Three weeks into the 2026 NFL season, the Green Bay Packers were 1-2, coming off the eve of an embarrassing 35-14 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, and their issues were clear.
Quarterback Jordan Love was pressured to the end in his first offensive snap of the season. Thursday night football game against Atlanta at home. The numbers and charting data back that up, as Love has been pressured on 44.4% of dropbacks behind Bryce Young, Caleb Williams and Deshaun Watson through the first two weeks, according to Pro Football Focus.
And on those downs, Love completed just 36% for 300 yards, zero touchdowns and a pair of interceptions.
That led to some additions on the offensive line, as the Packers bounced back from that Thursday-night loss and entered something of a welcome bye week. Green Bay added a trio of veterans in Laken Tomlinson, Miki Becton and Kevin Zeitler to help bolster the team.
Tomlinson entered the starting lineup at left guard for Green Bay’s Week 4 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. While he was the only one of the three additions to see the field — Becton remains on the practice squad and Zeitler, who was active for Week 5 against the Chicago Bears, was behind Travis Glover on the depth chart for that game — the offensive line appears to have turned the corner.
Consider this. Love was one of the most loaded quarterbacks in the NFL until Week 3, but since then the narrative has completely changed. In Weeks 4 and 5, Love was pressed on just 13 of 65 snaps, or 20%, according to Pro Football Focus.
Of the 34 quarterbacks who played in Weeks 4 and 5, that was the lowest percentage rate across the NFL.
And it’s not as if Matt LaFleur and the Packers’ coaching staff suddenly leaned into the passing game in an effort to get the ball out of Love’s hands. In this latest two-game stretch, Love has attempted 13 deep route concepts that require more time in the pocket, 20 yards downfield or more.
Only Jameis Winston has attempted more.
To drive this point home, consider the first game the Packers ran against the Bears on Sunday. Leaning on their own end of the field, lined up lovingly in the end zone and in the shadow of the goal posts, LaFleur and offensive coordinator Adam Stanavich … Tucker Kraft, who ends with a slow-growing flea-flicker call:
It’s not exactly a lack of confidence in the defense when you have this on top of the game script.
Speaking to the media in Green Bay on Tuesday, Stanavich said of that game:
The Packers first hit Christian Watson on this deep pass and got out of game-action. We’ll come back to that point in a bit, but first, take a look at Tomlinson on the inside, helping out Sean Ryan first and guarding Jordan Morgan on the left side:
The Bears really put the pressure on this game, killing both Tyrique Stevenson and Jaylon Johnson off the edge, but the line did enough to make Love’s Chicago defense pay.
Love again punishes Chicago’s defense with this straight shot to Watson, who pays two deep safeties. The route concept, with three vertical lines on the left side of the formation, helps linebacker DeMarco Jackson try to “carry” Watson’s vertical route and when the wide receiver splits them, a Cover 2 safety in the middle of the field helps.
After the quarterback started a quick fake throw, he saw the coverage and turned his eyes to Watson, as if the guard was holding him in front of him.
Now, as mentioned above, it’s time to get back to the game-action parts at work here. All three of these examples contain some degree of running action – a flea-flicker, a fake run, and then a fake throw in the third moment.
Through the first three weeks of the season, Love and the Packers have used 18.8% drop plays, which ranks 35th out of 37 qualifying snaps. According to Pro Football Focus, only Jalen Harts and Cooper Rush used game-action from Weeks 1 through 3.
Love used play-action on 30.6% of his snaps, ranking 13th in the league at that rate. And on those plays, Love consistently completed 25-of-32 passes for 424 yards (78.1% completion percentage) and three touchdowns. He also averaged 13.3 yards per attempt, second only to Lamar Jackson over the past two weeks.
Against Chicago alone, 41.2% of his passing plays were in game-action, and Love went 12-for-14 for 245 yards and one touchdown.
So these concepts, it seems, helped.
But sometimes, you just need to block some guys, and your quarterback needs to feel comfortable getting into the pocket eventually.
The bears can call it slow progress here. But the offensive line picks up, Love feels comfortable getting into the pocket (something that was missing earlier in the season) and the Packers find themselves in the end zone once again on a hot streak.
After a strong start, the Packers seem to have found their footing, especially up front on the offensive line. And they identified some concepts in the passing game that helped slow down the rush and create some explosiveness in the passing game.
And they’re getting five of their best to go head-to-head with Jordan Love.
There’s an old adage in the NFL that you figure out what went wrong in September, fix it in October, and prepare for a stretch run in November and December.
It looks like the Packers have checked the first two items off their to-do list.