Coming Out Hot: Packers Must Strike Early
With uncertainties in opponents to start the year, opportunity awaits to start the season
By Luke Leavitt
The Packers enter 2026 with an outlook they didn’t have going into 2025, an easier start to the season. While predicting the strength of a schedule based on previous season’s performance doesn’t always make the most sense. One thing that is certain is the Packers first three opponents all come with question marks.
An early schedule that doesn’t immediately throw them into the teeth of the NFC’s elite is more than a luxury, it’s an opportunity, and one Green Bay absolutely must seize. A fast start isn’t just helpful; it’s foundational to everything this season can become.
Now maybe the Vikings, Jets, and Falcons all come out guns a blazing to begin the year. Just know, they will have to do so all with fresh faces manning the huddle. With Kyler Murray on the Vikings, Geno Smith on the Jets (2nd stint but new coach), and Tua Tagovailoa on the Falcons. Green Bay has a chance to ruin these season debuts.
The importance of coming out hot begins with momentum. Last year’s team proved how dangerous it can be once confidence takes root, but in the Jordan Love era, momentum surely rubs off on the entire team. Green Bay has seemed to hold onto the identity of letting things spiral when faced with adversity.
With a core that is no longer considered very young, the pressure of having something to prove especially with how the previous season ended can really set the tone for what’s to come. Stacking wins builds belief, it all matters to a team that is still defining who it really is.
There’s also the advantage of banking wins before the schedule tightens. The Packers midseason stretch is loaded with elite-caliber opponents, and teams that have each won their division, or made a trip to the playoffs within the last two years. Entering that gauntlet at 5–1 feels entirely different than entering it at say 3–3.
A hot start creates margin for error, the kind of cushion that lets Matt LaFleur stay aggressive and evolve without every Sunday feeling like a referendum. It’s the difference between playing with a lead and playing from behind, not just in games but in the season itself.
Something that Green Bay has made a habit of, making things harder on themselves. Getting off to a hot start while force LaFleur’s card to keep his foot on the gas and not let blown leads be the story of the 2026-27 season.
Starting fast also accelerates the development curve of the offense. Love thrives when he can dictate tempo, and early wins allow LaFleur to lean deeper into his full playbook. When the Packers are ahead, they become the team they were built to be: creative, balanced, and unpredictable. When they’re chasing, they become narrower, easier to defend, and more dependent on heroics. The schedule gives them a chance to establish their identity before the pressure spikes.
And then there’s the psychological edge. Opponents prepare differently for a team that starts 4–0. Suddenly Green Bay becomes the circle-on-the-calendar game again. Suddenly Lambeau feels heavier, louder, more like the fortress it used to be. A hot start changes how the league views the Packers, and how the Packers view themselves.
There is no easy opponent in the NFL, no wins are a guarantee. What is guaranteed is experience, and comfortability in being there before. Green Bay, in a position they haven’t likely been through the past three seasons, will have more experience together than their first few opponents.
That makes the start of this season an opening, a great opportunity. A chance to come out of the gates flaming hot, but with how last season ended, the schedule may have nothing to do with that attitude.
Green Bay has a chance to launch 2026 with clarity, swagger, and momentum, setting the tone for a year that could redefine the first few years of this era. The schedule won’t stay friendly, but if the Packers strike early, it won’t have to.
The packers have absolutely NO BUSINESS starting worse than 3-0 this year🤷♂️ pic.twitter.com/gF1LZNhjKr
— Carson Caldwell (@caldwellcorner_) July 18, 2026
10 things to know about the Packers' 2026 schedule@ticketmaster
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) May 15, 2026
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Luke Leavitt is a Contributor for Cheesehead TV, covering the Green Bay Packers. A Manchester by the Sea, Massachussetts native, Luke is a lifelong Packer fan, and 16-year shareholder. Keep up with Luke on X @LukeLeavitt7
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Comments (11)
Stik75
July 19, 2026 at 10:00 am
Week 4-9 games is a brutal stretch albeit three at home:
At Bucs
Bears
Cowboys
At Lions
Panthers
At Pats
The whole sked by SOS is middle of the Pack but it will likely shake out tougher than on paper.
Fortunately 4 of the last 5 at home.
With any luck the Pack will still be in the hunt.
But it would be nice to sweep the 1st three.
So many variables in play .
Im optimistic and pessimistic at the same time.
Oppy
July 19, 2026 at 08:23 pm
With any luck in the health department, the Packers will sweep the Bears this year.
I say this because the Packer were in triage by the end of the 2025 season.. and in the week 16 game, the Bears held a lead over the Packers for 0 seconds- they never had a lead until the final play of the game.
During the playoff loss, the Bears hit the scoreboard first with a FG in the first quarter. That lasted 4 minutes until Jordan love led a TD drive. The Packers ran up 21-3 by halftime. It wasn't until about 2 minutes left in the 4th that the Bears again took a lead.
A win is a win, and a loss is a loss, and the Bears found a way to take advantage against a struggling Packers team in the two final games, one of which was a playoff loss, which stings.
However.. it took everything they had to manage to scrape together a lead for a total of 6 out of 120 minutes of official game time vs. a depleted Packers team to do it. By the way, they never had a lead in the first meeting when the Packers beat them, either... So the Bears held a lead vs. the Packers for roughly 6 total minutes out of 180 minutes of regulation ball in 2025.
The Bears won so many games on last second flukes in 2025, it's highly unlikely they will replicate that Success. 2025 will be a year of the Bears coming back down to Earth.
dobber
July 20, 2026 at 09:08 am
Yes, I agree: the way the Bears won games in 2025 is not sustainable. The Bears also have turned over a pretty significant number of spots on the roster and it's hard to argue that very many--if any--of those spots improved.
It all comes down to Caleb Williams. If he decides he's interested in playing in and running the offense for the first three quarters of games, they'll be a pretty formidable team. If he continues to have long stretches where he looks disinterested and struggles to hit half his passes, they'll end up in a much tougher spot.
Oppy
July 20, 2026 at 09:32 am
I know the league and the media are enamored with Williams heading into 2026, but he’s really not playing plus football at the qb position. He’s all glimpses and zero consistency at this point. Being able to “pull one out of your hat” in a big moment is definitely a great quality, but as you’ve said, there’s 3 other quarters (and 14 minutes) where career pros win football games.
Leatherhead
July 20, 2026 at 10:27 am
I hate to say this, but I think that Chicago is legit, the HC is legit, and Caleb Williams is legit.
He played all 17 games. He completed 330 passes, 9th in the league. He threw 27 TDs (6th) and only threw 7 interceptions. He had the 4th lowest sack percentage in the league, even better than Love. Overall, this is a guy who throws more than the average QB, gets sacked less, throws more TDs and has fewer interceptions. To me, this adds up to a guy who was above average in his second year.
The Bears were 9th in scoring last year. Given that it was a rookie coach and a second year QB, I'm kind of expecting both of them to be better this year, despite the turnover of the roster.
splitpea1
July 19, 2026 at 10:46 am
It's best to have a mindset where we're taking it game by game. While the first three opponents may be undergoing transition with thir QBs, we still have our own uncertainties with two new coordinators, young unproven pass rushers, and a couple of second-year receivers that are going to need to develop rapidly. Is the tandem of Jacobs and Lloyd going to be ready to start the season? Will Kraft be back to his old self? Is our new kicker making the kicks he should be?...A fast start would be great, but it's just as important that the teams shows growth throughout the season and gains momentum for the playoff push.
Starrbrite
July 19, 2026 at 07:53 pm
Excellent summary Split.
Snap the ball
July 19, 2026 at 10:05 pm
We lost two good receivers.
We can’t afford t get one hurt.
The Vikings or Jets will want to make that happen probably.
T7Steve
July 20, 2026 at 04:09 am
Just get through these games healthy and continue getting healthier and add players as we go.
May as well start out wishing big. Maybe add to wish the Packers won't just play to the level of their competition ever again.
dobber
July 20, 2026 at 09:24 am
"they will have to do so all with fresh faces manning the huddle. With Kyler Murray on the Vikings, Geno Smith on the Jets (2nd stint but new coach), and Tua Tagovailoa on the Falcons."
None of those QBs have ever beaten the Packers, and the Packers have had good success against them in the past. Does that mean anything? Not particularly. But Murray and Smith are on teams in turnover. Tua has the best shot if he can stay on the field. Based on '25, Atlanta can pressure the passer and they have one of the most effective backs in the league in Bijan Robinson.
"There’s also the advantage of banking wins before the schedule tightens."
Yes, we look at the schedule and say those first few games look like the softest stretch on the schedule (based on '25), but you don't win games 3 or 4 at a time. Bottom line is that they can only play the team that's on the schedule that week, and try to be 1-0 each week. There are a few teams on the schedule--Carolina, New England, Chicago--who are looking at some serious regression in '26. There are some--the Rams, Saints, Doughboys--who look greatly improved over '25. We always end up looking back on the season and seeing it in a very different lens from how we looked at it in preseason.
Just win this week's game...then go on to next week. A "hot start" or "hot stretch" is just being successful this way.
WD
July 20, 2026 at 09:26 am
For me the big question marks for the opening of the season are Jacobs and Lloyd.