The Packers needed Thursday night at Lambeau Field to feel like a reset. Instead, it turned into a mess that got louder by the quarter.
Atlanta rolled into Green Bay and left with a 35-14 win, handing the Packers their first home-opener loss since 2012 and snapping a 13-game streak that had lasted since 2013. The loss dropped Green Bay to 1-2, and by the end of the night the boos were doing as much talking as the scoreboard.
Tight end Tucker Kraft didn’t sugarcoat the reaction from the stands. He called it “pretty disappointing,” and added that the noise “is not going to help us win,” a remark CBS Sports carried from his postgame availability.
Matt LaFleur, for his part, opened his press conference with two words that fit the scene: a humbling night. He later called it a “butt-whoopin’,” according to the club’s recap on packers.com.
The numbers backed up the feeling. Atlanta piled up 498 yards and controlled the ball for 37:05. Green Bay finished with just 17 rushing yards, a number that made the Packers’ problems feel bigger than one bad night.
On ESPN’s “NFL Live,” retired defensive end Marcus Spears went a step further and questioned the Packers’ fight, not just their execution. NFL on ESPN posted the clip Friday, and Spears put his view bluntly:
"Watching this last night, to me, honestly felt like a team who didn't want to play football anymore."
-Marcus Spears on the Packers' loss to the Falcons 😬 pic.twitter.com/dsnBo2oPIb
- NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) September 25, 2026
That kind of criticism lands harder because Atlanta came in at 0-2 and with Michael Penix Jr. returning after last November’s torn ACL. He completed 18 of 25 passes for 256 yards, one touchdown and one interception, according to Reuters’ game account from Lambeau.
But the Falcons didn’t need anything fancy. They simply ran it down Green Bay’s throat.
Bijan Robinson carried 29 times for 194 yards and two touchdowns, while Drake London caught nine passes for 194 yards. The Packers had no real answer for either player.
Green Bay’s offense had its own issues, starting with a thin line and a backfield that never got going. Jordan Love went 28 of 53 for 312 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, while working behind an offensive front that no longer includes Zach Bako-Bewele, the starting right tackle who is out for the season after a complete patellar-tendon tear against the Jets, per the reporting first detailed by Matt Schneidman and carried by Packers Wire.
The ground game was a non-factor. MarShawn Lloyd and Kaleb Johnson combined for almost nothing.
Josh Jacobs remains on the commissioner’s exempt list and unavailable. Micah Parsons is still on reserve/PUP while recovering from last December’s torn ACL and meniscus, and Green Bay has not opened his 21-day practice window.
CBS Sports reported the earliest realistic return is no sooner than the Week 5 window after Tampa Bay.
The defensive breakdowns were just as glaring. Robinson’s 55- and 31-yard runs came after Green Bay failed to set the edge or finish the play. Penix was also under little pressure, which left the secondary exposed against London’s downfield work.
Love did connect with Matthew Golden for a 15-yard touchdown that cut it to 27-14, but Atlanta answered right away. Robinson scored on a 2-yard run, the Falcons added a two-point conversion, and the game was back to a three-score margin almost immediately. Earlier, Green Bay had already given away a major chance with a failed fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line.
LaFleur said the extra days before Week 4 will give the team time to “find solutions.” He did not announce any staff changes, and there has been no official indication of one coming.
The outside noise is already racing ahead, though. Stephen A.
Smith argued on “First Take” that LaFleur may not survive the first half of the season, while Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, as cited in a Yardbarker recap, said nobody inside the organization is getting fired in the next few days.
The next chance to clean it up comes Sunday, Oct. 4, when the Packers visit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. FOX Sports listed that date alongside Atlanta’s trip to New Orleans.
Green Bay will have 10 days to sort out protection, tackling and the run game. It will not, however, have time to magically fix the holes that showed up against Atlanta.
This is still only Week 3, but the film from Lambeau looked less like a team waiting on help and more like one that lost its edge once the Falcons started landing punches. That’s the problem Green Bay has to solve before it gets to Tampa.
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