Confidence Meter: How I Feel About Packers’ O-Line Bouncing Back vs. Jets

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers’ Meltdown in Minnesota took away the focus – briefly – on the biggest problem from their shocking loss to the Vikings.

Whether the Packers were winning 22-10 or getting trounced down the stretch for a 39-22 loss, their offensive line was dreadful.

The running game? Nonexistent. They ran the ball 21 times for 66 yards. They had as many negative-yardage runs (four) as runs that gained more than 5 yards. Two more runs were stopped at the line of scrimmage, including Jordan Love’s quarterback sneak. All four of the negative-yardage runs came on first down during the second half.

The pass protection? Horrific. No offensive line gave up more pressures, with Love facing pressure on exactly half of his dropbacks. The Packers were last (by a wide margin) in ESPN’s pass-block win rate. Love was hit 15 times, according to the official stats.

“Eighteen times, actually,” offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said on Tuesday. “Yeah, it’s not good enough. It’s not the standard. That’s not what we’re going to be about. We’ve got to be better.”

Thank you, Capt. Obvious.

It’s true that a quarterback is the rising tide that lifts all boats. It’s also true that an offensive line can sink the quarterback to the bottom of the sea.

Pro Football Focus’s pass-block efficiency combines sacks, hits and hurries allowed per pass-blocking snap. Of 32 centers who played 20 pass-protecting snaps in Week 1, Sean Rhyan was 29th. Of 64 guards who played at least 20 pass-protecting snaps, Donovan Jennings was 31st and Jacob Monk was 52nd. Of 64 tackles who played at least 20 pass-protecting snaps, Zach Bako-Bewele was 44th and Jordan Morgan was 54th.

A wise offensive line coach once told me a team can succeed with one bad offensive lineman but it can’t with two. What happens when all five play poorly?

Well, you get an offense that ranked 31st in rushing yards per play and 24th in sacks per pass attempt and was outscored 29-0 down the stretch. Forget about the numbers. You get a quarterback who was treated like a pinata and running backs who didn’t have a prayer on most of their attempts.

So, after the most embarrassing offensive line performance of the Matt LaFleur era, why should there be any faith that the Packers can turn things around, beginning on Sunday against the Jets, who emerged from Week 1 ranked second in points allowed, second in total defense, third in passing defense, fourth in rushing defense and 10th in sack percentage?

“I’ve always got that faith,” Love said. “It’s one of those things, we all know what it is. We’ve got to be better. They’ve got to be better. We’ve got some situations where, communication-wise, we all can clean some stuff up and make sure everybody’s on the same page and locked in.

“We know what it is. We’ve got some work to do to improve and get better. That’s everybody on this football team. So, I’m always going to have that confidence in those guys that, hey, we’ll clean this stuff up, we’ll get better. I’m going to keep having faith in everybody in this locker room. It’s all about that mindset of trying to go 1-0 this week and putting all of our focus on the Jets.”

What gives Love that faith?

“I’ve been with these guys for a while,” Love said. “Obviously, we’ve got a couple new faces in there, guys getting their first opportunity, but it’s a long season and we’re going to stick together through the highs, through the lows. Through the adversity, whatever it is, we’ll stick together.

“It’s all about finding ways to keep improving, keep cleaning up all the details, the technique, the fundamentals – all the little things that we can control to clean up. Like I said, communication stuff, that’s on everybody. We’ve all got to be locked in, dialed in and be on the same page. I take that upon myself, as well. We’ll all find ways to get better but I’m going to keep the faith in those guys.”

To be sure, Love doesn’t have much choice but to publicly back the linemen who are supposed to have his back. It’s not like these guys are going to be reincarnated and parachute into practice this week.

These guys would be rolling in their graves the way the Packers offensive line is.

I miss these days. pic.twitter.com/DfHmaaJ6U8
— Packers Posts (@PackersCenter) September 14, 2026

There is reason to believe, though, beyond the obvious of there’s nowhere to go but up.

That was Morgan’s second NFL start at left tackle in his career, Jennings’ first NFL start, period, Rhyan’s ninth NFL start at center, Monk’s first NFL start at right guard (and second start overall) and Bako-Bewele’s first start following offseason knee surgery.

Through time, the expectation is Morgan will get better; there’s a reason why they went with him and let Rasheed Walker go in free agency for a pennies-on-the-dollar contract. If Aaron Banks is healthy enough to get on the field and stay on the field, the issues at guard will sort themselves out. After being eased through camp, offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich called Bako-Bewele a “plus” following his debut.

“He hadn’t gotten a lot of reps in practice and things like that,” Stenavich said. “He made it through the game. He battled. Was it his best game? No, but I think there’s a lot he can build on, and I expect him, as the season rolls through, for him to be playing some pretty high-level ball pretty soon.”

In a way, Week 1 was a perfect-storm – or an imperfect storm.

The Packers had a bunch of young starters thrown into a boiling cauldron against esteemed Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores at deafening U.S. Bank Stadium. The linemen hadn’t been through enough fires together to adapt to the pressures or handle the noise. Tight ends Mark Redman and Jonnu Smith just arrived. Running back MarShawn Lloyd was playing in his first game in almost two years.

“Obviously, we’d like to keep Jordan on his feet because that’s where he’s effective as a passer,” tight end Tucker Kraft said on Wednesday. “He can’t necessarily control the complete environment. Jordan is excellent in his protections. He got a chance to sit behind A-Rod and really digest the offense like that. He’s someone who gets to the line, he knows everyone’s responsibilities across the board.

“I’m not here to make an excuse, but that environment creates some difficulties to communicate a lot of those things. It’s just the reality.”

With that disaster behind them, some normalcy is on the horizon. The Jets’ defense is good – never mind its Week 1 success coming against the woeful Titans. However, Aaron Glenn isn’t Flores from an attacking perspective and MetLife Stadium isn’t U.S. Bank Stadium from a noise perspective.

Young players will get better. Continuity will strengthen. Presumably, things will improve.

This offensive line isn’t good enough to win the Super Bowl. There have been too many unforced errors organizationally. But it will be good enough, beginning on Sunday, for a team that was expected to contend for a playoff spot to contend for a playoff spot.

Confidence Meter: 6 out of 10.

Who's up? Who's down?

Here's our Packers stock report from Week 1 and what it means moving into Week 2. 📈📉https://t.co/vgylpG2P1k
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 16, 2026

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