The Green Bay Packers walked out of Week 1 with more questions than answers, and Tucker Kraft didn’t dance around that reality. After a finish that saw Minnesota’s backup quarterback Carson Wentz lead the Vikings past Green Bay, Kraft made the message simple: the Packers’ biggest obstacle is in their own building.
“The only people who can beat us are us. That’s it. We’re the best team in the NFL but if we don’t go out there and play like it, no one’s going to believe us.”
Kraft’s confidence is hard to miss, but it isn’t coming out of nowhere. He pointed to a roster he still views as capable of sitting near the top of the league, and that belief lines up with what Green Bay showed last season when it had a healthy group on the field. At full strength, the Packers looked like one of the NFC’s most dangerous teams.
That’s what makes this stumble sting. The Packers didn’t get undone by injuries in this case.
They beat themselves. The final quarter was a mess of mistakes and missed opportunities, the kind of stretch that turns a winnable game into a loss and leaves a fan base staring at the same old frustrations.
Kraft’s take is notable because it sits in the middle ground between denial and panic. He isn’t pretending the problem didn’t happen.
He’s saying the talent is there, the standard is higher, and the execution has to match it. That’s the lane Green Bay has to live in now, especially with the New York Jets next.
For a team that already came in carrying the weight of a playoff collapse, opening the season with another late-game letdown only sharpens the scrutiny. The concern is obvious: when this roster falters, it does so in a way that invites criticism. And when it happens this soon after last season’s ending, people are going to wonder whether it’s a pattern.
Kraft doesn’t sound interested in that conversation. From his perspective, this is a team that should be able to push itself into the league’s best tier. The challenge now is turning that belief into four quarters of actual football.
In Other News...
Javon Hargrave Already Has Packers Fans Worried About His Role
Javon Hargraves first game in Green Bay gave Packers fans plenty to monitor along the defensive front. In Week 1, he played 30 snaps, finished with one tackle and did not register a pressure, while the Packers leaned on a by-committee rotation across the defensive line. Karl Brooks got the start at defensive end over Hargrave, which added another wrinkle to a unit still sorting out how it wants to deploy its pieces.
For a player brought in with bigger expectations, the opening usage looked more restrained than many around the team probably imagined. It is still far too early to make any firm judgments, but the snap count and the way Green Bay distributed work up front suggest Hargrave may have a more limited role than expected unless the rotation shifts in the weeks ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Packers Just Sent A Clear Message About O-Line Depth
The Packers added another piece to their offensive line room this week, signing Cordell Volson to the practice squad after he worked out with the team. Volson arrives with NFL experience after originally being drafted by the Bengals, and he spent part of this offseason with the Titans before not making their final roster.
Green Bay has been active in using the practice squad to build depth with outside additions, and Volsons signing is part of that wider approach. For a team that has spent the season keeping an eye on its protection options, every extra lineman on hand matters, especially when the front office is clearly making sure there are workable answers if the need arises. [Read more 🡒]
Jordan Love Already Has Packers Fans Debating One Week 1 Problem
Week 1 brought an early quarterback sorting exercise in the NFC North, and Jordan Love landed in the middle of the conversation for all the usual reasons. The Packers quarterback put up plenty of yardage even while dealing with pressure, but the kind of up-and-down start that can define an opening game still left people weighing the good against the bad. In a division where every quarterback performance gets scrutinized quickly, Loves debut did enough to keep Green Bay fans talking.
The broader ranking also had plenty of moving parts, from Carson Wentz making an effective relief appearance for the Vikings to Jared Goff turning in a mixed outing for the Lions and Caleb Williams getting off to a strong start for the Bears. The list is meant to be fluid and shaped by both recent play and career body of work, which is why Loves spot feels more like an early checkpoint than a verdict. For Packers fans, the question now is whether the Week 1 pressure points were just an opening hiccup or the first sign of something more familiar. [Read more 🡒]