The Green Bay Packers avoided an 0-2 start Sunday, but no one is exactly feeling comfortable, despite picking up a win.
Green Bay needed a fourth-quarter comeback, a 63-yard punt return from Skyy Moore and overtime to escape the New York Jets with a 20-17 win. That came one week after the Packers blew a 12-point second-half lead in a 39-22 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
The uneven start has ESPN analyst Ben Solak wondering just how much can be salvaged.
“I might think … the Packers’ season is chalked,” Solak wrote.
Considering this is a team that entered the season with playoff expectations, this is a jarring prediction just two games in.
Packers Give Ben Solak Little to Trust
The Packers had a chance to start the season with a road win in Minnesota. Instead, everything unraveled.
Green Bay led 22-10 in the third quarter before Minnesota scored 29 consecutive points. The Packers were stopped on fourth-and-1 early in the fourth quarter after Matt LaFleur took a field goal off the board following a Vikings penalty, and the game flipped from there.
Jordan Love still threw for 387 yards and two touchdowns, but Green Bay committed 12 penalties for 98 yards and watched a winnable opener turn into a 17-point loss.
Week 2 looked disastrous for most of the game.
The Packers trailed the Jets 17-7 with 11:08 remaining before Love found Christian Watson for a touchdown. Green Bay then needed Moore’s 63-yard punt return to set up the tying field goal.
After the defense stuffed New York on fourth-and-1 near midfield late in regulation, the Packers still couldn’t capitalize. The game eventually reached overtime, where Trey Smack kicked a 26-yard field goal for the win.
“The Packers needed a great punt return from Skyy Moore and an Aaron Glenn end-of-game clock management transgression to get to overtime against the Jets (1-1) and save themselves from an 0-2 start,” Solak wrote.
Packers Injuries Add to Early-Season Concern
The concern extends beyond how Green Bay has played.
“The Packers aren’t in as dire straits as the Chargers, but Green Bay lost two starters to injury — WR Jayden Reed and RT Zach Bako-Bewele — and the line is already thin on starting-caliber players,” Solak wrote.
The running game hasn’t offered much relief, either. Kaleb Johnson returned against New York and rushed for 32 yards on eight carries, but the Packers finished with only 54 rushing yards as a team.
There were some positives.
Lukas Van Ness delivered one of the best games of his career against the Jets, finishing with nine tackles, four tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and four quarterback hits. Solak wrote that if Van Ness can maintain that form once Micah Parsons returns from the torn ACL he suffered last season, Green Bay’s defense could still keep the team in the playoff race.
The good news for Green Bay is that they have the severely struggling 0-2 Falcons up ahead for their Week 3 matchup.
“They should go 2-1 with a Thursday night win over the Falcons,” Solak continued, “but I have little to trust in Green Bay through two weeks.”
Green Bay may have survived New York. But they’ll have to prove their problems from the opening two weeks are going away against Atlanta.
Packers Get Brutal ‘Season Is Chalked’ Message After Jets Escape