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ZONE COVERAGE
By Parker Boho – September 6, 2026
What Does A Successful Start To the Season Look Like For the Packers?
The Green Bay Packers’ season is going to be a little different than usual this year.
There will be two clear acts. Most NFL seasons can be divided into quarters, or before and after the bye. However, there aren’t significant roster changes at those points. Green Bay will have one that will change the entire team – Pre-Micah and when Micah Parsons returns. The team’s process and the quality of the roster will be completely different before and after.
With that being the case, we must judge a successful start to the season a bit differently than the rest of the season. So, what does success look like for Green Bay through the first five to seven games, and how do they achieve that success?
Let’s start with the schedule. Parsons is out for at least the first four games, which are:
@ Minnesota Vikings
@ New York Jets
Atlanta Falcons (Thursday Night)
@ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Three of four games on the road are tough, but none will be against last season’s playoff teams. In the first three games, Green Bay will be diving into a bit of an unknown.
The Vikings and Jets have new QBs, and the Falcons have a new head coach and potentially a new QB. That could be good or bad for the Packers. Still, given Green Bay’s roster continuity, it should ultimately be an advantage. With that, you’d hope they can come out of those three games 3-0.
If they get out of Minnesota with a win, I think that’s very possible. If they finish the first three 2-1, then the matchup against Tampa becomes the swing game that determines whether the opening stretch is a success. Tampa had a disappointing season last year but brought back most of the staff and team, so they will have much continuity similar to Green Bay.
Coming out of one of the easier stretches of the schedule at 2-2 would be disappointing, but they can still have a successful start. They have the Chicago Bears Week 5, and that could swing the first five back in a positive direction, but everyone would be anxious that entire week. Week 6 against Parsons’ former team is reportedly his “most optimistic” target return date.
Ultimately, if the Packers have a winning record without Parsons, it will have been a positive start to the season.
Still, record isn’t everything. There are other things we want to see from the team to help determine whether the opening stretch is a success. First, Green Bay will likely have to win games with offense until Parsons returns. A lot of that will depend on the quality of the offensive line play.
Green Bay’s O-line is one of the more questionable units on the team. There are even questions about whether two of their projected starters, Zach Bako-Bewele and Aaron Banks, will even be ready in Week 1. Unfortunately, the NFL gods aren’t giving them any favors – they get Brian Flores in their first game.
Green Bay’s offensive line isn’t going to be awesome immediately. Still, if it’s good enough to let the offense open up early and continue improving every game, it will be a successful start.
The other thing I will be looking at with the O-line is whether Green Bay’s coaching staff makes the right decision with the starting right guard. Right now, it seems like Jacob Monk is the leading candidate, which is a bit unsettling.
Monk hasn’t shown much in his first few seasons in the NFL, but Green Bay’s staff sees something in him. He has mainly played with the 1s in practice for several weeks now, even though they took Anthony Belton in the second round and started him there last season.
The coaching staff has made some curious decisions regarding the offensive line in recent seasons, so if this doesn’t work, it will be heavily criticized.
On defense, it’s going to be about the corners and pass rush. Can the pass rush be good enough until Parsons returns, and can the corners hold up long enough to let them get home? Much like the offensive line, the defense will be about just being good enough and getting better. They’ll get a game-changing boost eventually, but until then they just need to hold up.
The Packers don’t need to be perfect. They have enough talent to win games without Parsons. It won’t be the end of the world if they don’t have the hottest start, but being good enough and improving in spots that a Micah Parsons return won’t save will be crucial.
