Packers move to 2-0 behind Kraft’s breakout, defense holds late
The headline on the field was simple: Green Bay 27, Washington 18. The backstory was tighter than the final score. Under the lights at Lambeau Field, the Packers leaned on a hot hand in tight end Tucker Kraft and a composed Jordan Love to pull away in the second half and reach 2-0. Washington, with Jayden Daniels running the offense in his second NFL season, flashed pace and playmaking but couldn’t cash in enough drives.
This was a classic short-week test. Travel, quick installs, and primetime noise often tilt these games, and Lambeau only adds to it. Love didn’t need fireworks—just command. With Kraft working the seams and soft spots, Green Bay kept the chains moving and avoided the kind of mistakes that flip a Thursday game. Kraft finished with 124 receiving yards and a touchdown, the kind of breakout the Packers have been waiting for from their third-year tight end.
Daniels gave Washington life with his legs and timing throws, but Green Bay’s defense forced key checkdowns and won enough snaps at the line to keep Washington behind schedule. That’s the hidden math in these games: third downs and red-zone execution. Washington got into scoring range but too often settled for less than seven. In a one-possession tug-of-war, those choices stack up.
Love’s growth keeps showing in small ways. He hit hot reads, protected the ball, and leaned on his tight end when Washington’s safeties shaded outside. Kraft made yards after the catch and boxed out defenders like a power forward. When the Packers needed a response drive, those two delivered. Add a steady run mix to keep the front honest, and Green Bay found the control button.
Washington won’t love the score, but there’s real takeaways for a young quarterback on the road in primetime. Daniels stayed poised, avoided panic throws, and extended plays. The next step is finishing drives and stealing a possession or two with a shot play or a takeaway. On a short week against a sound defense, those are tough boxes to check.
- Final: Packers 27, Commanders 18
- Venue: Lambeau Field, Thursday, September 11, 2025
- Records: Green Bay 2-0; Washington 1-1
- Standout: Tucker Kraft — 124 yards, 1 TD
- Quarterbacks: Jordan Love steady in structure; Jayden Daniels shows mobility and poise
The broader picture looks familiar for Green Bay: defense that tightens in the money downs, an offense that avoids giveaways, and a reliable target emerging over the middle. For Washington, this is a measuring-stick kind of loss. The speed and playmaking are there. The margin for error on the road in primetime is not.
Why fans struggled to find free viewing info
If you were hunting for how to watch this game free and came up empty, you weren’t alone. Search results often missed clear answers. That’s partly because Thursday Night Football is carried nationally by Amazon Prime Video under an exclusive rights deal, and those details can get buried or mislabeled in listings, especially on short notice.
Here’s the usual landscape most weeks: Prime Video streams the game nationally for subscribers. In the two competing teams’ home markets, an over-the-air broadcast partner typically simulcasts the game, so locals can watch with a TV antenna. Outside those markets, “free” options are limited unless a trial is available through an authorized service. If you weren’t in the Green Bay or Washington TV footprints, that’s likely why you didn’t see a no-cost path in your search results.
Another wrinkle: Aggregators and TV guides sometimes lag on updating primetime sports pages, so the “how to watch” boxes can be incomplete on game day. That mismatch leads to confusion, especially when fans expect the old cable-era model where multiple networks shared rights.
Bottom line for future Thursdays: check your local broadcast listings if you’re in a participating team’s market, and expect Prime Video to be the national home. If a free option exists at all, it’s usually that local over-the-air simulcast—limited to the two markets involved—and it often doesn’t show up cleanly in generic searches.
On the field, the Packers’ formula traveled well enough in their own house: protect the ball, target matchups, and let the defense close. Off it, fans were reminded that the streaming era still makes simple questions—like “How do I watch without paying?”—hard to answer in a hurry. Different weeks bring different local partners, and that inconsistency often leaves viewers guessing.
For Green Bay, a 2-0 start is the kind of cushion every team wants before the schedule tightens. For Washington, one early loss in a long season doesn’t dent the central storyline: Daniels is growing, the offense has juice, and the fixes are clear. Clean up the red-zone trips, steal a possession, and the next tight primetime game looks different.
