The Green Bay Packers opened their 2026 season with a devastating 39-22 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. The Packers led 29-10 late in the third quarter before Minnesota rattled off 29 straight points. Going back to last season, Green Bay has now lost six straight games. A number of those six losses have featured fourth-quarter collapses, and there is plenty of blame to go around. This game was painful because they were in the driver’s seat for much of the game, at one point boasting a 91 percent win probability per ESPN.
The Packers gave Matt LaFleur a multi-year contract extension this past offseason. 2026 was the final year of LaFleur’s deal, and the front office clearly feels he is the right man to lead the team. In Week 1, there were some questionable decisions even at the start of the game. The offensive line was a huge question heading into the season, and it continues to be after Week 1. The decision of starting guards was met with much skepticism.
With Aaron Banks missing the game, the Packers went with Jacob Monk and Donovan Jennings. An argument could be made that Monk deserved a spot, but Jennings was quite the head-scratcher. During the preseason, both Anthony Belton and Jaeger Burton were ahead of Jennings. Burton had quite a good camp and was expected to receive the other guard spot, but that obviously did not happen.
Another decision that completely changed the momentum of the game came in the 4th quarter. Green Bay had just made a field goal to go up eight when LaFleur decided to accept an offsides penalty to make it a 4th and 1. The ensuing play call was a vanilla QB sneak by Jordan Love, not a tush push but a regular sneak, which failed to convert. It was after that decision that the Vikings scored 29 straight points on the Green Bay Packers defense. Add on 12 penalties for 98 yards against Green Bay to make this a tough look for the head coach.
Keisean Nixon was the topic of much Packers discussion this past offseason. His inconsistent play over the years has led him to be one of the most polarizing players on the team. Despite his ups and downs, he was solid against the Vikings. He opened the game with a tackle for loss on the first play of scrimmage, before getting an interception to allow Green Bay to get out to an early lead.
This was a promising start for the veteran cornerback, who finished with 5 total tackles and contributed to a sack as well. Nixon’s play can be a bit of a roller coaster, but he showed why the staff still believes in him to lead the cornerback room.
With no Josh Jacobs in Sunday’s game, the Packers rolled with MarShawn Lloyd and Chris Brooks. In a surprising move, Brooks was actually named the starter, and he proved to be the more efficient of the two. The team as a whole ran the ball 21 times for only 66 yards, resulting in a disappointing 3.1 average yards per attempt.
Lloyd not starting was another questionable move by the staff on Sunday. While Brooks led in efficiency, Lloyd received the bulk of the workload with 13 carries to Brooks seven. Neither player had a run longer than 14 yards, and Lloyd only averaged 2.8 yards per carry. With Jacobs future being a mystery, the Packers will need more from their running backs moving forward.
The Green Bay Packers locked up their offensive core this offseason, and they showed out in Minnesota. Christian Watson, Mathew Golden, and the newly extended Tucker Kraft were all huge pieces to the offense in Week 1. Watson may have had the best game of his career, catching 6 passes for 147 yards and 2 touchdowns. He picked up where he left off last year, showing that he’s worth the new contract when healthy.
Golden followed up on a disappointing rookie campaign with a fantastic start to 2026. He also caught 6 balls for 95 yards, setting a career high for the sophomore wideout. Despite the low production last year, Golden’s tape showed he was consistently getting open when on the field. He should continue to show that now that he isn’t buried on the depth chart.
Kraft also looked healthy coming back from his ACL injury. Chipping in with three catches for 65 yards, with a couple of huge catches in key moments that went for 30 and 23 yards, respectively. The three players combined for almost 80 percent of the Green Bay Packers’ passing production, getting off to a great start on offense.
Possibly the biggest loser from the game will be the offensive line. The line has been shrouded in questions all offseason, whether that be who’s going to start and where, or who will take that next step in their development. This was a rough day at the office for that unit going against an accomplished defensive coordinator such as Brian Flores.
Flores had a field day against this offensive line. The defense blitzed 78% of the time, which led to a 52 percent pressure rate. This resulted in four sacks, the first of which did not happen until late in the third quarter despite the constant pressure Jordan Love was facing. Green Bay needs the starting five to be better if they want success on the offense, and it may need to start with addressing both guard positions.
Green Bay revamped their special teams this offseason. They brought in a new special teams coordinator, Cameron Achord, and added a new kicker, Trey Smack who they traded up to draft in the sixth round in April. Smack had a perfect preseason and followed that up by officially going 3/3 on field goals in Week 1 and hitting another one that came back from the aforementioned offside debacle. Smack’s first kick of the new season was a 59-yarder, which is now the second-longest field goal in Green Bay Packers history. Elsewhere, Bo Melton ripped off a 59-yard return, and punter Daniel Whelan had two punts inside the 20.
It should be noted that everything was perfect for special teams. While Smack continues to show why he was the only kicker drafted this year, he did miss an extra point. The kickoff unit gave up a monster 68-yard return to the Vikings, setting them up for a touchdown. While not a perfect game, this should be seen as a nice improvement for the Packers, and credit is due to Achord.
This was a tough loss for the Packers, and there is no getting around that. It was a complete collapse after what looked like a game where Green Bay was in complete control. Finishing games has been a struggle for the team during the LaFleur era, and this was yet another example that was taken to an extreme.
That fourth quarter was a terrible display by the team. The defense fell apart after playing well most of the game, and penalties killed them. After the accepted offside penalty that took three points off the board, the Packers followed that up with three straight penalties on the following drive that wiped out would-be stops by the team. This is going to be a long week in Lambeau following that game.
If you love sports, download Stadium Rant from the Apple App Store and join one of the fastest-growing social sports communities. Be sure to follow us on socials too — you can find all our profiles on our Linktree.
