The Green Bay Packers have become the NFC’s Baltimore Ravens under head coach Matt LaFleur. They’ve found a way to stack winning regular seasons around an electric quarterback. Then, they crumble into powder in the postseason.
LaFleur is 76-40-1 in Weeks 1-18 and 3-6 in win-or-go-home playoff games. Jordan Love has advanced beyond the Wild Card round only once. His most recent postseason start saw a 21-3 halftime lead become a 31-27 Chicago Bears victory.
That leaves plenty to prove in 2026 and a roster loaded with holes. Wideouts Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks have departed. Josh Jacobs is on the exempt list as the league sorts out the domestic violence charges against him. Micah Parsons will miss at least the first four weeks of the season as he recovers from a torn ACL.
This year’s Packers look like a diminished version of the one that stalked the NFC North in years past. What comes next?
: K Trey Smack
- Several new additions will have larger roles for the Packers, including linebacker Zaire Franklin and second round rookie cornerback Brandon Cisse. None may be able to provide more peace of mind than Smack if he can live up to his draft status.
The only kicker selected in 2026, Smack will attempt to bring stability to a volatile position that saw Mason Crosby crumble late in his career and replacements like Brandon McManus, Brayden Narveson and Anders Carlson struggle in his stead. Early training camp returns were, uh, pessimistic. Then he went out and had a perfect preseason. Kickers, man.
OT Rasheed Walker
- There have been several departures on the offensive side of the ball, from key wideouts (Romeo Doubs, Dontayvion Wicks) to key tailback depth (Emanuel Wilson). Walker didn’t make the free agent splash expected after signing a one-year, $4 million deal with the Carolina Panthers, but Green Bay could still regret letting him walk.Enjoying this article? Support our work with a small crypto donation.
His place at left tackle will be filled by 2024 first round pick Jordan Morgan, who was soundly underwhelming playing primarily as a guard in 2025. The Packers are optimistic enough about his future to let Walker, uh, walk… but the depth behind Walker and right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele is limited.
CB Brandon Cisse
The Packers didn’t have a first round pick last spring thanks to the Micah Parsons trade. They still may have landed a first round talent in Cisse, the seventh cornerback selected in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Cisse has looked at times like a worthy successor to Jaire Alexander and will start across from Keisean Nixon as the team’s boundary cornerbacks in the season opener. While he was uneven at South Carolina at times, he also allowed only 18 receptions across 12 games in his lone season as a Gamecock, often matched up against SEC WR1s. The learning curve will be steep, but he’s handled it so far this summer.
- QB rank (expected points added per dropback, via RBSDM.com): 2
- WR corps rank: 22
- RB corps rank: 30
- TE corps rank: 5
No. Matt LaFleur is good enough to keep the Packers in the playoff hunt, but missing Micah Parsons early and several contributors among his skill players should dim Green Bay’s Super Bowl dream.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Packers 2026 season preview: The phantom zone of good-not-great
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