The NFC North wasted no time turning Week 1 into a problem for Green Bay.
The Packers’ fourth-quarter collapse against the Minnesota Vikings already looks like the kind of loss that can hang around for months. In a division where every head-to-head result can tilt the playoff picture, Green Bay let one get away in the most damaging way possible: by failing to close.
And the rest of the division did not exactly do the Packers any favors.
Chicago opened with a statement, hammering the Carolina Panthers 59-37 behind an offense that came alive in a big way. The Bears’ top two running backs piled up 224 rushing yards and four touchdowns between them, while quarterback Caleb Williams added 65 rushing yards and two scores of his own. The defense got worked by Brice Young, but the takeaway was clear: Chicago’s offense is a lot more dangerous than expected.
Detroit also came out of Week 1 with a win, though it was far less comfortable. The Lions needed overtime to escape the New Orleans Saints by a single point, and the defense again looked shaky in the same way it did last year.
Still, the offense showed up, with Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jahmyr Gibbs combining for four touchdowns, two apiece.
That left Green Bay staring at the worst possible opening to its season.
The Packers’ loss has already shifted how the division race feels. From here, they’re the team chasing. Even if Green Bay strings together wins and picks off a few division opponents along the way, that Week 1 meltdown is going to stick in the conversation, especially because it came against an NFC North rival and exposed the same issue that keeps biting them: an inability to finish.
The path back is steep. Green Bay would need to win both of its next two games, while every NFC North opponent drops both of its next two, just to get back into the discussion for the division’s top seed. That’s a tall order, and the schedule doesn’t exactly make it any easier to imagine the whole division stumbling together.
The Packers do have a stretch that can help them build momentum - at the Jets, vs. Falcons, at Buccaneers, vs. Bears - but that only matters if the rest of the North cooperates, and there’s no reason to expect that.
So for now, Green Bay has to wear the underdog label. That Week 1 loss, especially in a division race already tightening around them, makes the margin for error awfully small.
In Other News...
Packers Loss Exposed A Problem Fans Can't Ignore
The Packers spent much of their Week 1 opener in control before letting a fourth-quarter lead slip away, and the way it unraveled has plenty to do with the details that usually decide September games. Protection was an issue throughout, with the offense allowing 16 pressures and multiple sacks, leaving the quarterback under constant duress and making it hard to sustain drives when the game tightened.
Special teams added to the frustration. Rookie kicker Trey Smack had a mostly steady day by putting through three field goals, but the missed extra point stood out in a one-score game where every point mattered. For Green Bay, the loss did not just show up in the final score - it exposed how thin the margin can be when the pass protection falters and a simple kick gets away. [Read more 🡒]
Packers Hot Seat Talk Just Turned Toward Possible LaFleur Replacements
The Packers Week 1 loss to the Vikings did more than spoil the start of the 2026 season. After Green Bay surrendered a late lead in Minneapolis, the conversation around Matt LaFleur shifted fast from frustration to something bigger, because it fit an uncomfortable pattern that has followed this team through too many finishes. When a game slips away like that, fans do not just ask what went wrong in the fourth quarter - they start wondering whether the bigger problem sits on the sideline.
Marcus Freeman, Brian Flores, Davis Webb, Steve Sarkisian and Sean McDermott have all surfaced as names worth watching if Green Bay ever decides a change is needed. None of that means a move is imminent, but it does show how quickly the discussion around LaFleur has turned from one bad loss to a broader search for answers, with the Packers now facing questions about not just how they finished Sunday, but what direction they might choose if the late-game issues keep piling up. [Read more 🡒]
Packers Fans Have Seen This Matt LaFleur Problem Before
The Packers opened the season with a frustrating collapse against the Vikings, turning a 22-10 lead late in the third quarter into a loss after being outscored 22-0 in the fourth. For Green Bay, the hard part was not just the finish but how familiar the finish looked, with another late-game slip leaving fans and analysts to question how a game that seemed in hand got away.
Matt LaFleur drew the most heat for a key fourth-quarter sequence, declining a defensive offside penalty and choosing a quarterback sneak on fourth-and-1 that came up empty and led to a turnover on downs. LaFleur has acknowledged the teams issues closing out games, but this latest setback has only sharpened the criticism, because for Packers supporters it felt less like a one-off and more like a problem they have seen before. [Read more 🡒]