The Good, Bad And Ugly From The Packers’ Loss To The Lions
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Green Bay rookie kicker Trey Smack (28) missed two short field goals in the Packers' 20-17 los to Detroit Sunday.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.A kicker that can’t kick.
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A team that continues to lead the NFL in penalties.
And a rushing game that remains stuck in neutral.
These are your 2026 Green Bay Packers, and all those warts were on full display in a 20-17 loss at Detroit Sunday.
The Lions Jake Bates kicked a 22-yard field goal as time expired lifting Detroit to a critical win.
The Packers fell to 4-3 and are in last place in the NFC North behind Minnesota (6-0), Chicago (5-2) and Detroit (4-2).
Here’s the ‘Good, Bad and Ugly’ from the Packers’ loss, starting with the UGLY.
THE UGLY
TIME’S UP: The Packers fancy themselves as Super Bowl contenders.
We’ll see if that winds up being the case over the next 11 weeks. But one thing’s for sure, you can’t be the NFL’s worst team at anything and think you’re going to the Super Bowl.
And right now, Green Bay has the NFL’s worst kicker in rookie Trey Smack.
Smack missed a 26-yard field goal on Green Bay’s opening drive, the shortest missed kick in the NFL this season. Then with the game tied at 17 with 3:25 left, Smack missed a 35-yard field goal.
The 26- and 35-yarder are two of the three shortest misses of the season. And while the 35-yarder was technically labeled a blocked field goal, Smack didn’t get the necessary elevation on the kick, allowing Detroit’s D.J. Wonnum to get a finger on it.
Smack is now 11-of-16 on field goals this season and all five of his misses have been inside of 50 yards. He’s also 13-of-15 on extra points, meaning he’s 24-of-31 on all kicks (77.4%), the worst in football.
Last year, Brandon McManus was 56-of-63 on all regular season kicks (88.9%). In 2023, rookie Andres Carlson was 61 of 72 (84.7%).
Both men were fired when the season ended.
Green Bay can’t wait until January to fire Smack. He’s a liability the Packers can no longer live with.
His time should be up.
WASTED CHANCES: In addition to Smack missing a chip shot field goal, the Packers trailed, 10-7, late in the first half and had a fourth-and-4 at the Lions’ 7-yard line.
The always emotional LaFleur chose to go for it instead of taking certain points — even with a kicker as inept as Smack.
Love threw in the right flat to Golden, who was immediately dropped for no gain and the Packers came away with nothing.
That left Green Bay with two drives inside Detroit’s 10-yard line and no points to show for it.
Chasing points at the end of the game is one thing. But the Packers certainly didn’t need to do so in the second quarter.
It was another losing decision by LaFleur that led to Green Bay’s eventual defeat.
THE BAD
WHAT ARE WE DOING?: In Green Bay’s Week 6 win over Dallas, edge rusher Lukas Van Ness was hit with one of the softest roughing the passer penalties in NFL history. This week, edge Brenton Cox has hit with a roughing the passer call almost as crazy.
Cox did make contact with Goff roughly a full second after Detroit’s quarterback released a pass, but it was with about as much force as a car that had fully hit the brakes. Cox was largely trying to stop himself and used Goff more as a brace than trying to hit the quarterback.
“That’s absurd,” FOX play by play man Kevin Burkhardt said.
It most certainly was.
Instead, a roughing the passer penalty was called, just the latest chapter of the NFL turning this once great game into a version of flag football.
FROM THE INFIRMARY: Packers center Sean Rhyan went down on the first series with an ankle injury and didn’t return. Jacob Monk replaced Rhyan and immediately left with a quadriceps injury and was lost for the rest of the game, as well.
THIS AND THAT: The Packers had to burn a timeout just 2 minutes, 21 seconds into the game when they couldn’t get a play off in time. … Aidan Hutchinson whipped left tackle Jordan Morgan and sacked Love for a 10-yard loss early in the second quarter. … McDuffie was flagged for unnecessary roughness midway through the second quarter, giving the Lions a first and goal on Green Bay’s 6-yard line. … Packers cornerback Brandon Cisse appeared to have his second interception of the season late in the third quarter, but the play was nullified when Cisse was flagged for defensive pass interference. … Matthew Golden, who ranks among the NFL leaders in dropped passes, had a bad drop in the third quarter that cost the Packers about 25 yards.
THE GOOD
JOSH JACOBS: Green Bay’s veteran running back missed the first six games of the season because he was on the commissioner’s exempt list.
The return of Jacobs couldn’t save Green Bay’s running game. Jacobs had 11 carries for 36 yards (3.3) and the Packers ran for 60 yards on 19 carries (3.2).
But Jacobs had five catches for 55 yards, including a 25-yard, third quarter touchdown. On that play, Jacobs broke a pair of tackles down the left sideline, somehow maintained his balance without stepping out of bounds and scored.
Jacobs later dropped a fourth quarter, go-ahead touchdown, but overall his return was a lift.
“Just trying to get back to the flow of the guys, simple stuff like being in the huddle, listening to the play call and going out there and executing within that five-second, six-second span,” Jacobs said this week. “And also just getting back in the flow of the guys. All I’m trying to do is get prepared to play if they let me.”
ISAIAH MCDUFFIE: It seems like much of Packer Nation wants to move on from McDuffie every offseason.
While the veteran linebacker is far from flashy, he’s as reliable as cast iron cookware.
McDuffie was part of two turnover play Sunday that were huge in keeping the Packers in the game.
First, Detroit put together a 12-play, 85-yard drive at the end of the first half and seemed poised to add to its 10-7 lead.
On second-and-10 from Green Bay’s 12, though, McDuffie was credited with forcing a fumble on running back Jahmyr Gibbs that edge Brenton Cox recovered.
Instead of leading, 13-7, or 17-7 at halftime, Detroit’s lead remained 10-7 at the break.
Then on the second play of the third quarter, Lions quarterback Jared Goff fumbled a snap, the ball squirted to McDuffie who smartly fell on it.
Five plays later, Love hit Jacobs with a 25-yard touchdown pass to give Green Bay a 14-10 lead.
JOHN WILLIAMS: Williams, a seventh round draft pick in 2025, was strictly a left tackle at Cincinnati.
Last season, Williams spent the entire year on the injured reserve list with a back injury.
Williams had yet to play a snap from scrimmage in his NFL career before Sunday, but took over at center when Green Bay lost both starter Sean Rhyan (ankle) and backup Jacob Monk (quad) early in the game.
Williams seemingly held up just fine, though, working well with Love and helping the Packers put up 324 total yards, including 274 through the air.
It’s far too early to say if Williams has any kind of future, but he was certainly ready when his name was called Sunday.
HEADY ROOKIE: Green Bay rookie cornerback Brandon Cisse is just 21 years old, but he made a play of a 10-year veteran late in the third quarter.
Lions wideout Jameson Williams hauled in what would have been a 6-yard touchdown in the back of the endzone on a fourth down play. As Williams high-pointed the ball, though, Cisse drove him out of the back of the endzone.
Williams couldn’t get his feet down, meaning the pass was incomplete and Green Bay took over.
This article was originally published on Forbes.com