Going into their Thursday night matchup against the Falcons, most NFL fans expected Green Bay to win, if not convincingly. Atlanta was coming off a 34-3 blowout loss at home to the Carolina Panthers.
Not to mention this was Michael Penix’s first game back from tearing his left ACL in November of last season. Instead, the result was a stark difference from the expected result, as Atlanta went on to dominate the Packers winning 35-14. This game was not only embarrassing for Green Bay, but it revealed they’re in more trouble than we initially thought
Packers Rushing Attack Has Collapsed Without Josh Jacobs
Dec 7, 2025; Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA; Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs (8) during the game against the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images/File Photo
Losing star running back Josh Jacobs due to him being placed on the Commissioner’s exempt list for a domestic dispute with his ex-girlfriend. In addition to star right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele, who’s an excellent run blocker for the rest of this season.
As he suffered a torn patellar tendon in week two is two big losses. Yet, nobody imagined Green Bay would be this bad at running the ball.
On designed runs through the first two weeks of the season, they ranked 31st in EPA per play on designed runs at -0.433. In success rate, they ranked 29th in the league at 33.3%; both were bottom-five marks in the NFL heading into week three.
Those numbers are only going to get even worse after Thursday night. On nine designed carriers, the Packers had 22 rushing yards, 2.4 yards per carry, and a 33.3% success rate.
They ranked in the 1st percentile in designed handoffs and rushing yards. Their anemic yards per carry and success rate on Thursday ranked in the 7th and 25th percentile, respectively.
Packers Running Backs and Offensive Line Are Struggling
GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN – SEPTEMBER 24: Marshawn Lloyd #32 of the Green Bay Packers carries the ball against Mike Hughes #21 of the Atlanta Falcons during the third quarter of the game at Lambeau Field on September 24, 2026 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) Getty
So far this season, the Packers have 146 rushing yards; in comparison, Bijan Robinson had 194 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns by himself on Thursday. This poor production on the ground is a combination of bad running back play and poor run blocking.
Marshawn Lloyd is trying to bounce outside on what feels like all of his carries. This was a weakness he had as a prospect coming out of USC, and it’s followed him into the pros.
Kaleb Johnson has been better than Lloyd, which is not saying much, as his vision has been lackluster to stay the least. Green Bay’s offensive line hasn’t done them any favors.
They haven’t been able to consistently create holes for their running backs to attack. Along with generating little to zero push on designed runs.
Packers Run Defense Couldn’t Stop Bijan Robinson
Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson (7) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Green Bay Packers on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Falcons won the game, 35-14. Tork Mason/Green Bay Press-Gazette
Not only did the Packers struggle running the ball, but they couldn’t stop the Falcons’ run game either. Earlier in the article, we discussed how Green Bay gave up 194 rushing yards to Robinson.
What makes their run defense performance from Thursday even worse is that they allowed Robinson to have 155 rushing yards on outside zone run concepts alone. This was the most by a running back since Derrick Henry all the way back in 2019 against New England in the wild card round.
In a copycat league that already runs a lot of outside zone as is. Teams will continue to test if the Packers can stop this run concept.
Packers Offensive Line Is Also Struggling in Pass Protection
Green Bay Packers offensive tackle Anthony Belton (71), guard Sean Rhyan (75) and guard Jordan Morgan (77) look on as quarterback Jordan Love (10) is tackled by Atlanta Falcons defensive end Cameron Thomas (99) in the third quarter during their football game Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Dan Powers/Appleton Post-Crescent
Green Bay’s offensive line not only struggles in run blocking but in pass protection as well. Going into their game against Atlanta, the Packers had a pressure rate allowed of 46.2%.
Heading into week three, this ranked 28th in the NFL, which is a bottom-five mark. After this game, they’re certainly not going to be moving up in this metric.
Midway through the third quarter of Thursday’s game, the Falcons had pressured Jordan Love on 42.3% of his dropbacks. Green Bay ended this game giving up 15 quick pressures per Next Gen Stats.
This was the second most in any game so far this season. The highest being 17 quick pressures, which the Packers gave up in week one against Minnesota.
Penix had time to throw on Thursday of 2.27 seconds; in comparison, Love had time to pressure of 2.27 seconds per Benjamin Solak. This is not a sustainable environment for a quarterback to function, and at this point I’m worried this Green Bay offensive line is going to get Love injured.
Matt LaFleur’s Play-Calling Is Adding To The Packers Problems
Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur is shown during the third quarter of their game against the Atlanta Falcons. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
Matt LaFleur is not blameless in all of this; he shares a part of the pie in why the Packers have been struggling. LaFleur’s playcalling has been questionable, and a prominent example of this happened in the third quarter on Thursday.
On fourth and one in the red zone, he decides to go for it, calls a play-action rollout to the right that ends with Atlanta forcing a turnover on downs. While it’s largely agreed that Lafleur going for it was the right choice, this play call wasn’t the correct decision.
Doing a play-action pass was pointless because the Packers couldn’t run the ball all game. As a result, Atlanta wasn’t biting on play-action fakes throughout the night because they didn’t respect the threat of Green Bay handing the ball off. If we at home knew that, why would LaFleur all of a sudden think the Falcons would now bite on a run fake?
Brian Gutekunst’s Roster Construction Is The Root Of Packers Problems
LaFleur deserves to be criticized, but the real biggest culprit for Green Bay’s issues is Brian Gutekunst. His poor drafting and roster construction are the main reason why the Packers are in this position.
During the offseason, Gutekunst let offensive lineman Elton Jenkins and offensive tackle Rasheed Walker leave. To be fair, neither was good in their own right last season.
Yet, the Packers general manager’s only addition to address an already underwhelming offensive line was drafting Burton in the 5th round. Gutekunst willingly looked at this offensive line, thinking it was good enough to start the season.
Through three weeks, it’s clear Gutekunst is sadly mistaken for thinking so. Injuries are a part of this sport, and you can be better equipped to handle this eventuality if you draft well.
Gutekunst has been up and down when it comes to drafting, arguably being more down than up. You combine that with giving big contracts to the wrong players, such as signing Aaron Banks, who’s just a fine guard, to a four-year, $77 million contract during the 2025 offseason. This is how we get to where Green Bay is today.
End Of Packers Are In Trouble Rant
There is still a lot of the season left, but Packers fans would be lying to you if they said everything’s fine. While the dam hasn’t completely cracked, it’s still possible Green Bay finds a way to make the playoffs as a wildcard team. Losing to Atlanta in this fashion and barely escaping with a win against the Jets in week two is certainly a cause for concern.
