Micah Parsons Isn’t the Only Reason Green Bay's Pass Rush Looks Elite

The Green Bay Packers’ pass rush is off to an incredible start in 2025. They have totaled 52 pressures and eight sacks through the first two weeks of the season. On Thursday Night Football, they generated 33 pressures against the Washington Commanders, which is tied for their most in a single game since the start of 2024.

Acquiring a player like Micah Parsons will instantly improve any defense. Parsons is off to a strong start in his Packers career. In his first two games, he recorded a 90.2 PFF pass rush grade, 10 pressures, 1.5 sacks, and a 25% pass rush win rate. His eight pressures against Washington were the most by a Packers player in a single game since Rashan Gary had eight pressures against the Minnesota Vikings in 2023.

Parsons is having a significant impact on Green Bay’s defense, but he’s not carrying the pass rush on his own. His presence lifts the guys around him and forces the offensive line to adjust, which allows the rest of the defensive line to step up and makes the whole unit click.

Lukas Van Ness had just five pressures in the first two months of 2024, and he has already matched that total through the first two games of 2025. Meanwhile, Gary had nine total pressures over the first six games last season and has already reached that mark in only two games this year. Both of Gary’s sacks this season came while Parsons was on the sideline, a good sign that he’s winning his own matchups and not just feeding off the extra attention Parsons draws.

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“Put hands on 1, I’mma get home,” Gary said after Thursday night’s game against Washington. “Put hands on 52, 1 gonna get home.”

Van Ness has just half a sack this season. It came with Parsons on the field, but Parsons wasn’t a factor on the play. The Detroit Lions trusted Penei Sewell to block him one on one. Parsons still nearly got to Jared Goff, while Van Ness bull-rushed the left guard from the interior and finished the play for the sack.

“I think Van Ness is going to have his best year yet this year,” Parsons told ESPN’s Rob Demovsky.

“He’s selfless,” Parsons added. “Plays the run. Does everything. He’s the kind of guy you want to be around. I’m going to make sure he gets as many plays as possible.”

Van Ness has shown signs of making the third-year leap in production. Rashan Gary is playing at the level you expect from an elite pass rusher that Green Bay invested a first-round pick in. However, it is not just the edge rushers making noise. The guys on the interior are also delivering.

Last year, Devonte Wyatt recorded 12 pressures through the first 11 weeks of the season, but he only played in seven games. This season, he already has 11 pressures through eight quarters of football. He’s also up to two quarterback hits, just one shy of his total of three from all of last season.

One of Wyatt’s best plays of the season came on a spin move against the left guard. He shed the block and pressured Jayden Daniels into an incompletion. That kind of technique is something we didn’t see often from Green Bay’s pass rush last year, so it’s encouraging to see them using more moves to counter blockers.

DeMarcus Covington deserves a lot of credit for how Green Bay’s pass rush has performed. Having a player of Micah Parsons’ caliber makes life easier for a coach and every teammate.

Even with Parsons on or off the field, the defensive line is winning its one-on-one battles. That’s a testament to their effort to evolve and improve from the mistakes that left Green Bay’s defense ranked in the bottom ten in pass rush win rate last season.