Packers Stumble Early, Then Fight Back at MetLife

The Packers fell behind the Jets after an early MarShawn Lloyd touchdown lead evaporated, with Jordan Love's scoring strikes keeping Green Bay in a game its writers called a must-win.

Green Bay opened its Week 2 trip to New York with a first-half jolt: FOX reports Jordan Love connected with MarShawn Lloyd for a six-yard touchdown that gave the Packers a 7-0 lead over the Jets. The advantage did not hold. FOX Sports' highlights feed then captured the swing — Geno Smith found Garrett Wilson for a five-yard touchdown that gave the Jets the lead — before Love answered again, hitting Christian Watson on a three-yard scoring pass that, per FOX Sports, shrank Green Bay's deficit. The back-and-forth scoring is the live picture from a game both fan bases entered with season-defining stakes.

The pregame consensus among Green Bay's own beat writers was that the Packers would handle the Jets comfortably. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Pete Dougherty predicted a 27-17 Packers win, Ryan Wood picked 34-23, and Dominique Yates had 24-17 — three of four writers tabbed Green Bay, with only Tom Silverstein forecasting a 19-17 Jets upset. Instead, the Jets' passing game produced a go-ahead touchdown through Smith and Wilson, a scenario few penciled in against a Packers secondary expected to feature heavily. The lead changing hands at home against a 3.5-point favorite is exactly the kind of early-season reversal Week 2 exists to deliver.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporting framed this as close to a must-win for a team in free fall. The outlet recounts Green Bay blowing a 12-point third-quarter lead in Week 1 as Minnesota scored 29 unanswered points, with the tide turning after Matt LaFleur took a field goal off the board on fourth-and-1 and the offense failed to convert. syracuse.com adds detail on Love's Week 1 line — 387 yards and two touchdowns — alongside a rushing attack that managed just 66 yards, per Fubo's game preview. In other words, the offense was productive but the finishing was broken, which is why each Jets scoring answer carried outsized weight.

nj.com notes the Jets were chasing their first 2-0 start since 2015, and that the franchise opened 0-7 last season under coach Aaron Glenn, making a home win over Green Bay a genuine statement. syracuse.com called the matchup one that could reveal plenty about the trajectory of both teams, pointing to Breece Hall's 100-plus-yard opener and a Jets defense that held Tennessee to 10 points. For the Packers, Yahoo Sports flagged absentees that raise the pressure on Love: Micah Parsons remains on injured reserve and Josh Jacobs is unavailable on the Commissioner's Exempt List, per Yahoo Sports.

Availability shaped the matchup on both sidelines. nj.com reports the Jets ruled out safety Minkah Fitzpatrick with a groin injury, along with edge rusher Joseph Ossai (foot), rookie receiver Omar Cooper Jr. (ankle) and returner Kene Nwangwu (back). That matters directly to the passing game: syracuse.com identified Green Bay's receiving corps, led by Christian Watson, as a problem for a Jets secondary dealing with injury concerns — and Watson's third-quarter touchdown catch suggests that read was correct. On the Packers' side, the Journal Sentinel reported the team blamed communication breakdowns for the offensive line's Week 1 struggles.

Per Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the odds had the Packers favored by 3.5 with the over/under at 44.5, so a live Jets lead represents a clear in-game upset relative to the market. The schedule does not soften for the loser: the Journal Sentinel's 2026 Packers slate shows a short-week Thursday night home date with Atlanta on September 24 at 7:15 p.m., while the Jets would carry a 2-0 mark into the rest of September with momentum under Glenn. Either way, how Love's connection with Watson and Lloyd develops over the remaining quarters will define whether Green Bay's Week 1 collapse was an aberration or a pattern.