Three Overreactions From Packers’ Loss to Vikings: It Starts With Coaching

GREEN BAY, Wis. – There’s an unconfirmed rumor going around that Jordan Love, upon walking off the plane at Austin Straubel International Airport after Sunday’s loss at Minnesota, was blindsided by Blake Cashman. And then, as he was about to open the door to his house, he got his luggage knocked loose by Dallas Turner.

The Green Bay Packers, incredibly, blew a 22-10 and lost to the Vikings. It’s not incredible that the Packers lost, obviously. We’ve seen that story with alarming regularity. What’s incredible is the Packers took a 12-point lead with 20 minutes to go – giving them a win probability of 91.0 percent – and lost by 17.

We’ve all heard the phrase snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Never before in NFL history had a team snatched a blowout defeat from the jaws of a potential blowout victory.

Here are our three big takeaways following a nightmarish season-opening loss.

1. Did Packers Prepare for Brian Flores … At All?

It’s easy to criticize coach Matt LaFleur for calling a handoff to Chris Brooks on third-and-11 to start the second half or taking a field goal off the board later in the third quarter, though it’s easy to understand what he was thinking on both.

The game wasn’t won or lost with those decisions, though. It was lost during the two weeks of preparation for the game.

Everybody knew what the Vikings’ game plan would be on defense. Brian Flores was by far the most blitz-happy coordinator in the league last season, including in last year’s game at Lambeau, when he blitzed Jordan Love on almost every dropback.

With mostly the same cast of characters on his unit, it’s not as if he would be reinventing the wheel for Sunday’s game. He would blitz, blitz and blitz some more, with linebackers Blake Cashman and Eric Wilson and safety Harrison Smith leading the charge.

“It’s basically they’re going to try to confuse us, but we know that, so we know how to combat their confusion,” center Sean Rhyan said this week. “We have adjustments and verbal cues that are built into plays automatically in order to be ready for whatever they want to throw at us.”

The Packers weren’t ready for anything.

In a shocking development (sarcasm intended), an offensive line that struggled to protect Love against Jonathan Gannon’s blitzes during training camp struggled to protect Love when it mattered. Unlike the practice field, Love paid the price as the Vikings hit him early, often and with ferocity.

Pro Football Focus had the Vikings blitzing on 40 of Love’s 46 dropbacks, or 87 percent. ESPN Research had a lower number.

To put Brian Flores' 71.7% blitz rate Sunday in perspective, per ESPN Research...

Average NFL blitz rate in Week 1: 28%
Range of other 31 teams: 7.7% - 44.4%.
— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) September 14, 2026

Whatever the number, Flores blitzed again and again and again. Love hit on some big plays in the first half, but Flores eliminated those in the second half. By the time the Vikings took a 25-22 lead, it was a full-blown feeding frenzy against an offense that was dazed and confused, overmatched and overwhelmed. Love was sacked and stripped on second down and again on third down, with Minnesota recovering the second of those fumbles for the clinching score.

Time and again, unblocked blitzers were in Love’s face. Cashman, for instance, had six pressures in 18 blitzes. At times, Green Bay’s protection unit looked like a dog chasing its tail. Unsure who to block, they didn’t block anyone.

Dallas Turner got double-teamed and didn’t get touched 💀 pic.twitter.com/6lcvzDaHix
— Thor Nystrom (@thorku) September 14, 2026

How is that possible? How could LaFleur, offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich – a former line coach – and offensive line coach Luke Butkus put together a game plan seemingly so unprepared for Flores’ blitzes? They had time in the offseason to prepare for this game. They had the bonus week to really hone in on the details.

The result was Love taking a beating from unblocked blitzers and the Packers blowing a game they should have won.

No, Ed Policy is not going to fire Matt LaFleur. That ship has sailed. But the coaches should take that performance personally, if for no other reason than the complete disrespect shown to them by Flores for having the audacity of blitzing on practically every snap with no fear of the Packers finding answers.

2. Stop Blaming the Refs

Only crybabies whine about the officiating.

Yes, Shawn Hochuli and his crew called a lopsided game. The Packers were flagged 12 times for 98 yards and the Vikings were flagged three times for 15 yards. The Vikings gained five first downs via penalties; the Packers had zero.

After Matt LaFleur’s ill-fated fourth-down decision, the Vikings benefited from three defensive penalties to score the decisive touchdown.

On the first, Javon Bullard was flagged for illegal contact before a third-and-11 sack by Devonte Wyatt and Edgerrin Cooper. The U.S. Bank Stadium video people didn’t show a replay of Bullard’s penalty, but they did show Keisean Nixon putting his hands on the face of Justin Jefferson.

On the second, Chris McClellan was flagged for roughing the passer on his third-and-3 sack. The ball was out of Wentz’s hand and McClellan took him to the turf. It looked more egregious than it was in reality, but it’s a penalty in today’s protect-the-quarterback NFL.

Packers flagged for roughing the passer and the Vikings get another free 1st down pic.twitter.com/Z7kl9c13u5
— Rate the Refs (@Rate_the_Refs) September 13, 2026

On third down, Xavier McKinney was flagged for defensive holding on Evan Williams’ end-zone interception. That was the worst of the calls – and the most damaging, since the Vikings got to turn a turnover into a touchdown.

“Obviously, it had an effect because they were able to go down and score,” LaFleur said. “We get the pick in the end zone and we get called for holding. A lot of times, those plays happen down there, but they called it. My point to the team is you can’t put it in the hands of the officials.”

Did Hochuli blow some calls against Green Bay? Probably. Did he miss some calls against Minnesota? Sure.

But let’s not pretend Hochuli came up with a crummy plan to deal with Brian Flores. Or that he missed the blitz protections that got Jordan Love hit. Or that he got pancaked on Myles Price’s long kickoff return. Or that he dropped a third-down pass that resulted in one of the team’s three red-zone failures.

“Can’t leave it in the ref’s hands and that’s just what we did,” Nixon said.

He’s right.

3. Maybe It’s Not That Bad?

In 2021, the Packers kicked off the season against the Saints in a game played in Jacksonville. Green Bay, coming off a brutal home loss to Tampa Bay in the 2020 NFC Championship Game, got smoked 38-3.

Jameis Winston threw five touchdown passes. Aaron Rodgers threw two interceptions. The Saints outgained the Packers by almost 100 yards. They were 5-of-10 on third down compared to 1-of-10 for the Packers, and 4-of-4 in the red zone compared to 0-for-2.

It was a complete and total beatdown.

By the end of the season, the Packers were 13-4 and the No. 1 seed in the NFC again and the Saints were 9-8 and missed the playoffs. Rodgers shook off that miserable start to the season by winning his fourth NFL MVP.

This is not meant to make you feel better. It’s not meant to put lipstick on a pig. It’s not meant to predict the Packers are going to run away with the NFC North by five games, as was the case in 2021.

It is to say it’s one game. Odd things happen in Week 1. Last year, the Seahawks lost at home to the 49ers and won the Super Bowl and the Patriots lost at home to the woeful Raiders and won the AFC.

Heck, last year, Minnesota beat Chicago on the strength of quarterback J.J. McCarthy’s three fourth-quarter touchdowns. On Sunday, he was the inactive third quarterback.

It’s OK to find the panic button tucked away behind the socks in your dresser. But it’s probably too soon to press it, even though some obvious issues were exploited on Sunday.

From @JacobWestendorf, here are the winners and losers - bet you can't guess the losers - from the Packers' embarassing loss to the Vikings today. ⬇️https://t.co/wLcbvgBBs5
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 14, 2026

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