Sports

Packers Get Brutal Wake-Up Call About Start to Season

Nairavoice · Oct 2, 2026 · 2 min read

The Green Bay Packers and head coach Matt LaFleur head into Week 4 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the road facing a near must-win situation.

Right off the bat, the 2026 NFL season started off poorly. After dominating the majority of their season opener against the Minnesota Vikings, the Packers fell apart in the fourth quarter. They ended up losing that game in similar fashion to how their 2025 season ended in the Wild Card round of the playoffs against the Chicago Bears.

In Week 2, Green Bay was able to come through with an ugly overtime win over the New York Jets. Last week, the Packers were blown out in their home opener by the Atlanta Falcons.

Through three weeks, Green Bay doesn’t look good. Many would argue that at this point the team isn’t a playoff contender. Things could still change, but the Packers need to get things turned around quickly.

Keeping that in mind, they have been hit with a brutal wake-up call from one NFL analyst after the 1-2 start.

Packers Face Strong Criticism Following Brutal Start to Season

Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon released a new column that came up with one sentence to describe the start of the 2026 season for each team in the NFL. When it came to Green Bay, he didn’t hold back his criticism.

“They’ve played three teams that didn’t make the playoffs in 2025 but have yet to win a game in regulation, proving that Green Bay remains at least a tier below true heavyweight status,” Gagnon wrote.

At the end of the day, he’s right. The Packers look anything but being a top-tier team. They have the talent to be a very good football team, but that talent hasn’t shown itself on the field.

Quite a few reasons could be argued for why Green Bay has gotten off to such a rough start. Injuries have certainly played a role, but they can’t be blamed entirely. The Packers as a whole simply haven’t been playing good football.

LaFleur’s seat continues to get hotter as Green Bay continues to struggle. This week against the Buccaneers will be a major turning point for the team. If the Packers drop to 1-3, the outside noise will grow deafening, but a win could help steady the rocky start.

Only time will tell what the rest of the season has in store, but for now Green Bay seems to be a team that has fallen from true contender status.