Above all else, we ask you to pray for the Kirks after the incomprehensible loss they have suffered.”

Kirk’s killing drew bipartisan condemnation of the rise in political violence in the US.

Trump, who said he would award the Medal of Freedom posthumously to Kirk, spoke to Kirk’s wife on Thursday.

He said that authorities were making “big progress” towards tracking down the suspect and that in regards to a motive, he has an “indication … but we’ll let you know about that later”.

Just hours after Kirk had been declared dead after being rushed to a nearby hospital on Wednesday, Trump delivered a video message from the Oval Office, vowing to track down the suspect.

“My administration will find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity and to other political violence, including the organizations that fund it and support it,” Trump said.

One day after his inflammatory address, blaming “the radical left” for Kirk’s death, Trump appeared to strike a more conciliatory tone, agreeing with a suggestion from a reporter that his supporters should not respond with violence.

The White House quickly posted the exchange on social media, perhaps hoping to tamp down anger that has already spilled into violence, with the beating of a critic of Kirk in Boise, Idaho, during a vigil on Wednesday night.

Don Bacon, a Republican from Nebraska who is retiring after this term, told NBC News that he wished Trump would unite the country after the shooting, “but he’s a populist, and populists dwell on anger”.

“I have to remind people, we had Democrats killed in Minnesota too, right?” Bacon added, in reference to the murder of Minnesota’s former house speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in June by a gunman with a hitlist of 45 people, all Democrats.

With Reuters and the Associated Press

Packers dispatch Commanders 27-18, improve to 2-0