GREEN BAY, Wis. -- For a team long known for its quarterbacks and high-powered offenses, it hasn't taken the Green Bay Packers long to forge a defensive identity. Two games to be exact.
The reason, according to cornerback Keisean Nixon, is singular.
"Yeah, we got Micah Parsons," Nixon said after Thursday's 27-18 win over the Washington Commanders at Lambeau Field.
Parsons certainly did his part. He pressured Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels six times on 32 pass rushes. On those plays, Daniels completed just 1 of 3 passes for 9 yards with two scrambles for 9 yards and was sacked once -- a shared sack between Parsons and linebacker Edgerrin Cooper.
The Packers improved to 2-0 in large part because, for the first time since the 1995 season, they gave up fewer than 250 yards in each of their first two games of the season.
Though Parsons isn't ready to call the Packers the best defense in the NFL after two games -- saying "best in the NFL terms, those are earned. It's too early to say" -- he believes this defense can lead the Packers where they want to go. And he had a message for Packers quarterback Jordan Love, who threw for 292 yards and two touchdowns.
"J-Love, I think you give us 20 points, we should be able to win that game," Parsons said. "It's all about getting stops and getting the ball back to the offense. As y'all seen against Baltimore and Buffalo, you can have your quarterback damn near have a perfect game but still lose because guess what, the defense gave up, what, 40 points? So, defense wins championships. I think the fans like points and they like to see the big plays, but when you play great defense, it's just so beautiful to see."
And it's not like Parsons and Co. shut down a couple of shaky offenses to start the season. They held a Lions team that led the NFL with 33.2 points a game last season to just 13 points in Week 1. The Commanders ranked fifth at 28.5 points per game last season. The Packers held those two teams to a combined 31 points in five days.
All that with Parsons still on a play count. He played 44 snaps against the Commanders (67% of the defensive plays) after playing 29 (45%) in the opener.
Two weeks to the day after he was traded from the Cowboys to the Packers, Parsons lobbied for that snap limit to be lifted.
"I just hope I'm full go," Parsons said. "Honestly, it's pissing me off. I tell them, '[Limited snaps] does worse than good, I get tight and stuff.' Hopefully, they just let me off. They can't hold a dog back forever, man."
The Packers sacked Daniels four times and recorded 12 quarterback hits.
"Getting Micah over here, it changed up their whole personality," Packers receiver Malik Heath said of the defense. "They're going to get it. They've been running to the ball, but now, like, they're on a whole different level. I feel like we've got the best defense in the league as of right now. ... And I'll go to war with any last one of them on that defensive side, especially the D-line. That D-line is going to set the tone, everybody else is going to follow."
While Parsons has made a major impact on the Packers' defense, he has also been quick to credit his new teammates -- Nixon among them. The cornerback broke up five passes, the most by any player in an NFL game since 2021. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Nixon was targeted six times as the nearest defender in coverage and allowed one catch for 9 yards.
It's no wonder coach Matt LaFleur heaped praise on Parsons, Nixon and the rest of defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley's unit.
"Relentless," LaFleur said in describing the defense. "Just physical, aggressive, attacking. The play style is exactly what we want from these guys, and it always starts with the energy and effort. That's going to get you through and can overcome some of the mistakes. I think our front is extremely disruptive, getting after the quarterback. It didn't seem like they ran the ball very effectively at all, either.
"I think Haf's done a hell of a job, I think our players are doing a great job feeding off one another, and it's definitely exciting to watch our defense go out there and perform because they allow us to get up on somebody."