A year ago, the Packers were looking at their defense and talking up turnovers as a path forward. That idea was shaky then, and it’s still not a real defensive blueprint now. But for 2026, there’s at least a stronger case that the interception numbers can bounce back - not because the Packers suddenly found a new magic trick, but because the math should be kinder to them.
The clearest way to see that is to look at what happened in 2025. According to Pro Football Reference, Green Bay picked off seven passes while defending 59, a rate of 11.86%.
The league average, also via Pro Football Reference, was 16.1%. In plain terms, the Packers came up short in the interception department.
That stood in sharp contrast to 2024, when Xavier McKinney was intercepting just about everything in sight and Green Bay finished well above the league average in turnovers forced. Then came the drop-off. In 2025, only four Packers players recorded an interception, and only McKinney and Evan Williams had more than one.
That kind of swing is not exactly rare. Teams usually don’t keep running hot on turnovers year after year, and the Packers have only managed to beat the league average in consecutive seasons once in the Matt LaFleur era, back in 2021 and 2022. Before that, you have to go back to the Charles Woodson/Nick Collins years to find the last stretch where that sort of ballhawking became a pattern.
There’s also a useful data point buried in the discussion of the Bears. FTN Football Almanac showed Chicago finishing with a 32.4% interception rate on passes defended, a number that led the league by a wide margin.
No other team topped 25%, and the league average was closer to 20%. That’s a reminder that turnover swings can be driven by a mix of skill and plain old fortune.
For Green Bay, the takeaway is simpler: 2025 looks more like the low end of the range than the new normal. The Packers have not been consistently below average at forcing interceptions during the LaFleur years, and that makes a rebound in 2026 feel plausible. They still can’t build a defensive plan around turnovers alone, but if the interception rate climbs back toward something closer to league average, the Packers should produce more takeaways than they did a year ago.
In Other News...
Josh Jacobs Update Could Change The Packers Opener Decision
Josh Jacobs legal situation has taken another turn, and for the Packers, the timing matters as much as the substance. His initial court appearance in the case was moved up to Sept. 10 from the original Nov. 17 date, putting the matter back in front of the calendar before the season settles in. Jacobs is facing two misdemeanor charges, battery and criminal damage to property, while remaining on the NFL Commissioners Exempt List as the league continues its own investigation.
For Green Bay, the revised date could end up shaping when there is any clarity on his status, including any league discipline that might follow. That leaves an important piece of the opener picture still unsettled, with the Packers waiting on a legal process that now arrives much sooner than expected. [Read more 🡒]
Packers Vikings Opener Just Picked Up An Officiating Debate Fans Know Too Well
The Packers Week 1 trip to Minnesota just got another layer of attention with the NFL assigning Shawn Hochuli as referee. For Green Bay fans, that name is rarely a neutral one, since Hochulis crews have developed a reputation for being among the leagues most flag-happy groups in recent seasons, often putting both offenses and defenses in long conversations with the officials.
Last year, Hochulis crew worked 17 regular-season games and was usually in the double-digit range on penalties, with clear tendencies in certain call categories. For a rivalry opener that already carries plenty of edge, the officiating assignment is the kind of detail both sides will watch closely as the Packers and Vikings head into a game where discipline may matter as much as execution. [Read more 🡒]
Jordan Love May Finally Get The Help Packers Fans Wanted
The Packers enter the 2026 season with a chance to look far more like the offense they hoped to build a year ago. After an injury-hit 2025 left Jordan Love working through stretches without key targets, Green Bay is expected to have its top pass catchers healthy from the start this time around, a welcome change for a passing game that never quite found its rhythm. With Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks no longer on the roster, the shape of the receiver room has changed, but the promise is that Love should finally have more stability and more options around him.
How that plays out will matter just as much for the ground game. The Packers are expected to lean more heavily on a zone blocking approach and more 11 personnel, which should help create a clearer offensive identity and give the scheme more flexibility. For a team still trying to solve its rushing attack, getting Love a full complement of healthy targets may be the cleanest way to take pressure off the run game while opening up the rest of the offense. [Read more 🡒]