Sep 20, 2026; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Green Bay Packers wide receiver Christian Watson (9) scores a touchdown during the fourth quarter against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
The Green Bay Packers’ 20-17 overtime win over the New York Jets was far from pretty; the two teams had 27 combined penalties for 289 yards. Green Bay fumbled the ball four times, losing one while the Jets fumbled thrice, recovering all three, but losing precious field position and losing at least three points.
Jets head coach Aaron Glenn’s decision-making is being called into question as well. Not only did New York (1-1) opt to receive the ball in overtime ( and promptly go three-and-out). But after the Packers’ final drive of the fourth quarter stalled out with about one minute remaining, Glenn neglected to use one of his two timeouts to stop the clock. Allowing Green Bay to run the clock down to attempt a Hail Mary before overtime.
The Jets defense did everything that was asked of them; they held the Packers to three on a short field in the fourth quarter off of Skyy Moore’s 66-yard punt return, they sacked Jordan Love three times, and held Green Bay’s rushing attack to 3.5 yards per carry. Even still, penalties such as a 38-yard pass interference penalty on first and 25 in the fourth quarter, or Jarvis Brownlee Jr’s unnecessary roughness foul in overtime, which firmly put the Packers in field goal range, were a black eye on Brian Duker’s unit.
Geno Smith had another fine, if uninspiring, performance under center. He threw his first Jets touchdown since Oct. 23, 2016 to Garrett Wilson but didn’t do much to impress. He took care of the ball and went 27-of-41 but couldn’t lock in the deep ball and often threw behind receivers. Most of these balls were still catchable, but ruined any chance for opportunities for yards after the catch.
In a game that saw 13 punts, Isaiah Williams muffed two and was called for an invalid fair catch signal. New York combined for two yards on returns, and that’s not taking the penalty or lost yardage from the muffs into account. On the other end, Moore returned a punt in the fourth quarter to set up a chip-shot game-tying field goal for Green Bay. Special teams didn’t sink the Jets in terms of missed kicks or return touchdowns, but certainly did in the field position game.
Next up for New York is a team they will have to put up points against. The Detroit Lions have scored 31 points in each of their first two games; if the Jets are to stay above .500 early in the season, Smith, Breece Hall, and the rest of the skill players will need to step up.
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