Winners and Losers from Packers’ Strong Finish In OT Win Over Jets

The Green Bay Packers were in trouble. There’s no way around it. You’ve read the stats all week about teams who fall into an 0-2 hole and their chances of making the postseason.

The Packers were not supposed to flirt with a 0-2 record. When the schedule came out, road games against the Minnesota Vikings and New York Jets felt like winnable opportunities for the Packers to bank while waiting on the return of Micah Parsons.

Well, the Packers looked like they were on their way to losing both of those games. Their first loss came via an avalanche of points and Minnesota pressure resulting in another fourth quarter collapse to extend the team’s losing streak to six.

With 4:32 left in regulation, Skyy Moore gave the Packers’ offense a jolt with an opportunity to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Poor execution and play-calling on the ensuing possession meant the score was tied at 17 just before the 2-minute warning.

The Packers could exorcise some demons, or they could fall into a seven-game losing streak.

Green Bay’s defense stood up late with Jonathan Ford and Lukas Van Ness combining to stop Braelon Allen on consecutive short-yardage plays.

Poor decision-making from the coach and the quarterback on the ensuing possession led the Packers to a Hail Mary attempt that never got off the ground. That forced the Packers to go to overtime for a chance at their first win of the season.

Dominant defense with a pass rush that came to life forced the Jets to punt on their opening possession of overtime.

Jordan Love had the ball with a chance to win the game and make up for a whole lot of poor play both personally and around him.

A swing pass to Chris Brooks for 15 yards had another 15 added to it thanks to a personal foul penalty on the Jets.

Some improvisation by Jordan Love to Matthew Golden set up a game-winning field goal by Trey Smack from 26 yards out.

Was it pretty? No.

Does a team who had lost six in a row coming into the game care about style points? Also no.

Here are our winners and losers from Green Bay’s overtime victory over the Jets.

Winner: K Trey Smack

Remember all the angst surrounding Trey Smack in training camp? Through two weeks, he’s missed on PAT, but has been money in the bank on field goals.

His game-winning kick Sunday did not have that high of a degree of difficulty. It was a chip shot. Still, it was Smack’s first chance at a game winner.

FOR THE WIN!

📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/6SaV3LwqmI
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) September 20, 2026

No nerves for him as he put the ball through the uprights with ease.

When you make the game-winning play, you make our list of winners. Smack is a winner today.

Winner: DC Jonathan Gannon

Gannon’s defense deserved a better fate than what they ultimately got a week ago. Yes, they gave up 39 points, but they allowed less than four yards-per-play.

Through two weeks without Micah Parsons, the Packers’ defense has been their strongest unit, and something they can potentially hang their hat on while the offense tries to find its way.

Sunday, Gannon’s defense made the biggest plays of the game. They stopped the Jets on consecutive short yardage situations in the fourth quarter, which gave the offense a chance to win the game in regulation.

When overtime started, the Jets came onto the field looking to dictate the pace of overtime. Gannon’s defense was not willing to be a passive participant. Barryn Sorrell and Brandon Cisse combined for a sack on Geno Smith on first down. Lukas Van Ness was in the backfield on second down, forcing a third down play to set up a better position to punt.

Smith threw for 247 yards, but was sacked four times.

The Jets’ backfield of Breece Hall and Braelon Allen ran for 36 yards on 21 carries.

It was not a dominant performance, but it was a dominant finish.

Winner: PR Skyy Moore

Special teams helping the Packers? That seems like a foreign concept, but Skyy Moore gave the Packers a jolt late in the fourth quarter with the offense hoping to find its way to getting into the end zone for a game winning score.

Moore took a punt 66 yards down to the Jets’ 19.

With the way Sunday’s game went, the Packers wasted the drive with two inside runs that had little hope, and an incompletion from Love to Christian Watson, which led to a game-tying field goal by Trey Smack.

Moore did his part and got the Packers in position to tie the game, and the return game has been a difference maker through two weeks.

Winner: Edge Lukas Van Ness

Lukas Van Ness was active Sunday, and looks like he has taken a leap in what is a big season for him.

Van Ness had one sack and three TFLs. Befitting of how the game Sunday went, Van Ness was also charged with a personal foul for hitting Geno Smith late.

Whoever made plays for the Packers, also made plenty of mistakes.

Van Ness was no exception to that rule, but made up for it later with arguably the biggest play of the game. With the score tied at 17, the Jets tried to go for it on a fourth-and-1 from midfield.

Van Ness shot his gap and hit Braelon Allen in the backfield to stop him short of the line to gain.

YES!

📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/6l6UlcZ09i
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) September 20, 2026

The Packers’ ensuing possession led to nothing, but Van Ness saved the game for the time being.

He added a second sack in overtime to essentially kill the Jets’ opening series of the extra frame. There have not been a lot of domiannt performances by the Packers' former first round pick, but Sunday was certainly one of them.

Winner/Loser: RB MarShawn Lloyd

Marshawn Lloyd finally had a chance to get into the end zone during his third season. Lloyd has been snake bitten through two years with various injuries that kept him out of the lineup.

Last week, Lloyd had a normal workload and was able to play again this week. This is the NFL, though, and players don’t get credit for simply being available when they have not been.

Still, it likely felt good for Lloyd to open the scoring for the Packers with Jordan Love’s first touchdown pass of the day going to Lloyd on a screen.

With the way Sunday’s game went, however, you know what is coming next.

The Packers trailed 14-7 when they got the ball with a chance to tie the game, and Matt LaFleur dialed up an inside run for Lloyd.

Lloyd fumbled on the play, and the Jets recovered, which led to a field goal, extending their lead to 10.

Lloyd has plenty of talent, but not a lot of experience. He should get better with time, but Green Bay’s run game needs answers immediately. As of now, there are no good answers.

Loser: QB Jordan Love

Yes, Love helped lead a game-winning drive in overtime. Ultimately quarterbacks are judged by whether or not they win the game.

The other reality is that Love had arguably his worst game in two years. He finished the game 16-29 for 145 yards. He did throw two touchdown passes and sacked three times.

Protection was better this week for Love. Even if that was a low bar to clear, there were some inexcusable decisions and placement on some of Love’s throws throughout the game.

He consistently missed low to his receivers.

On Green Bay’s final drive of regulation, it looked like Love had plenty of space to run on a second down play that could have put the Packers in field goal range.

Instead, Love launched a ball downfield for Matthew Golden that fell harmlessly to the turf.

Love has struggled in the past in terms of decision making as to when to tuck and run or try to make a play down the field.

It was enough on Sunday, but the Packers need more from their quarterback.

Loser: Less-Is-More Passing Game

The conversation surrounding Green Bay’s passing game this offseason was that fewer receivers would mean more opportunities for Christian Watson, Matthew Golden, and Jayden Reed.

It took all of one game and two plays for the potential risk in that strategy to rear its ugly head.

Jayden Reed left the game on a backboard after a scary looking injury knocked him out of the game. Reed would miss the rest of the game, and the Packers’ offense struggled throughout the day.

Christian Watson left the game later as well, but was able to return sporadically. Reed won’t be back next week, so that will be another test of Green Bay’s depth in the receiver room.

Through one game? Green Bay’s offense really struggled. Love finished the game with less than 150 yards passing. Golden, Watson, and Kraft combined for 10 catches. Golden made a big play in overtime on some improvisation from Jordan Love, but there was not a lot of production from the passing game Sunday.

Can they find answers before a date Thursday night against Atlanta?

Loser: CB Keisean Nixon

When the Packers took a 7-0 lead in the first half, they had a chance to take control of the game with a defensive stop, and forced the Jets into a third-and-11. The Packers’ front got no pressure on the play as Geno Smith was able to find Garrett Wilson for a sliding catch in front of Keisean Nixon. That play was likely more a byproduct of pressure and coverage not marrying together.

The rest of the series was all of Nixon’s warts coming to light. Nixon was beaten by Adonai Mitchell, and panicked while the ball was in the air, drawing a flag for pass interference.

Two plays later, a third-and-9 was converted in front of Nixon, and the Jets scored their first touchdown to tie the game on the very next play.

Nixon had some nice moments last week in Minnesota, but his follow up performance was not up to par.

Loser: Undisciplined Play

Assign the blame for this wherever you want, but usually this falls at the feet of the head coach. Matt LaFleur’s team has been undisciplined through two weeks this season. In the first half, the Packers’ defense could not get lined up, forcing them to use a timeout they did not want to use. That gave the Jets a chance to run another play and potentially add points before halftime.

Is that on Jonathan Gannon? The position coaches? That’s up to you to decide. Penalties? That’s on everyone from the coaches to the players. The Packers had 14, accepted penalties against them. At one point in the third quarter, the Packers had more penalty yards against them than total yards gained.

Matt LaFleur once said he takes personal foul penalties against his team personally. Well, the Packers were flagged for multiple personal fouls on the day, and one unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

The Packers are not good enough to survive self-inflicted wounds and beat themselves. Whoever is in charge of keeping the team disciplined, has their work cut out for them on a short week.

The Packers overcome a horrendous start and did what they failed to do last week.

They finished.

Here's the early game story from Green Bay's overtime win. ⬇️https://t.co/SgEdE2L6Km
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 20, 2026

Add us as a preferred source on Google