The Patriots have spent most of 2026 with the spotlight pointed elsewhere, but Sunday’s 45-27 loss to the Packers shoved their defense into the center of the conversation.
That’s where Zak Kuhr comes in. New England’s defensive coordinator and play caller had largely avoided the heat while Mike Vrabel’s presence and Drake Maye’s play kept the public focus elsewhere.
Not after this one. The Patriots were beaten in every direction at Gillette Stadium, and the defense never found a way to settle things down against Green Bay.
On paper, the matchup looked manageable. The Packers came in with the NFL’s worst rushing attack and were the only team in football averaging fewer than 3 yards per carry entering Week 9. That should have pushed the game toward the air, where Kuhr could lean on his blitz packages, his press-man looks, and the kind of coverage disguises New England has used all season.
Instead, Jordan Love and the Packers picked it apart.
Per Patriots reporter Evan Lazar, New England was in man coverage on 42.4% of Love’s dropbacks. Love went 10-for-12 for 166 yards and two touchdowns against those looks, while Matthew Golden and Christian Watson found room all over the field. Christian Gonzalez, in particular, had a rough day, allowing 187 receiving yards in coverage, according to Next Gen Stats.
“One thought is that the Patriots coverage system is very disguise-heavy,” Lazar wrote. “They don't want to tip their hand pre-snap, which leads to man-coverage corners playing off the line of scrimmage and exotic post-snap rotations.
… Could all the disguising be bogging down the secondary? Rather than playing it straight up, there's a lot of scheming in the back end that's good in theory but might be causing issues.”
The blitz plan didn’t help. Kuhr has made his name with deceptive pressure looks, and most opponents have had trouble sorting them out. But Love has been comfortable against extra rushers this season, completing 67% of his passes when facing at least one more defender than the protection can handle.
That trend held up Sunday. Love saw a blitz on 11 of his dropbacks and completed all 11 throws for 170 yards and a touchdown.
The drive that really put the game away came right after halftime. New England trailed 24-14 at the start of the third quarter, and Green Bay marched straight down the field for another touchdown as if the Patriots were just standing around. Love finished that series 6-for-6, and the Packers had stretched the lead to 31-14 before Maye and the offense even got back on the field.
If the Patriots needed a stop, a takeaway, anything to change the tone, that was the moment. They didn’t get it, and whatever was said at halftime clearly didn’t carry over.
New England is now 2-2 over its last four games, with wins over the Jets and Dolphins and losses to the Bears and Packers. During that stretch, the Patriots are giving up 28.25 points per game.
For Kuhr, the cushion is gone. The interim tag was removed this offseason, and with the Patriots having invested heavily in the defense - from Gonzalez to Milton Williams - performances like Sunday’s are going to land squarely on the coordinator’s shoulders.
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