The Packers' Run Game Is Gone, Josh Jacobs Isn't Coming Back Soon, and Matt LaFleur Is Paying for It

Something broke in Green Bay on Thursday night, and the final score only told half of it. The Atlanta Falcons — winless through two weeks, arguably the worst team in football by the numbers — walked into Lambeau Field and beat the Packers 35-14 on Thursday Night Football. It was Green Bay's first home-opening loss since 2012, snapping a run of 13 straight home-opener victories. Per Yahoo Sports, boos rained down throughout the night, and by the end, Falcons fans were the ones doing the chanting.

Head coach Matt LaFleur didn't dress it up afterward. "It was a butt-whooping," he said. "That was at least three-quarter butt-whooping right there."

But the ugliest number from the night wasn't on the scoreboard. It was 17 — the Packers' total rushing yards. And that figure is the thread that unravels everything else.

The Ground Game Has Disappeared

Green Bay's backfield produced almost nothing against Atlanta. MarShawn Lloyd carried four times for 11 yards; Kaleb Johnson got four carries for six yards. That's it. Jordan Love responded by throwing for 312 yards, but a one-dimensional offense was never going to win a short-week game against a defense selling out to stop the pass.

Zoom out and the problem is systemic, not a one-week blip. Over the last three games, the Packers are averaging just 48.7 rushing yards per contest — a figure that has effectively broken LaFleur's offense, which is built on play-action and balance. Love has attempted 124 passes in three games (65 completions, 52.4%) for 844 yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions, good for an 83.5 passer rating. He's also taken eight sacks and fumbled four times. When a quarterback has to throw 40-plus times a week out of necessity, the efficiency numbers sag — and Love's have.

Jacobs Isn't Walking Through That Door

The reason for the collapse on the ground isn't mysterious. Josh Jacobs, an All-Pro running back and the engine of this offense, remains on the NFL's Commissioner Exempt List. He pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor charges stemming from a May domestic incident, and the league is still pursuing video evidence — a judge denied the victim's request to permanently seal it, and the NFL filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the footage. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport has reported that Jacobs' return is not imminent.

Green Bay built its offensive plan around Jacobs. Without him, the Packers have no reliable early-down option, which forces Love into obvious passing situations and puts a makeshift offensive line under constant stress.

A Compounding Injury Problem

It's not just Jacobs. Micah Parsons is out for at least the first four weeks while working back from last season's ACL tear. Zach Bako-Bewele, the starting right tackle dealing with patellar tendon recovery, was carted off in Week 2, and slot receiver Jayden Reed left that same game on a backboard. The injury report is littered with contributors whose status fluctuates weekly.

The aggregate effect is a team playing below its roster on both sides of the ball. Green Bay is averaging 18.7 points while allowing 30.3 — a minus-11.7 point differential across a 1-2 start that could easily be worse. In fact, the Packers have now lost seven of their last eight games dating back to last season.

What It Means Going Forward

The schedule doesn't offer relief. Tampa Bay, Chicago, Dallas and Detroit are next, and three of those are divisional or NFC tests that will define whether this season spirals. LaFleur's job security is already being openly questioned in local and national coverage, and the Yahoo Sports framing that he "jumps on the hot seat" isn't an outlier.

The path back is narrow but not impossible: get healthier along the offensive line, find any functional run game to take pressure off Love, and hope Parsons' return transforms a defense allowing 30-plus points per game. Until the run game produces more than 17 yards, though, the Packers are asking their quarterback to win games alone — and that's a formula that has already failed them three times in four tries.