GREEN BAY, Wis. — Passing a kidney stone may not be as painful as watching the Green Bay Packers’ offense right now.
The streak of 13 consecutive home-opener victories at Lambeau Field mercifully came to an end Thursday night at the hands—or claws—of an 0-2 Atlanta Falcons team. They throttled the Packers, and at one point, scored 27 unanswered points—a ghastly, common theme under head coach Matt LaFleur as of late. They also limited the Packers to just five-of-13 on third-down conversions, which has been another area under LaFleur recently that the Packers have struggled mightily. All five of those conversions came in the second half.
“That was a humbling night,” said LaFleur after the loss. “I don’t think anybody’s pleased about this. We’ve got a couple of extra days here—everybody has to take a long, hard look at themselves, and we have to find solutions and come back ready to work. It certainly was a tough night.”
Love attempted 53 passes, with the Packers just running the ball eight times between their two running backs. MarShawn Lloyd and Kaleb Johnson each carried four times apiece, with Lloyd gaining 11 yards and six for Johnson. Without any semblance of a running game, the Packers’ passing attack struggled as a result; there wasn’t even a shred of consistency to be had. Even their two scoring drives appeared flawed and robotic.
Behind a makeshift offensive line that consisted of rookie Jager Burton starting at left guard, Jacob Monk at right guard, and Anthony Belton at right tackle in place of Zach Bako-Bewele, Love was under duress nearly all night.
“I think that’s tough on a quarterback,” LaFleur said. “If you’re constantly getting hit and throwing off your back foot, it’s hard to trust everything that’s going on around you, but we also gotta look at things that we can schematically do to alleviate some of that pressure.
“If you would’ve told me we were gonna drop back 50-something times, I’d say that’s not going to be a good night for us. You need to have some semblance of a running game to complement the pass game to keep people on their heels, so they don’t tee off and get after the quarterback.”
All eight members of the Packers’ offensive line were active against the Falcons after Travis Glover and John Williams were healthy scratches last week. The only instance of the starting five being altered in any way was late in the fourth quarter when Monk exited with an injury; he was replaced by Donovan Jennings. It wouldn’t have made a difference, because something isn’t clicking with how the communication is being handled up front. There’s routinely a free rusher shooting through a wide-open gap to pressure Love into either a hurried throw or a sack.
Something is being lost in translation with what’s being taught in the classroom and how that is applied to the field. There shouldn’t be four offensive linemen blocking two defensive linemen. That’s inexcusable. Unfortunately, that’s the state of the Packers’ offensive line in 2026. It’s almost impossible to fathom how truly disastrous a unit they’ve been through the first three weeks of the season, and that fact won’t resonate until Love inevitably suffers an injury as a result.
The Packers’ quarterback is remaining optimistic, and with a 10-day gap between games, he’s hopeful that both he and his team will utilize the extra time to learn from the shellacking provided to them by the Falcons.
“We’re very frustrated tonight with the performance, but I think the positive is knowing that there’s still a lot of ball out there,” said Love. “We all have to stick together. I think we always look back to the 2023 season—my first year starting. It didn’t start well that season as well, and we started figuring stuff out, started getting rolling, and we got hot.
“There’s still a lot of ball out there in front of us. No one’s throwing in the towel at all. We’ve just got a lot of work to do to get better as a team, and as an offense.”
The myriad of stunted possessions didn’t do the Packers’ defense any favors. A group that has played exceptionally well under defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon surrendered 194 rushing yards to otherworldly tailback Bijan Robinson, who amassed 213 yards from scrimmage in total with a pair of touchdowns. If Robinson wasn’t gashing them, Drake London was. He finished the night with nine receptions for 194 yards, including a 68-yard completion early in the fourth quarter when he got behind rookie cornerback Brandon Cisse.
First Quarter
It took three plays from scrimmage before the Packers’ defense rose to the occasion. Michael Penix Jr.’s first completion was a screen to Robinson, who took it upfield 17 yards. His second passing attempt was a deep ball for Jahan Dotson with rookie Cisse in coverage, but it was thrown out of bounds.
Xavier McKinney leapt in front of Penix’s third pass, jumping a crossing route and intercepting it.
Nothing came of it, however. The Packers went three-and-out after a pair of incompletions from Jordan Love, who stared down immediate pressure in his lap. They tried to draw the Falcons offsides on fourth-and-4, but instead, rookie Jager Burton was flagged for a false start. It’s Burton’s first career start at left guard after being drafted in the fifth round this past spring.
On the Packers’ second offensive possession, Love—with a rare clean pocket—overthrew Matthew Golden on second down. He’d immediately go back to Golden on third down, completing a 45-yard pass. Golden impressively tracked the ball in the air like a cornerback, adjusting his body to haul it in.
The drive would end with a four-yard completion to Christian Watson for the first touchdown of the game. That’s Watson’s fourth touchdown in three games—or 11 days.
Lukas Van Ness has had such a dominant start to his fourth season. Penix was flagged for intentional grounding while being sacked by Van Ness, but it didn’t matter. On third-and-11, Brenton Cox Jr. was penalized for roughing the passer because he made contact with Penix too high after he released the ball. The very next play, Robinson would rip off a 55-yard run and then scamper into the end zone two plays later.
Second Quarter
The Packers are consistently finding themselves behind the sticks after failed first-down runs or penalties. Gifting the Falcons possessions is just something they can’t afford with someone as electrifying as Robinson in their backfield. He’s already up to 94 yards from scrimmage with 11-and-a-half minutes left in the first half.
That didn’t change on yet another possession. A first-down run with Johnson gained a yard, Love targeted Tucker Kraft deep, but he never got his head around to see the ball, then Love was absolutely crushed by a free rusher on third down. That was an actual three-play sequence. It’s a miracle that Love has made it three games into the season with how many hits he’s taken as a result of the offensive line’s ineptitude.
The Packers have gone three-and-out on two of their three possessions. Now trailing 10-7, Love fired a deep ball for Golden, who won his route against Mike Hughes. Their feet were tangled up, resulting in both players tumbling to the grass while Hughes was flagged for defensive pass interference.
As has been the theme tonight—nothing came of it. On the ensuing third-and-5, Love went deep again to Golden, but the pass was broken up and fell incomplete. Trey Smack had the chance to save the day with a 47-yard field goal, but it was blocked by Zach Harrison. It looked like Belton, the Packers’ right tackle, was responsible for a blown assignment.
The Falcons are threatening to score again before the end of the half. Instead of sticking with their effective rushing attack, Penix completed a 16-yard pass to London on third-and-1. Four plays later, Penix connected with Austin Hooper for Penix’s first touchdown pass of the night. The Packers have to be used to seeing Hooper on Thursday night by now. He caught two during a Thursday night game in Green Bay when he was a member of the Tennessee Titans in 2022.
LaFleur called a pair of timeouts on the Falcons’ touchdown drive to preserve some clock, just so the Packers can go three-and-out for a fourth time tonight. They used up 18 seconds of the game clock.
Third Quarter
Remarkably, the Packers didn’t go three-and-out to open the second half. Love completed a pass to Golden in the flat, who advanced 12 yards upfield for a fresh set of downs. That was followed by a 22-yard completion to Watson; Love had a clean pocket, which resulted in an explosive play.
The drive would stall in the red zone, and rather than attempting another field goal with Smack, LaFleur rolled the dice on fourth-and-1. Love’s play-action didn’t fool the Falcons’ defense, and he’d throw too high, with the ball sailing out of the back of the end zone. They’ll remain down by two scores.
A 31-yard run from Robinson to open the Falcons’ first possession of the third quarter already has them on the doorstep of midfield. The Packers had the opportunity to get off the field on third-and-7, but Penix found London for a 16-yard gain that would land the Falcons in the red zone. Robinson needed a rest, so Brian Robinson, the No. 2 running back, entered the game and promptly found the end zone with a seven-yard touchdown run.
The Packers have now surrendered 24 unanswered points at home. They’d miraculously gain 23 more yards of offense on their possession after the Falcons’ touchdown, but every single yard of it was the equivalent of pulling teeth. Love’s third-and-11 throw for Golden isn’t even close to its mark, and Daniel Whelan punts for the fifth time tonight.
Fourth Quarter
Miscommunication between Cisse and Evan Williams allowed London to get behind him for a 68-yard completion on the second play of the fourth quarter. The Packers’ defense would somehow manage to hold—an offensive holding penalty would give them an assist—and limit the Falcons to a 31-yard field goal attempt from Nick Folk. The Packers are still trailing by three scores with time dwindling.
A 34-yard completion to Watson and a fourth-down conversion to Skyy Moore helped the Packers sustain what would ultimately be their second touchdown drive of the night. Love connected with Golden for a 15-yard strike that would go down as the receiver’s first career regular-season touchdown reception. To this point, Golden has commanded a team-high 10 targets, and the Packers now trail 27-14.
All the Falcons had to do at this point was milk what was left of the fourth quarter. The Packers had a chance to get off the field on a third-and-2, but they had no chance of stopping Robinson. Penix then connected with London for a 30-yard play where the 6’4” wideout out-muscled Keisean Nixon at the top of his route. Predictably, the Falcons capped off the drive with Robinson’s second touchdown of the night.
To make matters worse, Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski decided to go for a two-point conversion. Penix rolled out and found Chris Blair, who spent the 2021 and 2022 seasons in Green Bay, and made it a 35-14 ballgame.
Xavier Watts intercepted Love at the goal line to secure the Falcons’ victory. It’s anyone’s guess why Love was even in the game at all, considering there was a 21-point deficit with just a couple of minutes left. For the first time in LaFleur’s eight-year tenure as the Packers’ head coach, they’ll begin the season 1-2. Next up is a date with another NFC South squad—the Tampa Bay Buccaneers—at Raymond James Stadium.
Zachary Jacobson is the author of The Packer Dispatch. He is entering his 12th season covering the Green Bay Packers after spending seven as the Editor-in-Chief of Packer Report. He is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America. Follow him on Twitter @zachjacobson or contact him via email at itszachariahj@gmail.com.