The Green Bay Packers have seen enough early warning signs on defense to know Jonathan Gannon’s chair is already heating up.
Giving up 35 points to an Atlanta offense that had not produced a single red-zone play coming into the game was the loudest alarm yet. It wasn’t an isolated problem, either.
Late in the season opener, Carson Wentz and the Minnesota offense were moving the ball at will. Then the New York Jets found ways to move it in bad weather and jumped out to an early lead.
A lot of the blame around Green Bay’s slow start has landed on a shaky offensive line, and that complaint does carry weight. But the defense has done plenty to invite criticism of its own. The Packers have repeatedly failed to make basic adjustments, and that has become a pattern through the first weeks of the season.
Bijan Robinson piled up more than 200 scrimmage yards, and Atlanta’s lone star receiver nearly matched that total. Those numbers point to a defense that has not solved the problems in front of it, no matter how obvious they became.
If Green Bay’s season starts to unravel and Matt LaFleur has to make moves to protect his own future, Gannon looks like the most likely early casualty. He is the new hire, but that does not erase the fact that the results have fallen short.
There is also the matter of expectation. Much of this defensive core is the same group Jeff Haffley had performing at a high level a season ago. The difference now is that the Packers have been without Micah Parsons, who has not yet been active in the 2026 season.
Green Bay is expected to be patient enough to let Parsons return and give Gannon a chance with all of his pieces in place. But if the same issues keep showing up after that, the heat around this job is only going to rise.
However you sort out the blame for the Packers’ early struggles, there is no escaping the reality that this has been far below standard. Gannon deserves his share of it, right alongside the offensive line and Jordan Love. And among that group, he is the easiest one to replace.
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Owen enters his second NFL season after appearing in two games with the Colts last year, while Blay has already had stops with the Patriots and Eagles this offseason. Both are now officially on Green Bays practice squad, giving the team some added flexibility as it prepares for a tough test in Tampa Bay and leaving open the question of which of these fresh additions might matter first if the Packers need help in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]
Packers Are Still Paying For One Costly Offensive Line Miss
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Myers is gone now, having left after the 2024 season for the Jets, but the move only shifted the problem rather than solving it. Green Bay has since moved Elgton Jenkins to center and brought in Aaron Banks, yet injuries have complicated that plan and left the Packers still searching for the kind of offensive line continuity they never got from the original call at center. [Read more 🡒]
Packers Run Game Concerns Just Sparked A Veteran Back Debate
The early-season issues in the Packers running game have already pushed the front office to make moves up front, with Green Bay signing three veteran offensive linemen in search of more stability. But the ripple effect has naturally led to a broader conversation about whether the backfield itself could use a jolt, especially as the team tries to find a more reliable rhythm on the ground.
Antonio Gibson, who was recently released by the New England Patriots, has surfaced as a possible free-agent fit in analyst chatter, even though there has been no official indication the Packers are pursuing him. Green Bays current running back room is under the microscope as the team weighs its options, and Gibsons career track record and injury history add another layer to a debate that is still more speculation than substance. [Read more 🡒]