The Green Bay Packers will aim to end their losing streak, which dates back to December of last year, again on Sunday.
When the season began, the Week 2 matchup appeared to be a favorable one — a showdown against Geno Smith and the New York Jets. But Smith and the Jets won on opening weekend while the Packers didn’t.
The Jets veteran quarterback also typically finds a way to play well against Jonathan Gannon’s defense. Green Bay’s defensive coordinator admitted as much when he spoke to reporters Tuesday.
“I’ve always been a big fan of Geno [Smith],” Gannon said to the media. “He always plays well, for whatever reason, against me or us or whoever I’m with.
“So, big challenge ahead.”
When Gannon was head coach of the Arizona Cardinals and Smith played in the same division for the Seattle Seahawks, Smith went a perfect 4-0 versus Gannon’s defense.
In those four games, Smith completed 70.8% of his passes for 895 yards. The veteran averaged 223.75 passing yards per game and 7.9 yards per pass. Smith also had six touchdown passes and two interceptions.
Geno Smith’s Record vs. Jonathan Gannon
Gannon admitting Smith might have his number wasn’t exactly what Packers fans wanted to hear this week. Not when the team is desperate for a win after blowing another double-digit second half lead in the season opener.
The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman posted Gannon’s quote about Smith playing well against him on X. Packers fans responded very negatively to the comment.
“Uh, that’s not great,” wrote Kyle P.
“If we lose to the Jets, Twitter might blow up,” wrote Will with a laughing emoji.
“Just oozing confidence,” wrote Jack.
Several other social media users offered similar sentiments.
“Just want you want to hear,” wrote another account.
Early in his coaching career. Gannon also faced Smith when he was with the Tennessee Titans and Minnesota Vikings. Smith played fairly well in those games as well, but Gannon’s clubs won the matchups.
The Packers defensive coordinator, though, wasn’t the leader of those defenses that defeated Smith. At the time, he was a defensive quality control coach with the Titans and Minnesota’s assistant defensive backs coach.
Gannon Aiming to Correct Packers Penalty Mistakes After Week 1
The Packers gave up 39 points in the Week 1 loss. Gannon pointed to that fact as something that needs to be fixed when he spoke to the media Tuesday.
But a lot of those points came on short fields and other mistakes from the offense. The Packers defense only gave up 239 yards versus the Vikings. Minnesota averaged only 3.9 yards per play.
The biggest area where the Packers defense fell short in Week 1 was with penalties. The unit made errors in judgement on its way to seven fouls for 63 yards.
Gannon shared how he’s addressing the issue this week.
“I try to group it with our guys in three ways. It’s education, technique, decision-making,” said Gannon. “We look at all of them. We look at different plays that weren’t call, you try to show your guys situation of things that come up that they’re looking for. How can we improve?
“You learn from it and you move on.”
The Packers-Jets showdown will kick off at 12 pm CT on Sunday.
Jonathan Gannon’s Geno Smith Admission Last Thing Packers Fans Want to Hear