Five Reasons Why Packers’ Late-Season Collapse Could Mean 2026 Hangover

GREEN BAY, Wis. – After injuries sideswiped the season, Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst last week said he wouldn’t “run it back” in 2026.

“Every year is a new year,” Gutekunst said. “So, certainly in the National Football League right now, particularly with the coaching changes and player movement, every year is a different year, and this will be no different.”

He’s right about that. However, the reality is he’s going to have to run it back, at least to an extent, and hope that the returns of Micah Parsons and Tucker Kraft from their torn ACLs will be the difference between the Packers starting 9-3-1 but finishing on a five-game losing streak, as was the case in 2025, and starting strong and finishing in the Super Bowl, as will be the goal in 2026.

That Green Bay had such a strong record without playing dominant football for an extended period is a reason to believe the Packers can win the NFC North – and more – in 2026. On the other hand, here are five reasons to believe that the Packers will be destined for another season of seventh-seeded mediocrity.

1. Counting on Micah Parsons, Tucker Kraft

Tucker Kraft believes he will be “bulletproofed” for Week 1. Micah Parsons is hoping for “sometime in September.” Of course, there’s a difference between returning from a torn ACL – no small task – and returning to form from a torn ACL.

Kraft isn’t merely the team’s tight end. He was their best playmaker at the time of the injury. Parsons isn’t merely a starting defensive end. He’s an All-Pro, the team’s “closer” and one of the most feared players in the NFL. While the Packers survived without Kraft, losing two straight without him before winning four in a row, the team crashed and burned without Parsons being there to make the key play in the fourth quarter.

After the Week 8 victory over Pittsburgh in which Kraft dominated, Jordan Love was first in the NFL with 6.5 yards after the catch per completion and had a 112.8 passer rating. After Kraft’s injury, Love was second-to-last with 3.7 YAC per completion and had a 90.3 passer rating.

You don’t need to look too far inside the numbers to find Parsons’ impact. They were 9-3-1 at the time of his injury at Denver but lost their last five games, including fall-from-ahead losses against Denver, Chicago and Chicago again.

In the 13 full games with Parsons, the Packers were 11th in opponent passer rating and 11th in sacks. In the first two full games without Parsons (Chicago and Baltimore but not Week 18 against Minnesota), the Packers were 22nd in opponent passer rating and tied for last in sacks.

The Packers don’t just need Kraft and Parsons. They need top-level Kraft and Parsons. Will they get them before it’s too late?

2. Questionable Cornerbacks, Too

It wasn’t just that the pass rush vanished without Micah Parsons, though that was a big part of it. No longer did the Packers have an eraser in a No. 1 jersey available to wipe away whatever problems popped up in the secondary.

Chicago Bears receiver D.J. Moore makes a leaping catch in front of Green Bay Packers cornerback Carrington Valentine. | Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images

If Parsons (and Devonte Wyatt) aren’t available to power the pass rush, will Keisean Nixon, Carrington Valentine and Nate Hobbs (if he’s back) be good enough to prevent those fourth-quarter comebacks? Even with Parsons available for most of the season, PFF charged Nixon with a 105.2 passer rating, Valentine with a 109.4 rating and Hobbs with a 125.3 rating. That’s bad, worse and terrible.

Surely, the Packers will draft a cornerback, but counting on a rookie cornerback to be a lockdown player capable of stopping a clutch quarterback like Caleb Williams or a prolific receiver like Amon-Ra St. Brown or Justin Jefferson is a dangerous proposition.

3. Limited Ability to Address Fatal Flaws

That paragraph foreshadows the next big problem. The Packers don’t have a first-round pick due to the Micah Parsons trade. They don’t have a first-round pick in 2027, either, so it’s not as if they can trade their 2027 first-rounder to get a first-rounder in 2026.

The Packers have significant flaws at cornerback, defensive tackle and offensive line but might lack the draft capital or financial capital to adequately address those problems.

Fortunately, the depth of draft could work in Green Bay’s favor.

4. Running It Back With Matt LaFleur

Matt LaFleur has had a successful seven-year run as coach. He’s led the team to the playoffs in six of seven seasons and ranks 16th in NFL history in winning percentage. On that list, LaFleur trails nine Hall of Famers but is ahead of future Hall of Famers Bill Belichick and Andy Reid. He has won. A lot.

However, after three consecutive seasons as the No. 7 seed and with just one playoff win the last five years, have the Packers stalled?

Side judge Allen Baynes (56) hands the challenge flag back to Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur during the playoff game. — Side judge Allen Baynes (56) hands the challenge flag back to Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur during the playoff game at Chicago. | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

More than anything, there’s this mountain to climb: There will be a time next season when Green Bay will be in danger of blowing a lead. Will there be some sort of PTSD after the Packers yakked up those late-season games against the rival Bears?

LaFleur, like every coach, has some key issues he’ll need to take care of this offseason and during training camp. Building a cutthroat mentality will have to be at the top of the list.

5. Running It Back on Offense

Green Bay’s running game last season wasn’t good enough, going from 4.7 yards per carry in 2024 to 4.1 in 2025.

Green Bay’s passing game after Tucker Kraft went down wasn’t good enough, with Love going from ranking third with 8.4 yards per attempt with Kraft to 18th with 7.0 yards per attempt without him.

Green Bay’s offensive line, even with the big-ticket additions of Aaron Banks in free agency and Anthony Belton in the draft, wasn’t good enough, going from sixth in PFF’s rankings in 2024 to 19th in 2025.

Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs (8) is stopped short of the goal line by the Chicago Bears defense. | David Banks-Imagn Images

Green Bay’s red-zone offense, which was the best in NFL history in 2020, hasn’t finished inside the top 10 the past five seasons and was 14th in 2025.

LaFleur is back to call the offense and provide the vision. Adam Stenavich is back to coordinate the offense. Jason Vrable is back to coordinate the passing game. Luke Butkus is back to coach the offensive line.

It’s not the offense, but it would be malpractice to not note that LaFleur seems set to given Rich Bisaccia yet another chance to fix the team’s oxymoronic special teams.

While there will be a new quarterbacks coach, new receivers coach and some new players, the Packers largely will be relying on the same players and the same coaches to improve an offense that scored 69 fewer points in 2025 than it did in 2024.

Reasons to Worry for Rest of NFC North

Our NFC North tag-team partners combined for the biggest reasons to worry for each team next season.

The biggest reasons for concern for each team in the NFC North, with @WillRagatz @DetroitPodcast @BillHuberNFL @BearsOnSI. https://t.co/okU0nYZjoI pic.twitter.com/hcgh9xA8zC
— Joe Nelson (@JoeyBrainstorm) February 10, 2026

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