Grit. Toughness. Mental strength.
These are terms no one — and we mean no one — has used with a Matt LaFleur coached football team the past 12 months.
For a brief stretch on Sunday, though, the Green Bay Packers showed tenacity and perseverance that’s been missing for far too long. And in the process, they made sure their season didn’t go completely off the rails in Week 2.
The Packers, who have blown four double-digit leads in the fourth quarter over the past year, trailed the host New York Jets 17-7 with eight minutes remaining. But Green Bay rallied back, forced overtime, and prevailed 20-17 when rookie kicker Trey Smack hit a 26yard field goal midway through OT.
“I think it’s really important just because it shows our whole team that even with the adversity and going into that fourth quarter down and still come out with the dub, … it gives us the reinforcing fact that it ain’t over until there’s four zeroes through five quarters now,” center Sean Rhyan said. “I think it was a really good overall team win just so that we know what it needs to be in order to be successful.”
Green Bay won its first game in 287 days, improved to 1-1 and now hosts Atlanta (0-2) Thursday at 7:15 p.m. The Packers also snapped a sixgame losing streak that dated back to Week 15 of 2025.
Green Bay avoided going 0-2 for the first time since 2006 and dodged its first seven-game losing streak since 1990-91, when Lindy Infante was the head coach.
“I mean, it’s hard to win in this league, especially on the road, and for our guys to continue to battle, I think hopefully that that’ll give us some momentum moving forward,” LaFleur said. “Because it was tough sledding there for about three quarters.”
Here’s the good, bad and ugly from the Packers’ win.
The good
IT’S ABOUT TIME: Edge rusher Lukas Van Ness, the Packers’ 2023 first-round draft pick, has had an extremely disappointing first three seasons. Van Ness might be coming of age, though, in Year 4.
Van Ness had the best game of his career Sunday, finishing with 10 tackles, 1 1/2 sacks, three tackles for loss and four quarterback hits.
“It feels good. I’m drained right now,” Van Ness said. “I’m exhausted, but it feels good. I laid it all out there for the team and more than anything, I just had a lot of fun today. So it feels good to get rewarded with that W.”
Van Ness had been in concussion protocol all week, but was cleared on Friday and shined against the Jets.
Van Ness had a first-quarter sack of quarterback Geno Smith. Van Ness had arguably the biggest tackle of the game when he stoned Jets running back Braelon Allen for no gain on a fourth-and-1 at midfield late in regulation.
Van Ness and rookie Dani Dennis-Sutton also shared a sack that stopped the Jets’ opening drive in overtime.
“It seemed like he was everywhere,” safety Evan Williams said of Van Ness. “And that’s just a guy that we’re hoping to turn into a game wrecker and you can see the flashes of it. (He’s) able to win his rush, you can’t leave him one-onone on the island.
“He’s going to find a way to get to that quarterback. In the plays when it matters, he’s showing up in the backfield, making that TFL to seal that drive and he just keeps showing up, keeps popping up on tape.”
SKYY’S THE LIMIT: The Packers’ return game was dreadful a year ago with Romeo Doubs handling punts and Savion Williams the primary kick returner. Green Bay signed Skyy Moore this offseason to help fix that, and that move paid enormous dividends Sunday.
Moore had a 63-yard punt return in the fourth quarter that set up a 34-yard field goal from Smack that tied the game, 17-17. Moore also had a 43-yard kickoff return in the second quarter.
Moore finished the day with 208 total return yards, averaging 23.0 yards per punt return and 29.0 yards on kick returns.
“It feels good, just knowing that I’m able to execute my 1/11th,” Moore said. “It’s not just only me out there. Everybody, all the 10 other players made great blocks and we just executed our game plan.”
Green Bay ranked last in the NFL in punt-return average in 2025 (5.6 yards) and tied for 22nd in kickoffreturn average (25.2). With Moore in tow, things are definitely looking up.
“He was a game-changer for us,” Packers wideout Christian Watson said of Moore. “I don’t think we win that football game without ‘23.’ Just to have Skyy out there and to make the plays that he did, he was that spark for us, for sure.”
STOP OF THE GAME: The Jets had a third-and-2 at their own 49 with two minutes left and the game tied, 17-17.
On third down, Zaire Franklin and Karl Brooks stopped running back Breece Hall for one yard. On fourth down, Van Ness flew off the edge and dumped Allen for no gain.
Green Bay then took over at midfield with 1:15 remaining. The Packers failed to do anything, though, and the game went to overtime.
DANIEL WHELAN: You know it’s a tough day when the punter is among your best players.
That was the case for Green Bay, as standout punter Daniel Whelan averaged 54 yards per punt and knocked three of his six punts inside the 20-yard line.
Whelan had a tough Week 1, but on Sunday looked like the player who set the single-season franchise record with a 51.7-yard gross average and a 43.9-yard net average in 2025.
“We know what he can be and what we expect him to be, who he can be,” Packers special teams coach Cam Achord said of Whelan after his rough Week 1. “I think he takes … so much pride in it. I think he’s going to be OK going forward.”
Whelan certainly was on Sunday. SMACK ATTACK: Smack made both of his field goals, including the game-winner. Smack is now 5-for-5 through two weeks.
“Go out there and hit your best ball,” Smack said. “I always think gameday, I just shut my mind off and let my body take over.”
THIS AND THAT: J Michael Sturdivant was used as a gunner and helped force a muffed punt by the Jets’ Isaiah Williams early on. … Linebacker Edgerrin Cooper had eight tackles, three tackles for loss, a sack and a quarterback hit. … Javon Bullard dumped Breece Hall for a 3-yard loss on a swing pass late in the first half, then dropped Hall for a 1-yard loss in the fourth quarter. Bullard also had two passes defensed. … Evan Williams had an enormous pass break up late in the fourth quarter to prevent a long gain to wideout Adonai Mitchell. “I had to make that play, is how I saw it,” Williams said. “I see the ball in the air. We’re taught that the deep parts of the field are a dangerous place.” … Watson has 19 targets the first two games.
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The bad
AN OFFENSIVE OFFENSE: Green Bay’s offense was dreadful most of the day and finished with just 199 yards, the fourth fewest of the LaFleur-era.
The Packers had just 121 yards in Week 18 of 2025 against Minnesota, but played almost all reserves in that game. Green Bay also was held under 200 yards twice in 2019 — against the Los Angeles Chargers (184) and San Francisco (198).
The Packers had just 63 rushing yards on 18 carries, a 3.5 average. In all, Green Bay averaged just 4.0 yards per play.
“We have a lot of stuff to look at, clean up and improve on,” quarterback Jordan Love said. “It definitely wasn’t pretty. I think offensively we’ve got to do a lot better. That’s really all I’ve got.”
LINE WOES: The Packers lost right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele to a knee injury on the third play of the game, and underwhelming secondyear player Anthony Belton went the rest of the way.
Left guard Aaron Banks, who’s been battling knee tendinitis all summer, made his first start of the season. Banks lasted just 22 snaps, though, and was replaced by Donovan Jennings. Jennings made it just 14 snaps, though, suffered a hand injury and was replaced by rookie Jager Burton for the final 23 snaps.
That left the Packers with just five healthy offensive linemen, and LaFleur said the next man up would have been tight end Tucker Kraft.
“Oh, man, that was crazy,” Rhyan said.
Added LaFleur: “I’ve never been a part of anything like that, but it does come up from time to time.”
ROUGH HALF: The Packers were probably fortunate to be tied, 7-7, at halftime.
The Jets had 11 first downs in the first half, while Green Bay had five. The Packers were outgained 116-81. And New York had the ball 17 minutes, 49 seconds while the Packers possessed it just 12:11.
Green Bay had six penalties for 75 yards, while the Jets had four for 35 yards. The Packers were also 0-for-4 on third downs, while the Jets were 6 of 11.
The ugly
BRUTAL BEGINNING: The Packers lost wideout Jayden Reed on the second play of the game to a neck injury. On the third play, Green Bay lost Bako-Bewele to a knee injury.
Both players left on a cart and neither returned.
Afterward, LaFleur said Reed has movement in his extremities, but didn’t travel back to Green Bay with the team.
“That’s my brother, for sure,” Watson said of Reed. “Super tough to see that, just to see him like that, in that state. As far as I’ve heard, it’s positive news so far. I’m just keeping him in my thoughts and prayers.
“I never want to see that for anybody on that field but especially someone that I consider a brother to myself. I spend more time with JReed than I do my family. That’s my dawg.“ Bako-Bewele suffered a partially torn patellar tendon in Week 15 last season that needed offseason surgery. He missed most of the offseason, then suffered a knee injury Sunday.
“That doesn’t look good,” LaFleur said of Bako-Bewele. “I think he could be out for a long time.”
FLAG FOOTBALL: These Packers are every bit as undisciplined as Forrest Gregg’s teams were in the mid-1980s.
One week after being hit with 12 penalties for 98 yards, Green Bay was penalized 14 times for 133 yards. The Packers were also flagged three other times that the Jets declined.
Green Bay now leads the NFL with 26 penalties and 231 penalty yards through two weeks.
“I think that’s definitely an area we’ve got to improve on,” Love said. “That’s two weeks where we’ve had a lot of penalties that just put us back. Those are things that stop drives, put you behind the sticks obviously and it’s tough to overcome. That’s an area we’ve got to focus, clean up, figure out what’s going on.”
The Packers were flagged six times in the first quarter, and four were accepted. The worst was an unsportsmanlike penalty on Bullard, who broke up a third-down pass to Mitchell, then chirped for several seconds at Mitchell. Watson also had a holding penalty, Karl Brooks jumped offsides to give the Jets a first down, and cornerback Kamal Hadden was called for holding during a punt return.
In the second quarter, Keisean Nixon was hit with a 34-yard pass interference penalty against Mitchell that helped set up a Jets touchdown.
In the third quarter, Dennis-Sutton was called for holding on a Jets punt and the Packers started a drive at their own 3-yard line. Kraft was flagged for holding early in the quarter, left tackle Jordan Morgan was called for a false start and Van Ness was flagged for roughing the passer.
In the fourth quarter, rookie Chris McClellan had his second costly penalty in as many weeks, drawing an unnecessary roughness penalty after a punt. Later, Belton was called for two holding penalties and Morgan was also called for holding. Belton’s second holding penalty wiped out a Love touchdown run.
“We’ve got to take a look at it,” LaFleur said of the penalties. “The ones that are just mind-blowing are just the false starts, jumping offsides, lining up offsides, those are the ones that’ll get you beat.”
Good coaches have their teams focused and disciplined from start to finish. Green Bay isn’t one of those teams right now.
FUMBLE FEST: Green Bay had four fumbles in the first three quarters, but was remarkably fortunate and recovered all four.
The Packers weren’t so lucky with No. 5, as MarShawn Lloyd fumbled early in the fourth quarter and New York’s Harrison Phillips recovered. That set up a 32-yard field goal from New York’s Jason Sanders that gave the Jets a 17-7 lead.
Love, Moore, Kraft and Kaleb Johnson all fumbled, as well, but the Packers were able to fall on those.
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