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The Green Bay Packers.
Micah Parsons was even more impactful in his second Packers game, consistently disrupting the timing of the Commanders’ offense, which didn’t get anything going until midway through the second half. In 73 snaps over four days, Micah Parsons seems to have transformed the Green Bay Packers. Parsons — in only 44 snaps — produced a team-best eight QB pressures and half a sack in the Packers’ impressive 27-18 victory over the Washington Commanders on Thursday night.
The Washington offense was helpless against Parsons and the Green Bay defense over the first three quarters, mustering just three points, seven first downs, and 112 yards. The Packers led five scoring drives, rang up 404 yards of offense, and put the game out of reach with touchdown and field-goal drives in the fourth quarter. Tight ends Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave combined for 156 yards, with Kraft quickly becoming one of the league’s best. Love was mostly good, even with the injury to wide receiver Jayden Reed in the first half, hitting some big throws and converting one emphatic first-down run. The Packers defense has served up savage beatings to highly respected offenses manned by Pro Bowl quarterbacks in consecutive games.
Teams should know by now what’s going to happen when the Packers get near the goal line: Josh Jacobs is getting the ball and scoring. It happened for the 10th straight regular-season game Thursday, when Jacobs scored on a 2-yard run to give the Packers a 14-0 lead in the second quarter. With the addition of Parsons, he very much appears to be the piece the Packers were missing, though adding one of the greats of the game is usually going to shift things around for the better. However, the Packers’ defense has more confidence than it did before No. 1 joining it. Out of the gates, the Packers have emerged as one of the big dogs in the NFL hierarchy.
The Milwaukee Brewers.
The team has the best record in the league and leads the NL Central. Before the first pitch was thrown on Saturday night, the Milwaukee Brewers could celebrate. Going into the game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Milwaukee’s magic number was down to one to be the first team in the MLB to clinch a postseason spot. Earlier in the day, the New York Mets took on the Texas Rangers, losing their 8th straight game. That loss was enough to secure, at the very least, a Wild Card spot for the Brewers, who are looking like favorites to win the NL Central Division anyway with a six-and-a-half-game lead over the Chicago Cubs (who also lost on Saturday). A big crowd was on hand at American Family Field to help celebrate the good news.
Then, of course, this Brewers team did something special again. Milwaukee rallied back and took things to extra innings, thanks to a three-run rally in the bottom of the 9th with big RBIs from Jackson Chourio and William Contreras. In extras, Milwaukee gave up a run with the bases loaded, but a big double play held St. Louis to just one run. Enter Caleb Durbin, who tied things back up with a single in the bottom of the 10th, and Andruw Monastario, who once again delivered a walk-off moment. The Brewers won 9-8 in extra innings, thanks to their 11th walk-off hit of the season. This team simply does not know how to quit.
The NL Central title is still very much the next goal. The Brewers set a franchise record by winning 14 consecutive games in August. Since 1970, it will be just the 11th time that Milwaukee will appear in the playoffs. The Brewers have reached the postseason six times in the last seven years but haven’t won a series since 2018.
The Milwaukee Bucks.
Giannis Antetokounmpo will still be with the Milwaukee Bucks this season. Milwaukee never feared they would leave his team for another. Antetokounmpo remains one of the best players in the league, having finished third in MVP voting just last season. He is still the best player on the Bucks and is capable of carrying the Bucks to the playoffs. Charles Barkley is one of the most popular pundits in the media. He doesn’t like how ESPN is covering the Bucks’ best player as one of the NBA’s partners. Barkley dislikes that everyone is trying to push stars out of smaller markets for seemingly no reason. It’s an issue, especially in Milwaukee.
Antetokounmpo decided to stay with the Bucks and continue to try to win titles. Antetokounmpo has stated that his goal is to win multiple championships, preferably in Milwaukee. Antetokounmpo will still be putting pressure on the Bucks to improve the roster around him so that he has a realistic shot at winning multiple championships. This season is critical in that manner.
