The Detroit Lions kick off their season against their division rivals, the Green Bay Packers, on Sunday afternoon. There have been countless storylines to follow throughout the offseason, training camp, and the preseason that are now about to come into fruition in Week 1.
Both teams have strong rosters, and both are looking to make a statement in their first game of the 2025 season. Heading into this NFC No0rth showdown, there are three key matchups to look out for:
Aidan Hutchinson vs. Zach Tom
The Packers recently made Zach Tom one of the highest-paid offensive linemen in league history, signing him to an $88 million contract extension back in July.
Tom is best known for his run blocking ability, but it should be noted that PFF has him ranked 12th out 140 tackles for his pass protection. He only allowed three sacks all season in 2024. He’s a smart player who has an elite athletic profile to match.
Aidan Hutchinson will play his first game in nearly a year, and Lions fans already expect big things from the former first round pick—for good reason too. The last two times that these players faced off (back in 2023), Tom allowed nine pressures.
Hutchinson very well could have led the league in sacks last season if it weren’t for his brutal leg injury, and now he’s set to line up against a right tackle who is eager to prove that he’s worth all of that money he was just paid.
Hutchinson has his work cut out for him in this game, but history has shown that he can get the better of Tom. On pass rush snaps, expect a show to be put on between these two.
Jameson Williams vs. Keisean Nixon
Keisean Nixon has been primarily a slot defender and return specialist for Green Bay, but he’s moving to a new role for the 2025 season. Now Nixon will be covering the deep ball as one of the Packers’ starting outside cornerback. This also means that he’s now going to go toe-to-toe with Lions speedster Jameson Williams.
Let’s look at the intangibles first. While Williams did not participate in drills at the Combine, he is reported to have run a 4.40 40-yard dash (though he claims he could have run a 4.10). That’s slightly faster than Nixon’s time (4.42). Williams is also three inches taller than the cornerback, giving him an advantage on contested catches.
Nixon is not graded well by PFF, with a 60.7 score for his work in coverage. Combine that with Williams’ emergence as Detroit’s best outside receiver, and things look favorable for Jamo. Nixon will be starting at a new position too, so there’s hope Williams can take advantage of that early on.
Penei Sewell/Taylor Decker vs. Micah Parsons
There’s a new edge rusher in the division that has made these potential matchups much, much more exciting.
The Packers just recently traded for two-time All-Pro Micah Parsons and handed him a massive contract in the process. Suddenly, there are some things to be worried about from Green Bay’s defensive line. Parsons has put together quite the resume, totaling 52.5 sacks and 256 tackles over the last four seasons. Depending on which side of the defensive line the pass-rusher lines up on, either Taylor Decker or Penei Sewell will have their work cut out for them in this game.
Parsons had played across from Sewell a few times over the years, with the two of them being fun football to watch. The best way to describe reps between these two is “unstoppable force vs. immovable object”. Sewell, who only allowed one sack last season, is arguably the best right tackle in the league. Parsons plays as a hybrid outside linebacker/defensive end who uses his 4.39 speed to get leverage on the opposing tackle. While Sewell obviously has the size advantage in this matchup, expect the two to win and lose a lot of reps to each other.
If Green Bay is smart, they’ll put Parsons over Taylor Decker on the blind side instead. While Decker is still a top-talent offensive tackle, he is nowhere near the player that Sewell is. He played about 200 fewer reps than Sewell in 2024 yet allowed seven more sacks than Sewell did. At 31 years old, he’s going to struggle a little more against Parsons.
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