Packers Week in Review: A 12-Point Lead, 29 Unanswered, and an 0-1 Start

Two weeks since the last update, and the football is real now. Unfortunately, so is the 0-1 record — and the way it happened will feel uncomfortably familiar to anyone who watched January’s Wild Card game.

39-22: The Collapse

Green Bay led the Vikings 22-10 late in the third quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. They then gave up 29 unanswered points and lost by 17. The second half finished 29-3 Minnesota.

Jordan Love’s raw numbers look fine — 387 yards and two touchdowns — and Christian Watson had the game of the day with six catches for 147 yards and two scores, with Matthew Golden adding six for 95. But Love was sacked four times in the second half, lost a fumble on a strip-sack, and threw a late interception on a ball that was tipped twice.

On the other side, Carson Wentz came off the bench after Kyler Murray left with a concussion and went 12-of-19 for 133 yards with three touchdowns. Justin Jefferson had eight catches for 92 and a score.

How It Came Apart

The details are ugly, and they’re not really about Jordan Love.

Penalties. Green Bay was flagged 12 times for 98 yards. Minnesota was flagged three times for 15. On three separate third downs the Packers made a stop that would have ended a Vikings drive, and on all three there was a flag — roughing the passer, illegal contact, and a holding call. LaFleur afterward: “I thought we were going to get off the grass, got called for penalties.” It had, in his word, an effect.

Third down. 3-of-12 for Green Bay. 8-of-15 for Minnesota. You cannot win a road game in the division on that split.

The offensive line. Fifteen quarterback hits allowed, seven of them by edge rusher Dallas Turner. All four sacks came in the final quarter. Aaron Banks missed the game with the knee injury that’s lingered since camp, and Donovan Jennings started at left guard in his place.

The fourth-and-1. A Vikings offsides gave LaFleur the choice of points or a fresh set of downs. He took the points off the board and went for it. It did not work, and the criticism since has been less about the aggressiveness than about the evidence: nothing all afternoon suggested this team could get a yard when it needed one.

Josh Jacobs Is on the Commissioner’s Exempt List

This is the biggest piece of team news, and it should have been in our last post — it happened on Aug. 30, the same day as the roster cuts, and we missed it.

The NFL placed Jacobs on the commissioner’s exempt list, a form of paid administrative leave. He continues to be paid but cannot practice or play. The move stems from a May 23 incident at his home in Hobart, Wisconsin, in which police responded to a domestic disturbance involving Jacobs and his girlfriend.

Jacobs has since entered a no-contest plea to two misdemeanor charges. He received a fine on the battery count and five conditions including restitution on the property damage count, and will not serve jail time. The criminal case is resolved; the NFL’s own disciplinary process is not, and the league has given no timetable for when Jacobs might be disciplined or reinstated.

There is no reliable date for his return, and we’d rather say that plainly than guess.

The Backfield Without Him

Green Bay traded a pick to Pittsburgh for second-year back Kaleb Johnson at the cutdown deadline — another item that slipped past us last time. Johnson then played zero offensive snaps in Minneapolis.

The work went to MarShawn Lloyd (13 carries, 37 yards) and Chris Brooks (7 for 29). That’s 20 carries for 66 yards, a 3.3 average, and a big part of why third downs kept turning into obvious passing situations.

Two Bits of Housekeeping

Captains. The Packers elected five for 2026: Jordan Love and Tucker Kraft on offense, Zaire Franklin and Xavier McKinney on defense, and Isaiah McDuffie on special teams.

Parsons can practice Monday. Under this year’s rules, a player who opens on reserve/PUP may begin practicing after Week 2 — for Green Bay that’s Monday, Sept. 21. He still can’t play until Week 5 at the earliest, and he’s said a Week 6 return against Dallas at Lambeau on Oct. 18 feels realistic. Getting him back on the grass is the first step.

Next Up: At the Jets

Sunday, Sept. 20 — 12:00 p.m. CT / 2 p.m. Brasília time, at MetLife Stadium, on FOX.

The Jets are 1-0 after beating Tennessee 23-10, and Green Bay is favored despite the opener. A road game against a team feeling good about itself, with a banged-up interior line and a running game averaging 3.3 a carry. This is the week to show that Sunday was an aberration rather than a pattern.

Go Pack Go. 💛💚

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