The Green Bay Packers traveled to face off against the New England Patriots on Sunday afternoon, and they were in control the entire time. With a commanding 45-27 win over the reigning AFC champions, the Packers find themselves 6-3 after 9 weeks of play. Let’s dive in and take a look at what worked this week.
Winner: Xavier McKinney
S Xavier McKinney logged his second multi-interception game of the season, and that’s about enough to name him a winner this week. McKinney is up to 5 picks on the season, his most since 2024
(8).
Winner: Matthew Golden
WR Matthew Golden had 6 catches for 126 yards…by the end of the first quarter. Not only is this a career high in a game for Golden, but it’s also the most receiving yards by any player in one quarter so far this season. He was wide open, pretty much at all times, which led to big gain after big gain.
We saw firsthand on Sunday exactly why the Packers selected Golden in the first round of the draft last year. As a result of his growing chemistry with his quarterback, he had the honor of becoming the answer to the trivia question “Who caught Jordan Love’s 100th career TD pass?”
Golden finished the day catching all 10 targets for 164 yards and 1 TD. And the WR success didn’t stop with him.
Winner: Christian Watson
Death. Taxes. WR Christian Watson was wide open. Watson showed us some gorgeous stuff on Sunday, including this one-handed catch which he made look absolutely effortless.
He had another incredible catch later in the game to get the Packers close to the endzone (I think this should’ve been ruled a TD, but IT’S FINE, I’M FINE).
Watson finished the day catching 7 of 8 targets for 171 yards and 1 TD. Who needs Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins when you have Christian Watson and Matthew Golden?
Winner: Evan Williams
If S Evan Williams isn’t First Team All-Pro by the end of this season, something has gone very, very wrong. He was all over the field on Sunday: getting after Patriots QB Drake Maye and forcing quick throws, making big tackles at the point of catch, and coming down with one of the most impressive interceptions I’ve seen all year. I mean, look at this!
We all held our breath as he was slow to get up after a scary play in the second half, but he came back into the game and continued right where he left off: haunting Drake Maye. Williams finished the day with 5 tackles, 1 INT, and 1 PD. It all started to make sense when Tom Brady announced during the broadcast that Williams’ mom, Dani, babysat Brady when he was a child. Brady clearly got his power from Dani Williams, and so did Evan.
Winner: Kaleb Johnson
For the first time this season, we finally get to say THE PACKERS RUN GAME HELPED THEM OUT TODAY, kind of. The offense had 129 yards on the ground today, and Kaleb Johnson accounted for 68 of them on 14 carries. He had the team’s biggest run of the day with a 34 yarder to open the 4th quarter. Also, Baby’s First Touchdown!
Redeemed: Trey Smack
SMACK IS BACK (for now). After a rough couple of weeks which caused me to make an emergency visit to my hair colorist to get rid of some grays, the Packers rookie K was perfect against the Patriots. He made all 4 XPs, and made 3 more FGs, with a long of 51. Let’s do this again next week.
Winner: Jordan Love
Do you hear that? The MVP chants…they’re getting louder. QB Jordan Love was absolutely incredible on Sunday. He used his legs to escape a collapsing pocket, and scored the team’s first TD of the game. From there, it was nothing but the Air Show. The unfortunate victim this week was the NFL’s highest paid DB, Christian Gonzalez. Love picked a good time to be a walking highlight reel. Here you go:
There’s more.
Please remain seated; we’re not finished.
Almost done!
You’re welcome.
Love finished the day 23 of 29 (79%) for 372 yards and 3 passing TDs, with another 13 yards and 1 TD on the ground, for a 153.2 rating.
Loser: Josh Jacobs
The RB finished the day with 4 carries for 5 yards before exiting with a hand injury. He also pled no contest to battery in September after a May 2026 incident involving his former girlfriend.
Despite being 6-3, the Packers are sitting at the bottom of the toughest division in football, leaving little room for error as they head into the second half of the season. Next week is a big one, as they head back home to face off against the Minnesota Vikings, who are 6-1 at the time of publication. After an embarrassing Week 1 loss to Minnesota, can the Packers redeem themselves and flip the NFC North on its head in the process?
