Analyst: 1-2 Packers 'a tier below' NFL's best as Buccaneers trip looms
The short version
- The Packers are 1-2 and last in the NFC North entering Week 4.
- Bleacher Report's Brad Gagnon wrote that Green Bay is 'at least a tier below' true heavyweight status.
- Green Bay blew a 22-10 lead in a 39-22 loss to Minnesota and fell 35-14 at home to Atlanta.
- The Packers' only win is a 20-17 overtime decision over the Jets.
- Green Bay visits Tampa Bay on Sunday, Oct. 4 at 1:00 p.m. EDT on FOX.
Brad Gagnon's one-sentence September review says Green Bay has beaten no one in regulation against a slate of 2025 non-playoff teams; the 1-2 Packers visit Tampa Bay on Sunday.
The Green Bay Packers closed the opening month of the 2026 season at 1-2, a record that leaves them at the bottom of the NFC North. The three-game stretch included a divisional defeat against the Minnesota Vikings, who have raced to a 3-0 start. Matt LaFleur's club now travels to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday in Week 4, with a chance to climb back to .500.
Brad Gagnon, an NFL analyst for Bleacher Report, marked the turn of the calendar by handing down a one-sentence verdict on every team in the league. His line on the Packers focused on where they sit relative to the NFL's best.
“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. The three clubs on Green Bay's schedule so far — Minnesota, the New York Jets and the Atlanta Falcons — each missed the postseason in 2025, according to that same accounting, yet the Packers have a single win to show for it.
The season opener against the Vikings began well for Green Bay, which built a 22-10 lead. From there, Minnesota seized control with 29 unanswered points and finished off a 39-22 comeback win, putting an early divisional loss on the Packers' record.
A week later came the first win of the year. Quarterback Jordan Love and the offense did enough on the road at MetLife Stadium, beating the New York Jets 20-17 in overtime on Sept. 20. Because that game required an extra period, it sits at the heart of Gagnon's critique.
The home opener followed on Thursday, Sept. 24, at Lambeau Field, and Atlanta controlled the afternoon. The Falcons won 35-14 behind nearly 500 yards of total offense, with 242 of them coming on the ground against a defense that never found an answer. It was the most lopsided loss of Green Bay's young season.
The stakes for Sunday are straightforward. A victory over the Buccaneers would level Green Bay's record at 2-2 and finally add a win in the regulation column. A defeat would mean a 1-3 start, last place in the North, and more ground to make up on a Vikings team that has yet to lose.
The Packers and Buccaneers kick off at 1:00 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Oct. 4, at Raymond James Stadium, with the broadcast on FOX. The Vikings, who handed Green Bay its first loss of the season, host the Miami Dolphins at U.S. Bank Stadium later that day at 4:05 p.m. EDT, also on FOX.
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