The Green Bay Packers are trying to pull off a familiar kind of bounce-back this week, one that looks a lot like what happened in 2014.
That season opened with a rough road loss in Seattle, a 36-16 beating that had Packers fans spiraling before September was even underway. But the next week changed the mood fast.
Green Bay faced the New York Jets, then led by a young Geno Smith, and needed a rally to get it done. The Jets raced to a 21-3 lead in the second quarter, but the Packers steadied themselves, chipped away in the second and third quarters, and finished the job with two Randall Cobb touchdowns and an 80-yard Jordy Nelson score in a 31-24 win.
Now the 2026 Packers are staring at a similar setup: an embarrassing Week 1 road loss, followed by a matchup with a Jets team quarterbacked by a much older Geno Smith. The resemblance is obvious. What Green Bay needs next is the same kind of response, only without the early hole.
A few different looks at the Week 2 matchup and the fallout from the loss in Minnesota point to the same issue: the Packers’ offensive line has to clean up its act against pressure.
One preview focused on whether the line can rebound after getting beaten by the blitz. The Jets may not send extra rushers at the same rate the Vikings did - nobody does that - but they still rank among the more blitz-heavy defenses in the league. That puts the spotlight right back on communication, both from the staff and the players, after the problems that showed up last Sunday.
There was also a film breakdown looking at how Jonathan Gannon used his corners on blitzes against the Vikings, and it was presented as a successful blueprint for how to attack Green Bay.
On the defensive side, Evan Williams and Javon Bullard were both fined for hits in Sunday’s game that drew flags. Bullard’s hit was the one that helped lead to Kyler Murray leaving with a concussion.
And one former NFL MVP also weighed in on the Packers’ plan for handling pressure in Week 1 - or, more accurately, what was missing from it.
In Other News...
Packers Draw More NFL Discipline After Van Ness Controversy Takes A Turn
The Packers latest trip through the NFLs discipline office added another layer to a physical afternoon, as Lukas Van Ness and Evan Williams both drew fines for separate hits in the game. Van Ness was docked $17,911 for contact to the head or neck area of quarterback Carson Wentz in the third quarter, while Williams was fined $7,087 for unnecessary roughness on a defenseless player, Justin Jefferson.
Javon Bullard was also part of the conversation after being flagged for unnecessary roughness on a hit that injured Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray, though he escaped a fine. For Green Bay, the rulings serve as another reminder that the league is paying close attention to how its defenders finish plays, even when the on-field flags do not always line up exactly with the postgame penalties. [Read more 🡒]
Packers Get Reassuring News On Rookie Corner Before Jets Game
Brandon Cisse is back on the practice field and off the injury report, a welcome update for the Packers as they turn the page to Week 2 against the Jets. The rookie cornerback had been forced out of the season opener with cramps after logging 49 defensive snaps, but he was a full participant in practice and is now in line to remain a meaningful piece of Green Bays secondary.
For a defense still sorting out its early-season rotation, having Cisse available matters. He started the opener, handled a heavy workload before leaving, and now gives the Packers another healthy option on the back end as they prepare for a tougher test in New York. The only real question left is how much Green Bay leans on him after that brief interruption. [Read more 🡒]
Caleb Williams Just Revived A Bears Packers Troll Fans Love
Caleb Williams has kept one of the NFLs lighter rivalry traditions alive with Green Bay, this time by attaching a small cheese grater to his bulldog Supas collar. The joke traces back to last year after a Bears win over the Packers, when the playful nod to Wisconsins dairy identity caught on and turned into a recurring bit around Williams and his popular social media presence.
Supa, who already draws plenty of attention online, helped push the gag back into circulation after fans shared the latest posts. Some viewers even confused the bulldog with one of Williams other dogs that has cropped ears, but the cheese grater theme has been clear enough, and it has settled in as a fan-friendly tradition at Soldier Field that Packers followers will notice every time it resurfaces. [Read more 🡒]