Packers Survive the Jets in Overtime After a 199-Yard Night

Trey Smack’s 26-yard field goal beat the New York Jets 20-17 in overtime Sunday, the last of 13 unanswered Packers points on a 199-yard night at rainy MetLife Stadium. Green Bay is 1-1 and off a 287-day losing streak. Jayden Reed, carted off on a spine board on the second play, stayed overnight in a New Jersey hospital.

Jordan Love threw two touchdown passes and the Packers converted 1-of-9 third downs. They fumbled five times and lost one. The Jets stacked 285 yards and a 17-7 lead in the fourth quarter, then ran themselves out of their home opener.

199 Yards Were Enough for 13 Unanswered Points

New York held Green Bay to 199 yards and still lost, because the visitors scored the game’s last 13 points after sitting on 7 through three quarters. Love finished 16-of-29 for 145 yards, two scores, and a 91.9 rating, with three sacks. Kaleb Johnson led the rush with 32 yards on eight carries. Matthew Golden caught four balls for 58 yards, and Christian Watson had four for 41 and the touchdown that made it 17-14.

The Jets posted 285 yards and kept the ball for 37 minutes, 40 seconds. Geno Smith went 27-of-41 for 247 yards and a score. Breece Hall was held to 29 yards on 16 carries. Adonai Mitchell led New York with six catches for 63 yards on 12 targets, and Garrett Wilson had five for 57 and a touchdown.

METLIFE BY THE NUMBERS

The Jets’ box score charged Green Bay with 14 penalties for 133 yards and New York with 13 for 156, a combined 27 flags and 289 yards in paint. That is more flag yardage than Green Bay gained on offense. The Packers still found 10 points in the fourth quarter and three in overtime, and they walked out 1-1 instead of into their first 0-2 start since 2006.

Jayden Reed Stayed Overnight After a Spine-Board Exit

Reed caught a swing pass for 4 yards on Green Bay’s second snap and met Jets linebacker Demario Davis shoulder-first. His arms went limp, the ball came out, and he stayed down. Trainers from both clubs worked on him for several minutes, strapped his helmet to a backboard, and rolled him to a cart as the Packers bench emptied around him. He was ruled out on the spot.

Matt LaFleur, the Packers’ head coach, said after the game that Reed had movement in all his extremities and would not fly home with the team. “He’s got movement in all his extremities. He will be staying overnight. That was a very scary deal,” LaFleur said. Safety Evan Williams told reporters he saw a little movement and heard Reed talking on the board.

Update: WR Jayden Reed has feeling and movement in all extremities. He will stay overnight for further testing and observation.

— Green Bay Packers (@packers) September 20, 2026

Reed posted later Sunday from his own account.

Doing much better, appreciate all the prayers and support 🙏🏾 #GPG🧀

— j.reed11💂🏾 (@JaydenReed5) September 20, 2026

The next play took right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele, whose right leg went into an air cast before he too left on a cart. LaFleur said that injury “could be out for a long time.” Guard Aaron Banks (toe) and guard Donovan Jennings (hand) also left. Love had already lost his top receiver and a starting tackle before Green Bay recorded a first down.

WHO DID NOT FINISH

• Jayden Reed: Neck injury on the second snap, spine board, overnight observation in New Jersey, movement in all extremities.
• Zach Bako-Bewele: Right knee on the next play, carted off in an air cast, no timetable from LaFleur beyond a long absence.
• Aaron Banks: Toe, listed questionable after halftime, with Jennings replacing him at left guard.
• Donovan Jennings: Hand, also questionable, as Green Bay shuffled Jacob Monk and Jager Burton into the same hole.

Reed’s one catch was his only target. Watson saw 11 throws in the vacuum, and Golden became the downfield option on the drive that cut the deficit to three. The Packers will sort the medicals before they host Atlanta; the win does not put Reed on the plane.

Who Stopped the Jets on Fourth-and-1?

Lukas Van Ness, Green Bay’s fourth-year edge, stuffed Braelon Allen for no gain on fourth-and-1 from midfield in a 17-17 game, then helped sack Smith on the second snap of overtime after Barryn Sorrell dropped him on first down. Van Ness finished with 10 tackles, six solo, 1.5 sacks, three tackles for loss, and four quarterback hits. Next Gen Stats credited him with a career-high nine pressures, five of them in under 2.5 seconds.

He is the 13th overall pick in 2023, the selection Green Bay took from the Jets in the Aaron Rodgers trade, and the Packers picked up his fifth-year option at almost $14 million. Micah Parsons has not played this season and is eligible to start practicing in the coming days. Until he does, Van Ness is the closer on a defense that last week watched Minnesota score 29 straight in a 39-22 loss.

We had called a pressure from the right side, so I was able to kind of tighten down and I saw the back step up and before I knew it, I was kind of was able to just sneak through the backfield and come clean and obviously was a huge turning point in the game

Lukas Van Ness, Packers edge rusher, after the win at MetLife Stadium

Love said Van Ness “was flying around and making a lot of plays.” LaFleur called him all over the place and coming into his own. Tight end Tucker Kraft, who practices against him, put it shorter: “He’s a dog.” The sequence that mattered was simpler than the quotes. Van Ness tackled Wilson short on second down, stood Hall up on third-and-2, then beat tight end Jeremy Ruckert inside and met Allen in the backfield.

Green Bay took over at midfield with under two minutes left and went backward, including a sack of Love as regulation expired. Overtime opened with the Jets winning the toss and choosing to receive, then giving the yards back. Sorrell’s sack, Van Ness’s sack, and a false start on Isaiah Williams walked New York toward its own end zone. The punt that followed was the invitation Smack needed.

The Kicker Green Bay Traded Up to Draft

Smack, the Florida kicker taken 216th overall after Green Bay traded up with Seattle, is 5-for-5 on field goals this season. He hit a 59-yarder in the Week 1 loss at Minnesota, then went 2-for-2 on kicks and 2-for-2 on extra points Sunday, good for eight points. The 34-yarder that tied the game at 17 came after Skyy Moore’s 63-yard punt return, four Packers snaps that gained almost nothing, and 2:59 left in regulation.

The winner was shorter. Love’s offense, quiet for most of three hours, finally moved after the Jets’ three-and-out. Johnson ran for 11. Chris Brooks caught a 15-yard swing pass, with 15 more on a late hit by Jarvis Brownlee Jr. Golden’s 14-yard catch put the ball at the 8. LaFleur sent the kicking unit out rather than hunt a touchdown, and Smack drilled the 26-yarder with 5:23 left in overtime, capping a 58-yard overtime drive of five plays in 2:06.

Aaron Glenn, the Jets’ coach, did not hedge on the Brownlee flag that helped set up the kick. “It just can’t happen,” Glenn said. “We can’t let our emotions get the best of us in a situation like that.” Smack is 23, 6-foot-1, 188 pounds, out of Severna Park, Maryland, and the first kicker off the 2026 board. For one afternoon in the rain, the sixth-round bet was the entire offense.

New York Ran 27 Times for 67 Yards

Hall and Allen had just run for 152 yards on 39 carries in the opener at Tennessee. Against Green Bay they managed 67 yards on 27 rushes as a team, Hall at 1.8 yards per carry and Allen at 7 yards on five attempts, the longest a 5-yard touchdown. Hall also caught five passes for 63 yards, including a 43-yarder on third-and-12 that still produced no points.

The call that will follow them is the one at the 50. Hall was short on a third-and-2 draw. Glenn went for it, and Allen met Van Ness and Jonathan Ford for no gain. “We just didn’t get it, bro,” Hall said. Right guard Joe Tippmann put the afternoon in the same bin. “Put it to bed and we gotta go see what we can clean up,” he said.

Minkah Fitzpatrick was inactive. Kingsley Enagbare, a former Packer, forced the only fumble New York recovered, MarShawn Lloyd’s, and Harrison Phillips fell on it at the Green Bay 19, which became Jason Sanders’s 32-yard field goal and a 17-7 lead with 11:04 left. Azareye’h Thomas then drew a 38-yard pass-interference flag on first-and-25, the chunk that let Love hit Watson from 3 yards and start the comeback. The Jets are 1-1 and still looking for their first 2-0 start since 2015.

HOW SUNDAY’S POINTS LANDED

1. 9:35 remaining, second quarter: Love hits Lloyd on a 6-yard screen, Lloyd’s first NFL touchdown. Packers 7, Jets 0.
2. 6:04 remaining, second quarter: Allen scores from 5 yards, capping a seven-play, 70-yard drive. Tied 7-7.
3. 2:30 remaining, third quarter: Smith finds Wilson from 5 yards after a Van Ness roughing flag. Jets 14-7.
4. 11:04 remaining, fourth quarter: Sanders hits from 32 yards after Lloyd’s fumble. Jets 17-7.
5. 7:58 remaining, fourth quarter: Love throws a 3-yard score to Watson. Jets 17-14.
6. 2:59 remaining, fourth quarter: Smack ties it from 34 yards after Moore’s 63-yard return. 17-17.
7. 5:23 remaining, overtime: Smack wins it from 26 yards. Packers 20, Jets 17.

The first quarter had six punts and five first downs. J. Michael Sturdivant, on his first NFL snap, forced a muffed punt. Both clubs spent long stretches going three-and-out. The scoring condensed into a sloppy second half, then a five-play overtime drive Green Bay could not have scripted in the first hour.

Lambeau Hosts Atlanta on Thursday Night

The Packers play the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday, September 24, at 7:15 p.m. CT on Prime Video at Lambeau Field. Atlanta is 0-2. Green Bay will do that without a settled right tackle if Bako-Bewele is done for a stretch, and without Reed until the hospital and the trainers say otherwise. Banks and Jennings are already in the medical pile, which is why Monk and Burton saw the same left guard spot on Sunday.

Last week in Minneapolis the Packers gave up the final 29 points. On Sunday they scored the final 13, which is progress measured only against themselves. The pass rush finished a game the offense could not sustain, and a rookie kicker ended 287 days without a win. Reed remained in a New Jersey hospital with feeling in his arms and legs. Smack disappeared under a pile of green jerseys in the rain.