Green Bay will travel to New England for a Nov. 8 game between two teams each at 5-3.
Packers offense vs. Patriots defense
How tough is Christian Watson? In a scene straight out of “WWE Smackdown,” Watson left the last game in an ambulance, was treated at the hospital and returned to the stadium an hour later in full uniform.
Watson returned to the lineup to a raucous ovation. He revealed after the game that he is going to play with a fractured rib, and he finished the game against Carolina with a critical third down conversion. Watson went over 100 yards receiving on the night and has emerged as a go-to player in the passing game after receiving a contract extension in the offseason.
Matthew Golden shook off some early drops and had a nice night as well, including a 24-yard touchdown to help open up the Packers’ lead on the scoreboard.
Ultimately, the Packers offense rises and sets with Jordan Love. Love was responsible for just under 82% of Green Bay’s total yardage Oct. 29. The offensive line still is not very good. The run game has not been resurrected with the presence of Josh Jacobs.
Jacobs had some more issues rise with more reporting surrounding his current legal situation.
The NFL is monitoring that situation, and that makes Jacobs’ status uncertain.
If he’s on the field, not much has changed for the Packers on the ground. They’re still not able to move the ball much when they turn to their ground game.
On the offensive line, Aaron Banks returned and took his spot at left guard, which shifted Laken Tomlinson to right guard. Barring an injury during the week, that seems to be the likely guard combination when the Packers head to New England.
New England has a powerful front that is built around Milton Williams and Christian Barmore.
The two defensive tackles are very disruptive with four sacks between them.
Rookie Gabe Jacas has been a find for the Patriots as well; he’s coming off a game where he had 1.5 sacks against Malik Willis. The Patriots have 22 sacks as a team and just brought down Willis five times.
When the ball does go in the air, Christian Gonzalez is one of the best cornerbacks in football.
This defense has plenty of personnel to be a very stiff test for Green Bay’s offense.
Packers defense vs. Patriots offense
Green Bay’s defense continues to dazzle without Micah Parsons. The pass rush is coming off arguably its best game of the season. The Packers had six sacks from six different players against Carolina.
New England’s offensive line struggled to finish the 2025 season, with a disastrous performance in the Super Bowl. They’ve been better to start this season, but Drake Maye still entered play on Sunday having been sacked 13 times this year. He was sacked three more times by the Dolphins on Sunday. There is some potential for the Packers defense to get after Maye.
Maye is an excellent quarterback, but he’s had some issues taking care of the ball. He has thrown eight interceptions this season and has given other opportunities to the defense.
Maye is playing short-handed at the moment as well. New England’s prime acquisition this offseason was wide receiver AJ Brown. Brown missed Sunday’s game against Miami with a knee injury that has bothered him over the years. He may be banged up going into Sunday’s game.
Former Packer Romeo Doubs is on injured reserve and will miss this game. Hunter Henry was struggling with an injury on Sunday as well, which could make his status for Sunday’s game uncertain.
Jonathan Gannon’s group should feel good about their chances of having a big day.
Special teams
The Packers have a problem at kicker. Trey Smack leads the league with eight missed kicks on the season after adding another to his total with a missed extra point after Green Bay’s first touchdown of the game.
The Packers are coming off one of their worst special teams games in terms of catastrophic mistakes.
Smack missed a PAT, and Coleman Owen, who is filling in for the injured Skyy Moore, fumbled the opening kickoff to give away Green Bay’s first possession of the game. They were able to weather the storm of those two mistakes, but the Patriots are a much better team than the Panthers.
The Patriots are solid in the kicking game and a well-coached group all around with Mike Vrabel leading the charge as the head coach. Kyle Williams and Corey Kiner have both been solid as kick returners during the season. This should be a good test for the Packers special teams, which have been up and down throughout the year.
