The Good, Bad And Ugly From The Packers’ Win Over The Jets

THE GOOD

IT’S ABOUT TIME: Edge rusher Lukas Van Ness, the Packers’ 2023 first round draft pick, has had an extremely disappointing first three seasons. Van Ness might be coming of age, though, in Year 4.

Van Ness had the best game of his career Sunday, finishing with 10 tackles, 1.5 sacks, three tackles for loss and four quarterback hits.

Van Ness and rookie Dani Dennis-Sutton shared an overtime sack that stopped the Jets’ opening drive.

Van Ness had been in concussion protocol all week, but was cleared on Friday and shined against the Jets.

“Man, I thought he was flying around making a lot of plays, especially at the end,” Packers quarterback Jordan Love said of Van Ness. “He made some huge plays obviously, some sacks. He’s flying all over the field. I think defense overall, man, they did a great job today. There’s a reason they kept us in the game.”

STOP OF THE GAME: The Jets had a third-and-2 at their own 49 with 2 minutes left and the game tied, 17-17.

On third down, Zaire Franklin and Karl Brooks stopped Breece Hall for 1 yard. On fourth down, defensive end Lukas Van Ness flew off the edge and dumped Braelon Allen for no gain.

Green Bay then took over at midfield with 1:15 remaining. The Packers failed to do anything, though, and the game went to overtime.

SKY’S THE LIMIT: The Packers signed return ace Skyy Moore this offseason, and that move paid enormous dividends Sunday.

Moore had a 63-yard punt return in the fourth quarter that set up a 34-yard field goal from Trey Smack that tied the game, 17-17. Moore also had a 43-yard kickoff return in the second quarter.

“I thought that’s a really good unit,” LaFleur said of the Jets’ special teams. “It’s one of the top in the league, and I thought our guys did a great job of just flipping the field in many situations.”

DANIEL WHELAN: You know it’s a tough day when the punter is among your best players.

That was the case for Green Bay, as standout punter Daniel Whelan averaged 54 yards per punt and knocked three of his six punts inside the 20-yard line.

Whelan had a tough Week 1, but on Sunday looked like the player who set the single-season franchise record with a 51.7-yard gross average and a 43.9-yard net average in 2025.

“We know what he can be and what we expect him to be, who he can be,” Packers special teams coach Cam Achord said of Whelan after his rough Week 1. “I think he takes … so much pride in it. I think he’s going to be OK going forward.”

Whelan certainly was on Sunday.

THIS AND THAT: J Michael Sturdivant was used as a gunner and helped force a muffed punt by the Jets’ Isaiah Williams early on. … Linebacker Edgerrin Cooper had eight tackles, three tackles for loss, a sack and a quarterback hit. … Javon Bullard dropped Breece Hall for a 3-yard loss on a swing pass late in the first half, then dumped Hall for a 1-yard loss in the fourth quarter. Bullard also had two passes defensed. … Evan Williams had an enormous pass break up late in the fourth quarter to prevent a long gain to wideout Adonai Mitchell.

THE BAD

ROUGH HALF: The Packers were probably fortunate to be tied, 7-7, at halftime.

The Jets had 11 first downs in the first half, while Green Bay had five. The Packers were outgained, 116-81. And New York had the ball 17 minutes, 49 seconds while the Packers possessed it just 12:11.

Green Bay had six penalties for 75 yards, while the Jets had four for 35 yards. The Packers were also 0-for-4 on third downs, while the Jets were 6-of-11.

THIS AND THAT: Left guard Aaron Banks, who’s been battling knee tendinitis all summer, made his first start of the season. But Banks left with 5 minutes remaining in the first half and didn’t return. He was replaced by underwhelming Donovan Jennings, and later by Jager Burton. … The Packers had just 63 rushing yards on 18 carries, a 3.5 average. … Green Bay finished with just 199 total yards and averaged 4.0 yards per play.

THE UGLY

BRUTAL BEGINNING: The Packers lost wideout Jayden Reed on the second play of the game to a neck injury. On the third play, Green Bay lost right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele to a knee injury.

Both players left on a cart and neither returned.

Afterwards, LaFleur said Reed has movement in his extremities, but won’t travel back with the team.

“He will be staying overnight,” LaFleur said of Reed. “That was obviously a very scary deal. Anytime you see anybody down on the field and have to get carted off …”

Bako-Bewele suffered a partially torn patellar tendon in Week 15 last season that needed offseason surgery. He missed most of the offseason, then suffered a knee injury Sunday.

“That doesn’t look good either,” LaFleur said of Bako-Bewele. “I think he could be out for a long time.”

FLAG FOOTBALL: These Packers are every bit as undisciplined as Forrest Gregg’s teams were in the mid-1980s.

One week after being hit with 12 penalties for 98 yards, the Packers were penalized 14 times for 133 yards. Green Bay was also flagged three other times that the Jets declined.

“I think that’s definitely an area we’ve got to improve on,” Love said. “That’s two weeks where we’ve had a lot of penalties that just put us back. Those are things that stop drives, put you behind the sticks obviously and it’s tough to overcome. That’s an area we’ve got to focus, clean up, figure out what’s going on.”

The Packers were flagged six times in the first quarter, and four were accepted. The worst was an unsportsmanlike penalty on Javon Bullard, who broke up a third down pass to Adonai Mitchell, then chirped for several seconds at Mitchell. Christian Watson also had a holding penalty, Karl Brooks jumped off sides to give the Jets a first down, and cornerback Kamal Hadden was called for holding during a punt return.

In the second quarter, Keisean Nixon was hit with a 34-yard pass interference penalty against Mitchell that helped set up a Jets touchdown.

In the third quarter, Green Bay’s Dani Dennis-Sutton was called for holding on a Jets punt and the Packers started a drive at their own 3-yard line. Tight end Tucker Kraft was flagged for holding early in the quarter, left tackle Jordan Morgan was called for a false start and Lukas Van Ness was flagged for roughing the passer.

In the fourth quarter, rookie Chris McClellan had his second costly penalty in as many weeks, drawing an unnecessary roughness penalty after a punt. Later, Anthony Belton was called for two holding penalties and Jordan Morgan was called once. Belton’s second holding penalty wiped out a Jordan Love touchdown run.

“We’ve got to take a look at it,” LaFleur said of the penalties. “The ones that are just mind-blowing are just the false starts, jumping offsides, lining up offsides, those are the ones that’ll get you beat.”

Good coaches have their teams focused and disciplined from start to finish. Green Bay isn’t one of those teams right now.

FUMBLE FEST: Green Bay had four fumbles in the first three quarters, but was remarkably fortunate and recovered all four.

The Packers weren’t so lucky with No. 5, as MarShawn Lloyd fumbled early in the fourth quarter and New York’s Harrison Phillips recovered. That set up a 32-yard field goal from New York’s Jason Sanders that gave the Jets a 17-7 lead.

Green Bay’s Jordan Love, Skyy Moore, Tucker Kraft and Kaleb Johnson all fumbled, as well, but the Packers were able to fall on those.