‘Yeah, But It Was the Jets.’ Save It. This Was Huge Win for Packers

Yeah, but it was the Jets.

Sure, the Green Bay Packers “only” beat the New York Jets on Sunday. And it required a 10-point rally and overtime to eke out a 20-17 victory over a team coming off 10 consecutive losing seasons.

But a win is a win.

Period.

Style points don’t matter. There is no column for them in the standings. They are completely irrelevant for a team that entered the game with a six-game losing streak, for a team that had a pesky habit of blowing big leads, for a team that saw two of its top players carted off the field following the second and third snaps of the game.

The Packers slogged through MetLife Stadium for most of Sunday’s game like a past-his-prime fighter. They trailed 14-7 after three quarters. They had 101 yards of total offense and one third-down conversion. For every step forward, they seemed to take one or two steps back.

“I’m just so proud of our guys,” coach Matt LaFleur said after the game. “You know, talk about resiliency being down 10 points in the fourth quarter and our guys kept battling. I know it wasn’t always pretty.”

No, it was as pretty as a pile of manure but the Packers came out smelling like a rose. Sure, it was the Jets – a team that hasn’t reached the playoffs since 2010 and went 3-14 last season – but the Packers got key contributions from all three phases during the late comeback.

It’s a breath of fresh air for a locker room that needed it.

The Jets took a 17-7 lead with 11 minutes to go before the Packers – finally – got out of their offensive funk. They got their only third-down conversion of the day with a third-and-3 conversion to Matthew Golden. Golden provided 38 more yards by drawing defensive pass interference and added another 18 yards on a crossing route.

That set up Jordan Love’s 3-yard touchdown pass to Christian Watson. Suddenly, it was 17-14.

Next, Green Bay’s defense got a big stop when Javon Bullard stuffed Breece Hall on second down and Xavier McKinney clobbered Isaiah Williams on third down to force a punt.

Then, it was the special teams’ turn. Skyy Moore broke three tackles on a 63-yard punt return to the 19.

“We’re in the NFL, the swing is inevitable,” Moore said. “You’ve just got to buckle down and do your job and come out swinging.”

The offense wasted the field position, but Trey Smack kicked the tying field goal.

The Packers were in a danger zone, though, with the Jets having 3 minutes to drive into position for the winning field goal. Instead, Lukas Van Ness, Karl Brooks and Zaire Franklin combined to stuff Breece Hall on third-and-2, Then, Van Ness stormed inside of the tight end to stop Braelon Allen on fourth-and-1.

The offense wasted that opportunity, too. So, the defense did it again.

To start overtime, Brandon Cisse and Barryn Sorrell sacked Geno Smith on first down. Then, Van Ness and Dani Dennis-Sutton sacked Smith on second down.

“That was huge,” LaFleur said. “I can’t give enough credit to our defense, our defensive staff, Jonathan Gannon, just calling a very aggressive game. You know, I’m sure glad we got him because I think he’s an elite defensive coordinator, football coach and just a great leader.”

The Packers took the ball at their 34 and delivered the knockout. An 11-yard run by Kaleb Johnson, a 15-yard checkdown to Chris Brooks – with 15 more yards tacked on by an unnecessary-roughness penalty – and a 14-yard completion to Golden on a deft throw from Love set up Smack for the winner.

“I think it’s really important just because it shows our whole team that even with the adversity and going into that fourth quarter down and still come out with the dub, it gives us the reinforcing fact that it ain’t over until there’s four zeroes through five quarters now,” center Sean Rhyan said.

“I think it was a really good overall team win just so that we know what it needs to be in order to be successful. So, we’re going to come in this week and make sure we’re bought in and not in those positions again. They’re fun but only if you win, right?”

In a way, yes, it’s the Jets. They are one of the team’s downtrodden franchises, even though coach Aaron Glenn has them on the rise. Nobody in a Packers uniform could be proud of the overall performance.

Even with overtime, the Packers gained only 199 yards. They were 1-of-9 on third down. For long stretches, the pass rush went AWOL. There were a ghastly 14 penalties for 133 yards, including some complete mental short-circuits with unsportsmanlike conduct and unnecessary roughness.

The Packers will need to be much better to beat the Falcons on Thursday night and the Buccaneers the following week before the gauntlet of home against the Bears, home against the Cowboys and at the Lions.

But at least the Packers saved the best for last. They finished. They won a game. Maybe, just maybe, it will be a stepping stone for another win, and then another win.

“We can’t let a win mask our problems,” tight end Tucker Kraft said after a day that included a fumble and a holding penalty. “We have to be aggressive. We have to look in the mirror and set a standard for ourselves as a team and for each individual.”

He’s right, but this is a team that self-destructed time and again down the stretch to end last season and did it again last week at Minnesota.

This time, with the fate of the game on the line – and a potential 0-2 start staring them in the face – the Packers didn’t self-destruct. This time, they made the big plays – not a lot of them, but enough of them – to pull victory out of the jaws of defeat.

“It’s huge,” Love said. “We had a bounce back after Week 1. The game wasn’t pretty, but to finish the game, to get a win, that was huge. Obviously, starting with two road games, so we needed this one right here and now we got a short week to be able to get ready” for the Falcons on Thursday.

Was it pretty? No.

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

Here are @JacobWestendorf's winners and losers from the Packers' overtime victory over the Jets. ⬇️https://t.co/Jzd6z3KHHI
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 20, 2026

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