Ten Most Important Packers for Patriots Showdown: Time For Excuses Is Over

The Green Bay Packers will head to New England for the first time in eight years to take on the New England Patriots. The Packers are coming off a 27-19 win over the Carolina Panthers and got an extended break thanks to playing on Thursday night.

The Packers are 5-3 but remain in last place in the NFC North. However, they could be playing Minnesota next week to tie them in the standings if they were to get a win coupled with a Vikings loss to Buffalo on Monday night.

Safe to say, in the position the Packers are in, every game is a big game. Here are the top 10 players to ensure they return from Foxborough, Mass., with a win.

No. 10: Edge Lukas Van Ness

Drake Maye is a great quarterback. How do you disrupt a great quarterback? You make him uncomfortable. Green Bay’s pass rush has done a solid job this season of moving quarterbacks off their spot and getting them on the ground.

Van Ness has been a big part of Green Bay’s rush and should be matched up with New England’s Will Campbell, who struggled notably in last year’s Super Bowl. The goal for Green Bay’s defense should be to make Maye as uncomfortable as possible while keeping an eye on keeping him contained in the pocket.

“Yeah, lights out, man. It’s a top-10 offense,” defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon said. “Obviously, he’s big, he’s accurate, he’s got a huge arm, you can’t sack him. He gets out of pressure. He extends plays to throw, generates explosives (and) he extends plays to actually run. I think he leads the league in scramble yards. This is a huge challenge.”

No. 9: Defensive Coordinator Jonathan Gannon

Josh McDaniels is one of the more respected offensive minds in the NFL. He’s been part of the Patriots organization for 20 seasons in total. He returned last year to be the offensive coordinator after a second failed stint as a head coach.

The challenge this week is that McDaniels will be missing some of his top guns. Star receiver A.J. Brown will not play because of a knee injury. Former Packers receiver Romeo Doubs is on injured reserve. Tight end Hunter Henry is questionable with a foot injury that knocked him out of last week’s game.

That means McDaniels is likely going to have to get creative in order to generate some offense for Drake Maye as he plays with a limited skill position group.

A chess match between McDaniels and Gannon could break out, and Gannon knows that.

“I remember when (Maye) was a rookie in ‘24, we played him in Arizona, and he was running all over the ballpark, and it was frustrating,” Gannon recalled. “He’s doing that right now. Big-time challenge. He’s playing at a high level.

“They’re a Super Bowl-caliber team, and they’re playing that way on offense. I think Josh McDaniels does an excellent job. They’re very creative, their scheme is robust, he gets them in the right plays. They got good backs, the O-line’s good, they got skill guys. This is a good crew now.”

No. 8: WR Christian Watson

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Christian Watson (9) celebrates with fans following the game against the Carolina Panthers. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

How tough is Christian Watson? The whole world knows the answer to that now. Last time we saw Watson on the field, he had 100 receiving yards by early in the second quarter, left the stadium in an ambulance, returned to the stadium in an ambulance, and caught the game-clinching first down.

This week, Watson has a different challenge with Christian Gonzalez set to line up across from him. Gonzalez was a second-team All-Pro in 2024 and a Pro Bowler last season.

It’s a challenge that Watson should be ready for as he’s truly begun to blossom into a star after shaking off some early injuries in his career.

“What really happened coming out (of North Dakota State) is he had some nagging injuries, stuff like that,” passing game coordinator Jason Vrable said. “So, he never really got to have a training camp that first year. I think that puts you behind the 8-ball a lot, and that kind of happened to Savion (Williams) last year.

“And it’s not an excuse; it’s just a reality. To get better in this league, you have to grind out reps at a high level. You have to go against good corners – like some of the guys we have now – and you have to battle one-on-one. You have to callous yourself, right? Or else you’re just going to do the same stuff you did in college.”

Green Bay’s run game is putrid, and it may not simply be able to throw the ball over the Patriots’ heads to work its way out of it. That’s where Watson’s growth as a receiver can come into play. The Packers will likely have to work in their short and intermediate passing game.

No. 7: CB Brandon Cisse

Rookie cornerback Brandon Cisse is looking to build on his Defensive Rookie of the Month Award that he earned in October.

Cisse will face a limited receiving corps in New England, but there is no time to rest on laurels.

Drake Maye likes to extend plays with his legs but will give the Packers some possibilities at making plays on the ball. Cisse and Co. will need to be ready for that.

“I think he's obviously extremely smart, an elite quarterback, one of the top quarterbacks in this league,” Cisse said. “But I think he does such a great job of creating when things aren't there. Yeah, obviously on the run, that's probably when he's even more dangerous. He can make every throw.

“He's obviously very smart and knowing how to check protections and knowing to slide things and knowing where guys are at, and he knows how to get the ball to his playmakers. So, it'll be a very, very tough task for us for sure. But we got to make sure we come ready to play against a great quarterback like him.”

No. 6: S Xavier McKinney

The Patriots are similar to the Packers in that they want to create explosive passing plays down the field.

Xavier McKinney is the Packers’ eraser of big plays like that, which is why they’ve allowed the fourth-fewest 20-yard passing plays in the league. He’s also emerged as a chess piece that can line up all over the Green Bay defense.

Was that by request?

“Yeah, it's funny, because I talked to (defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon) during the week, and there was a pressure that was in there, and I told him, ‘Hey, do you have this up in the call sheet?’” McKinney said.

“I definitely been trying to be more vocal with him and communicate with him as far as just move me around a little more, like especially on the line of scrimmage. Whether that's showing blitz, whether that's blitzing really, or popping out and playing in different windows underneath coverage, getting to a half, so just trying to do as much as I can to kind of throw off the offense as much as we can.”

Creating pressure and throwing off the offense is a requirement against a great quarterback like Maye. Look for McKinney to have a chance at having a big week again this week.

No. 5: The Interior Offensive Line

Left guard Aaron Banks is off the injury report and set to start his second consecutive game for the first time this year. John Williams will probably play center. Laken Tomlinson is likely to be the right guard. The interior offensive line struggled last week against Carolina and will be facing a much better interior pass rush this week.

Milton Williams, Christian Barmore, Cory Durden and Leonard Taylor all have at least one sack this season. Williams and Barmore have been disruptive defenders during their careers.

With Elijah Ponder piling up sacks from the edge, the Packers may want to give more help to their tackles to keep him out of Jordan Love’s lap. That means that there will be less help to give to the middle of the offensive line.

This is also the group that is largely tasked with opening holes in the run game. Banks is a premium investment. Tomlinson is starting over Kevin Zeitler for a reason. It’s time to prove why.

No. 4: RB Josh Jacobs

Can the Packers find any semblance of a ground game? So far, Josh Jacobs’ return has not done much. Jacobs has 75 yards on 32 carries. He did not get anything going against Carolina, who came into that game ranked 32nd against opposing run games.

New England is a much better run defense but also are good at limiting explosive plays through the air. That means the offense is likely to need patience to move the ball. That might mean some ugly runs from Jacobs, which have become the norm in Green Bay this year.

That also could involve Jacobs as a pass catcher, where he’s been more involved since his return. Now that Jacobs is more immersed in the offense, expect the Packers to want to get him the ball as much as they can.

“Typically, in a game, you’ll have 2-yard run, 3-yard run, 4-yard run and then you’ll pop one,” offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said. “And that’s where we’ve definitely struggled this year is hitting those big runs. I think having Josh back is going to help. The one thing I know about Josh, the more you feed him, the better he gets.

“So, it’s frustrating but, at the same point, people are still playing defense to stop our runs. They’re still putting guys in the box, which is opening things up down the field and we’re not giving up on it. We’re still calling runs. So, we’re making them respect it and I think it’ll just be a matter of time, getting our offensive line kind of settled in, where it’ll start picking up.”

No. 3: TE Tucker Kraft

Green Bay Packers tight end Tucker Kraft celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the game against the Carolina Panthers — Green Bay Packers tight end Tucker Kraft (85) celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the game against the Carolina Panthers at Lambeau Field. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Slowly but surely, Tucker Kraft is beginning to look more like himself. Kraft’s best play from last Thursday’s win over Carolina was an explosive catch-and-run on a tight end screen in which Kraft looked as fast as he had all season. The play was ultimately wiped out thanks to an illegal-man-downfield penalty by Anthony Belton, but it was an encouraging sign for the rest of the season.

With the Patriots’ ability to eliminate big plays on defense, the Packers might need to create their own big plays with explosive yards after the ball is in the receivers’ hands.

When Kraft is at his best, he’s a yards-after-catch machine. The Packers keep saying they want to get him more targets. This might be the week to do it.

No. 2: WR Matthew Golden

Christian Watson is going to enter this game banged up after last week’s situation that felt straight out of WWE Smackdown.

Watson is going to play, and he played well after injuring his ribs a week ago. He is likely to be met most with Christian Gonzalez. Gonzalez is one of the best cornerbacks in football, which means he should be able to win his fair share of matchups against Watson.

Watson will still have opportunities as he’s a great player in his own right, but the better matchup would be Matthew Golden against Carlton Davis.

Golden is the Packers’ leader in targets this season. He’s open often, he just needs to catch the ball when it is thrown to him.

“Well, you just said it right there. Like, there’s so much more out there for him,” offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said. “He’s still doing a great job and, obviously, the plays he’s made have been great.

“But there’s just so much more out there, and that’s kind of the encouraging thing. We know what kind of hands he has; they’re pretty elite. So, hopefully this week is put behind him with all the drops and things like that, there’s just going to be even more out there for him. So, it’s exciting.”

No. 1: QB Jordan Love

There are two truths entering this game.

First, the Packers are going to go as far as Jordan Love carries them. That’s been true all season, and nothing appears to be changing as the season continues to progress.

They have no semblance of a run game, and there’s little reason to believe this is the week that things take a turn in that regard.

Packers coach Matt LaFleur called the Patriots’ defense a “salty bunch.” They’ll try to take away Love’s big-play passing game, though it’s worth noting only eight teams have allowed more 20-yard completions than the Patriots.

The second truth is the Packers need to keep winning. They’ve dropped two division games against Detroit and Minnesota. Chicago is not going anywhere, and just received a major boost with the addition of Jeffery Simmons to their defensive line. The margin for error is razor-thin for Love’s Packers, and he knows it.

“It’s a really good division. Every team in the division is really good,” Love said. “We got to win as many games as possible to put ourselves in the best position as possible late in the season, but it’s going to be tough. There’s going to be some good games toward the end of the season, but I think every game in the North is good. I love watching them, I love seeing the other teams compete. We know what it is every time we play these guys, every team is good.”

Making sure the games at the end of the season are important requires the Packers to keep winning. Yes, they’re on the road. Yes, New England’s defense is good. The time for excuses, however, is over. The Packers have more than enough to win on Sunday.

That means Love needs to continue to carry the offense as he’s done all season.

The Packers will face the Patriots in a big showdown between five-win teams tomorrow. Here are 3⃣ reasons why the Packers will earn a huge win. ⬇️https://t.co/BS2ZLprUir
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) November 7, 2026

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