Embarrassing Loss in Home Opener Exposes What’s Wrong with the Packers

Clear takeaways emerged as Green Bay played mostly uninspired football against the previously winless Falcons.

Coach Matt LaFleur and the Packers lost their home opener to the Falcons to fall to 1-2 on the season. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

It wasn’t difficult for the TV cameras to find shots of frustrated Packers fans in the stands on Thursday night and it wasn’t hard to hear their boos.

I’m sure many of those disgruntled fans either forgot or don’t care that coach Matt LaFleur received a multiyear contract extension in January. LaFleur will surely be feeling the heat after Green Bay’s latest ugly loss, this time a 35–14 setback against the Falcons, a team that hadn’t even run a play in the red zone this season until they arrived at Lambeau Field for the Week 3 matchup.  

Fans at Lambeau Field aren’t accustomed to booing their team. Opposing teams for decades have had trouble winning at the iconic venue, but on Thursday, it served as the place that fixed all of the Falcons’ offensive issues and created more problems for the home team. Meanwhile, it was another inexplicable loss for LaFleur, and these kinds of games have been piling up for quite a while now, from the Week 1 collapse against the Vikings to the multiple meltdowns against the Bears last year and the head-scratching loss to the Browns early in 2025. Just four days ago, the Packers needed to rally against the Jets, a prime spot for a “get right” game. 

However, nothing has been pretty for the Packers, and now the fan base is screaming questions and answers for why their favorite team isn’t doing better than being a yearly No. 7 seed. And at this rate, it might be difficult for Green Bay to be more than just a one-and-done playoff team.

Micah Parsons isn’t going to be cleared from his knee injury until maybe mid-October and perhaps the Packers shouldn’t count on seeing Josh Jacobs in the facility anytime soon due to his ongoing legal issues. Green Bay desperately needs to generate a rushing attack without Jacobs, and MarShawn Lloyd and Kaleb Johnson haven’t done their part. That duo only produced 17 rushing yards on Thursday. 

The Falcons managed to fix their problems because they had supremely talented running back Bijan Robinson (29 carries, 194 yards, two TDs). It eventually clicked for the Falcons’ offense after the controversial roughing the passer call in the opening quarter on third-and-11 that eventually led to them entering the red zone for the first time this season. After the extra opportunity, Robinson ripped off a 55-yard run before finding the end zone on a three-yard run to tie the game at 7–7 with 1:32 in the first quarter. 

Bijan Robinson is LOOSE!@ATLvsGB on Prime Video
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/FveslJz67N

— NFL (@NFL) September 25, 2026

Wisely, the Falcons then leaned on Robinson to turn the game around. His patient runs allowed his offensive linemen more time to create lanes and in turn allowed them to settle in after having early trouble against the Packers’ pass rush, including on the 15-yard penalty that drew boos from Packers fans. That call truly shifted the momentum because, at that point, Michael Penix Jr., making his first start of the season, was 2-of-7 for 22 yards and a touchdown. By halftime, Penix had established a rhythm and helped his team build a 10-point lead. Finally, the Falcons have a quarterback after opening the season with Cooper Rush and going through the summer with the inconsistent Tua Tagovailoa.

Perhaps the Packers should be getting more criticism for their QB issues. Jordan Love entered the game completing only 52% of his passes, and again had trouble with accuracy to start the game against Atlanta. Love was 9-of-19 for 96 yards and a touchdown when he headed to the locker room amid another rain of boos from his fan base.

Love then started the second half by not converting on a fourth-and-1 from Atlanta’s 7-yard line. That play practically wrapped up the victory for the Falcons and put more heat on Love and LaFleur for not delivering on the critical play.

X on ice!

TNF on PRIME | FOX 5 pic.twitter.com/gSGfslqyZk

— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) September 25, 2026

But those guys likely aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. LaFleur has his new contract, and the team doesn’t really have an out on Love’s four-year, $220 million contract until after the 2027 season. 

Perhaps the anger from Green Bay fans should be directed at GM Brian Gutekunst, who paid LaFleur and Love and went all-in on the Parsons trade that cost the team two first-round picks. But Gutekunst also received a multiyear contract extension in January. 

This is the group that Green Bay is stuck with for the foreseeable future. The team doubled down after being embarrassed by Ben Johnson, Caleb Williams and the Bears in their wild-card loss last season. The heartbreaking defeat to the Bears was probably a good time for change, but that would have been strange to do only six months after the Parsons trade. 

Packers fans have a reason to be angry, but they really have nobody to direct those frustrations to. The boos will have to suffice for now.  

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