With Week 1 in the books and behind us, it’s time to turn our attention to Week 2. This one features an NFC heavyweight bout between two teams with Super Bowl aspirations. Both teams looked the part in Week 1. Now, on a short week with a big opponent ahead, we’ll get a great idea of what these teams are capable of. Let’s take a look at these Week 2 NFL picks for Thursday Night Football’s Washington Commanders at Green Bay Packers.
The visiting Washington Commanders hosted their NFC East divisional foe, the New York Giants, last week. They made easy work of Russell Wilson and company winning a game that never felt competitive 21-6. Jayden Daniels looked sharp, and rookie running back “Bill” Jacory Croskey-Merritt looked explosive and got 10 carries for 82 yards and a touchdown. Debo Samuel was a keg cog in the offense as a new addition, while Terry McLaurin slowly worked his way back in. Zach Ertz did Zach Ertz things including catching a touchdown. Their defense looked good holding the running backs to 30 yards on the ground and limiting the damage Malik Nabers could do. They held the Giants to just two field goals all day.
The Green Bay Packers looked stellar in their home opener, taking a Lions team that was 15-2 last year out to the woodshed beating them 27-13. Jordan Love was efficient, completing 16 of 22 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns. Josh Jacobs found the end zone on the ground. Jayden Reed did not look too hurt as he snagged three grabs for 45 yards and his own touchdown. Romeo Dobbs had two big plays and Tucker Kraft found the end zone. On defense Micah Parsons was everything they hoped he’d be, getting a sack and keeping Russell Wilson under pressure all game.
Washington Commanders at Green Bay Packers Preview and Predictions
Austin Ekeler Over 21.5 Receiving Yards (-108)
Let’s kick off the NFL Prop Shop with the Week 2 Thursday Night game. We saw the new Green Bay Packers pass rush last week be extremely effective against the Lions. It forced Jared Goff to check down, probably a lot more than he intended to. Jahmyr Gibbs ended up with 10 catches as a result, tallying up 31 receiving yards, and David Montgomery added four catches for 18 yards. Ekeler was the go-to receiving back out of the backfield with three catches for 31 yards.
Croskey-Merrit ended up the lead rusher, but only got one target. Ekeler’s catches Over 2.5 is juiced up past -150. Showing us even the books think he gets a number of check downs. He turned three catches into 31 yards last week. This week he only needs to get to 22. With Micah Parsons breathing down Jayden Daniels neck, look for him to go after Ekeler who can still get it done catching the ball out of the backfield.
Green Bay Packers -3 (-118)
This is a simple one for me. The Packers are coming off a big win at home with lots of momentum. They won’t look past what is a really good Commanders team, especially with the Browns on the horizon next week. Lambeau Field still counts for plenty when it comes to the home field advantage. This packers team is complete, and is setting out to prove that, as they showed last week taking down the Lions and not messing around. Washington will put up a fight, but at home on a short week, give me the Pack.
