The Green Bay Packers are shaping up to be a favorable Week 2 matchup for the New York Jets in many ways.
Head coach Aaron Glenn has a solid track record against Packers quarterback Jordan Love, while Jets quarterback Geno Smith is undefeated with excellent passing numbers against Packers defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon.
It’s shaping up to be a rainy affair at MetLife Stadium, which seemingly favors a Jets team that appears much more suited for a grounded, ugly game. New York’s offensive line was one of the NFL’s best in Week 1, while Green Bay’s was one of the worst.
The Packers’ four-man rush also continues to struggle without edge rusher Micah Parsons, creating opportunities for the Jets to use their strong pass protection to tee up downfield shots. That’s a dangerous proposition for Green Bay, given that Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson will be matching up with a vulnerable cornerback duo.
There is a lot going the Jets’ way. However, the Packers do have the one advantage that can tilt any football game: They have the higher-ceiling quarterback.
Jordan Love has been inconsistent over his three-plus years as the Packers’ starter, but his peaks are high. Since 2023, he has recorded 24 games with a 100.0+ passer rating, tying Matthew Stafford for the fourth-most, trailing only Lamar Jackson (27), Josh Allen (27), and Jared Goff (30). Jets quarterback Geno Smith has only 16 such performances over that span, tied for the 16th-most.
Across Love’s 24 starts with a 100.0+ passer rating, the Packers racked up a 20-3-1 record. In all other games since 2023, Green Bay is 9-19, including 4-11 on the road.
Love and the Packers are highly beatable if the passing attack is held in check; they simply are not equipped to win in other ways, especially with Micah Parsons currently sidelined. But if the Jets allow him to have an explosive game, he is talented enough to negate the rest of New York’s advantages.
To have that type of performance, Love will have to work around an iffy offensive line and an unproven running back room. He does have one thing going for him, though: a strong group of pass catchers.
The combination of Love and the Packers’ pass catchers is easily the greatest strength on their roster now. Slowing those receivers down will be New York’s biggest challenge in Week 2, just like it was in Week 1 against the Titans.
Tennessee does not have a quarterback of Love’s caliber, but they do have a solid wide receiver unit. Facing off against a questionable Jets cornerback trio, the Titans’ wide receivers were poised to be their most significant advantage heading into Week 1.
Similar to the Packers this week, that advantage had the potential to wipe out many of Tennessee’s disadvantages. If players like Wan’Dale Robinson and Carnell Tate could separate quickly against the Jets’ corners, it would allow Titans quarterback Cam Ward to get the ball out for quick completions, neutralizing the heavy blitz rate that New York was expected to deploy.
Instead, the Jets’ cornerback unit stepped up to the plate and smacked a grand slam, allowing the rest of New York’s baserunners to come home.
Brandon Stephens, Azareye’h Thomas, and slot corner Jarvis Brownlee Jr. banded together for a phenomenal game in coverage. When targeting New York’s corners, Ward was 11 of 19 for 80 yards with one garbage-time touchdown.
That’s a microscopic 4.2 yards per pass attempt, indicating how beautifully the Jets’ corners were able to cover up downfield routes and force Ward to take checkdowns. In fact, outside of the late touchdown allowed by Thomas, the Jets’ corners allowed just one first down across the other 18 passes thrown their way.
With Ward’s safety valves plugged up, the Jets’ blitzes had ample time to get home and harass the young quarterback. New York pressured Ward all game long, consistently flushing him out of the pocket and forcing him to either scramble, throw the ball away, or take a sack.
The Jets need their corners to tip off the same domino effect in Week 2 against Love and the Packers. Glenn figures to blitz heavily once again, as Brian Flores and the Vikings laid a blueprint in Week 1 with their monumental 82.1% blitz rate against Green Bay’s porous offensive line. For those blitzes to work, the corners have to step up and keep the weapons quiet.
As a team, the Packers recorded a receiving grade of 78.6 in Week 1, per Pro Football Focus, ranking third in the NFL, which reflects the high-quality individual performances of the pass-catching unit. Love himself had a mediocre 53.0 passing grade, indicating that the pass catchers helped him out more than vice versa.
Wide receiver Christian Watson did a lot of work for Love, turning a slant pass into an 81-yard touchdown, part of Watson’s six catches for 147 yards and two touchdowns.
Matthew Golden complemented Watson with six catches on a team-high 12 targets for 95 yards. Meanwhile, the Packers’ leading receiver from the 2024 season, Jayden Reed, is still waiting to erupt after an injury-plagued 2025 campaign and a quiet opener (3 catches on 7 targets for 20 yards).
Tight ends Tucker Kraft and Jonnu Smith will pose challenges for the Jets’ linebackers and safeties after combining for five receptions and 115 yards in Week 1, so the rest of the back end has to step up in coverage, too.
Altogether, the Packers’ pass-catching unit combined for one drop across Love’s 39 pass attempts. While Green Bay lacks a superstar headliner (although Watson could become one if he keeps like this), they have one of the deeper and more well-rounded units in the league. That allows a talented quarterback like Love to spray the ball around and make explosive plays all over the field, rather than counting on one player. Defenses have to worry about covering the entire weaponry.
In Week 1, the Jets’ secondary surpassed expectations more than any other unit on the roster. Their overperformance was the main reason New York was able to blow the Titans out rather than squeak by.
Another impressive group of pass-catchers awaits in Week 2, except this time, they will be complemented by a much better quarterback, one who is more likely to punish the defense for mistakes than Ward. As good as the Jets’ coverage was in Week 1, there is no doubt that Ward bailed them out by missing some freebies in key spots. Love is less likely to let the Jets get away with those, even in the rain.
New York needs another standout game from the secondary, specifically the cornerback unit. If the corners step up yet again, this time against a more formidable passing attack, it might be time to start taking them seriously as a strength on the Jets’ roster, rather than a weekly question mark.
For now, one good game against Cam Ward is just that: one good game against Cam Ward. If they back it up against the likes of Love, Watson, Golden, and Reed, New York’s cornerback unit will move one step closer to being viewed as the real deal.
