Well...
Eight months after losing to a division rival in a dramatic, historic collapse with embarrassing implications, the Packers had all the time in the world to figure out how to avoid that ever happening again. All offseason long, the number one emphasis of the Packers was to figure out how to "finish" games. This was the thing. This was, by the team's own admission, the biggest issue holding them back from being the team that they wanted to be. So after all that time and all that focus, what was the result?
29 straight unanswered points, an embarrassing boot out the door, and a nightmare of a start to the 2026 campaign. Is the season over yet? No. But everything will depend on Green Bay responding to this loss in a way that they have basically never done before: coming together as a team, and determining that this cannot happen again. And meaning it this time.
Game Balls
Jordan Love
Love finished the day with 387 yards of passing (the second most of any quarterback on Sunday), two touchdowns, one interception off a tipped pass, and a 88.1 passer rating. He had the second most average completed air yards on his passes (10.7), while having the third least average time to throw (2.56 seconds). All day long, Love was putting himself and his receivers in a position to succeed, until it just could not be done any longer.
Love's performance won't be mentioned among the best this week, by any list that you'll go out there and find this week. But there's some reading between the lines that needs to be done. Without his starting running back (although I was very pleased with the performance that Marshawn Lloyd was able to provide, especially later in the game when his YPC got a little higher) and a horrible OL performance, Love had his team in a position to win the game, basically single handedly. Unfortunately, it's now clear that Love is going to be in that position every single game for the rest this season, or until the OL proves a lick of competency.
Christian Watson
Watson took zero time to prove that he deserved every single penny of his extension this offseason. He led both teams in receiving with 147 yards and an average of 24.5 yards per catch. His two touchdowns in the first half had Green Bay firmly in the driver's seat of the game. That 81 yard touchdown reception was the cherry on top of a monster of a performance, the third most of any receiver this week.But as a whole, the receivers excelled in this game. Matthew Golden nearly reached a hundred yards himself, and Tucker Kraft had a few excellent open field catches as a late safety valve for Love.
Edgerrin Cooper
Speaking of players whose season got off to a great start, Cooper looked like the kind of difference maker in the front seven that we have been envisioning him to be. Cooper led the team in tackles, had one sack and was credited with another QB hit.
While his counterpart Zaire Franklin struggled at times on the field, his presence is what allows Cooper to play more freely than he could next to Quay Walker last season. I'll also credit Johnathan Gannon with that change as well. Cooper's talent has always been apparent, and keeping that kind of player at the forefront of your defense was a major aspect to the early success that we saw in this game.
Lame Calls
Matt LaFleur
I just don't understand how this happens. How it has been happening, or how it continues to happen. As I mentioned in the beginning of this article, the Packers' ability to "finish" plays was the major focus of the offseason. And that's not me putting words into his mouth. Hear it from the man himself.
So when the Packers find themselves up 22-17 on Minnesota, with the chance to put the game even further out of reach, how do they respond? Well, to be quite frank, they didn't. They failed to rise to the occasion. They failed to finish the game.
Not in a million years would I have personally chosen to take that field goal off the board, even for the possibility of a kill shot touchdown. Would the Packers have won this game, had they gotten the touchdown? It's incredibly likely that they would have, yes. It's not guaranteed, but it's likely. Would they have won the game with the field goal? Also possible. It certainly makes the scenarios at the end of the game a little more doable. But by going for the fourth down, and failing to get it, Green Bay opened the doors wide open for the comeback to begin, and Minnesota did not waste the opportunity.
I won't pretend to know what exactly has caused this culture of fourth quarter collapses to begin in Green Bay, but to me two things are abundantly clear. One, it is absolutely a cancer infecting this team. And two, the rest of the league knows there is blood in the water.
The Offensive Line
Speaking of things we spent all offseason worrying about.
There's very little to take from this game in a positive light, when you think about the offensive line. Almost nothing. A microscopic amount. Or, dare I say it aloud, nothing at all.
Per @NextGenStats, 4 of the Packers' 5 OL had a time to pressure average of 2.50 second or under, including both their tackles. You can't function with those numbers. Part of a nightmare second half
— Trevor Sikkema (@TampaBayTre) September 13, 2026
The guards will get the majority of the scrutiny. Donovan Jennings and Jacob Monk played poorly. There's no way around that, nor should there be. Over and over, interior pressure destroyed any semblance of a healthy offensive attack, be it rushing or passing. But those guys aren't supposed to be in that position in the first place. Donovan Jennings and Jacob Monk aren't starting offensive guards in the NFL. Or at least, they shouldn't be. Going up against a Brian Flores led defense in their very first NFL games as starting guards was a horrible matchup. I don't think they were particularly set up for success in the game planning phase either, specifically with these two as the starting guards. Aaron Banks is hurt, yes. You've got a promising rookie that took a vast majority of the #1 snaps in his place, who was on the bench all game. Anthony Belton has seemingly been given up on, and banished back to a backup tackle spot, not a great look for a second year, second round pick. The process itself was faulty.
But.
Everyone else was right where they were supposed to be. Jordan Morgan was finally at left tackle, Zach Bako-Bewele was deemed heathy enough to start. Sean Rhyan was paid a considerable amount of money to play center for Green Bay. All three looked just as bad. As I said, there's blood in the water now, and to varying levels of success, every team the Packers play are going to blitz and blitz and blitz and blitz. That's what we are going to see until Green Bay proves they can win against it.
The Refs
In one of the most egregiously officiated games I can remember, the Vikings' touchdown drive to give them momentum was a matter of the refs dragging Minnesota over the goal line on their backs. But it wasn't just that drive, and to be frank, not all of their missed calls were in Minnesota's favor. I just don't understand how this is the product that gets trotted out for a national audience. Roughing the passer calls. Facemasks. Holding, pass interference, ect. You name it, this referee crew screwed it up. I'm not usually one to heap blame onto the refs, but come on. Just look at the stats. The Vikings were called for only three penalties, the Packers got twelve. That doesn't just happen.
Shawn Hochuli and his guys aren't the sole reason the Packers lost, but a one sided performance like this from the neutral party makes it an uphill battle from the start.
Three and Out
-- In one of the sole beams of light from this game, the Packers did seem to escape without any major injuries. Brandon Cisee and Bo Melton were treated for cramps, while Josh Whyle suffered a minor stinger that he missed some time for. We'll have to see if anything else pops up, but for now the Packers seemed to have dodged a bit of a bullet.
-- Green Bay is on the road again next week, to the beautiful shores of New Jersey to take on the hometown Jets. Aaron Glenn's crew earned a win against the Titans, and you can bet that New York's head coach is licking his chops at replicating a version of Brian Flores' game plan.
-- This might be the start of a very long season, or it might be a minor speed bump. If it is going to be a footnote in the story of the 2026 Packers, it's up to the players to finally learn how to put losses like this past them. Green Bay is now on a six game losing streak, dating back to that infamous Denver game, and the team no longer has the luxury of waiting for Micah Parsosn to bail them out of their mess. If the Packers aren't on the right side of .500 by that point, it might be all for naught anyway.
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Co-Owner of the thirteen time world champion Green Bay Packers. Sometimes I write about them. Follow me on Twitter at https://x.com/kjones_in_co and on Substack for film breakdowns!