Jordan Love and the Packers have found a way to bend the usual NFL script, and it’s carrying them right now.
After Green Bay’s historic win over the New England Patriots, the conversation around this team has flipped fast. Not long ago, after the Week 3 home loss to the Atlanta Falcons, the mood was all doom and collapse. Now the Packers have won five of their past six games, with only the Detroit game standing in the way of a perfect run that was spoiled by some ref-ball shenanigans.
The defense has been a major part of that turnaround, climbing into top-five territory league-wide, with some guy named Micah Parsons’ return on the horizon. But the bigger story, at least lately, has been what the offense has turned into.
It’s not subtle. It’s not conventional. It’s a genetically modified super soldier with a flamethrower in one hand and a chainsaw in the other.
And the reason it’s working comes down to a pretty simple idea: the Packers can survive up front, and they’ve built an offense that doesn’t need to lean on the run game to function.
Since that Week 3 loss, Green Bay’s pass protection has improved to middle-of-the-road territory, according to SumerSports. That’s not flashy, but it’s enough.
Laken Tomlinson and Jordan Morgan have been major reasons for the shift, and Morgan in particular is riding a strong pass-blocking stretch. John Williams hasn’t been great, but he’s helped the line hold together.
Anthony Belton has been up and down, though the offense can work around that. And after Sunday’s showing, Kevin Zeitler may finally get the nod at right guard.
The run game, though, is another story entirely. The Packers have been so bad there that it’s become a three-headed monster of ineptitude involving the backs and the coaching staff. Green Bay has been historically bad on the ground all season, and that isn’t changing anytime soon.
But here’s the twist: they may not need it.
Through the 2026 season, the Packers have run the ball 202 times, which ranks 27th in the league. That’s a sharp break from recent years, when they were near the top of the league in rushing attempts - seventh in 2025 and fifth in 2024. At the same time, Green Bay has gone from one of the league’s least pass-happy teams to one of its most aggressive, ranking third in passing attempts after finishing 2025 27th and 2024 30th.
The Packers are also leading the league in deep passing attempts, with 58 throws intended for 20 yards or more beyond the line of scrimmage. That’s well above the league average of 28.4. On paper, that sounds like a dangerous way to live, especially because deep shots usually give the pass rush more time to get home.
Except Jordan Love is getting the ball out faster than anyone else in football.
His average time to throw is 2.47 seconds, the quickest mark in the league. That’s the key to the whole thing.
Defenses are being asked to handle a quick passing attack that can still threaten them downfield. That’s a brutal combination, and it’s why Green Bay keeps getting away with it.
For context, the last two season-long leaders in deep passing had average times to throw of 2.67 for the 2025 Rams and 2.7 for the 2024 Colts.
Now comes the next test. The Vikings come to town for their second game of the season, with a new(ish) QB in purple, and Green Bay’s offense will have to prove this formula can hold up again. In Week 1, Minnesota’s defense attacked the Packers’ offensive line with a preposterously high blitz rate.
The question is whether that approach works again, or whether Green Bay’s new deep-passing strategy can punish it. Either way, this game will tell us plenty about where the Packers are headed.
A win would also move them out of last place in the division. At this point in the season, and in this division, the only thing that matters is stacking wins one week at a time.
In Other News...
Packers Face Their Biggest NFC North Test Yet Against Minnesota
The Packers are heading into their biggest NFC North test yet, and the timing could hardly be more important. Green Bay and Minnesota are both in the thick of the division race, with a playoff spot and a little early leverage in the standings hanging in the balance when they meet in a game that should say plenty about where each team really stands.
Minnesotas decision to bring Kirk Cousins back into the fold gives this matchup another layer, especially against a Packers team that has leaned on Jordan Love and a more balanced operation on both sides of the ball. Green Bay has looked sharper as the season has gone along, but divisional games tend to expose every flaw, and this one feels like the kind of test that can either confirm the Packers progress or remind them how thin the margin is in the NFC North. [Read more 🡒]
Packers May Have Left Jordan Love With Too Much To Carry
The Packers have leaned hard on Jordan Love and the passing game this season, but the lack of balance has become impossible to ignore. Green Bays rushing attack has lagged all year, leaving the offense without the kind of steady ground support that usually helps a young quarterback settle in and a defense stay fresh.
Josh Jacobs injury only sharpened the concern, and the front offices decision not to add another running back at the deadline left the depth chart looking thin. With the offensive line also under the microscope, the burden on Love feels heavier now, and the question is whether Green Bay has enough answers in-house to keep the offense from becoming too one-dimensional. [Read more 🡒]
Packers Face One Big Deadline Question In Tight NFC North Race
The NFC North arms race got a little louder at the NFL trade deadline, but Green Bay stayed put. While Minnesota added quarterback Kirk Cousins from the Raiders, Chicago sent multiple future draft picks to Tennessee for defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons and Detroit landed safety Andre Cisco from the Jets, the Packers chose to ride into the stretch run with the roster they already have.
That decision leaves Green Bay with a familiar kind of pressure in a division where every move gets magnified, especially with the standings so tight. The Packers will keep leaning on internal development and whatever help is already on the way, with the next few weeks shaping up as a test of whether patience can hold up against the kind of deadline aggression their rivals showed. [Read more 🡒]