Ahead of the Green Bay Packers’ home opener against the Atlanta Falcons at Lambeau Field on Thursday, Amazon Prime’s NFL insider James Palmer shared a few key notes on both teams. Of those, two points stood out.

Palmer suggested that Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr.’s return could prove meaningful for the team. For the Packers, Palmer noted that despite feeling comfortable with the lineup for the night, the team was “thin.” Of course, it was.

The team was missing three players on offense, including their primary running back Josh Jacobs. On the defense, their maestro Micah Parsons is out. The only few advantages the host had were 76,955-strong Lambeau Field and their quarterback Jordan Love, with some games under his name unlike Penix Jr. Before the second half even started, however, the story had flipped upside down.

Penix Jr.’s return became a big reason for the visitors’ 35-14 win, and the Packers ended up with multiple records they didn’t want and a Lambeau Field that booed away its own team.

A loyal Lambeau Field turns on the Packers

Of the 32 NFL teams, the Packers have the most loyal and patient fans of all. But many facts from Thursday night’s loss tested the same patience. After all, they were going against one of the worst teams (0-2) this season whose primary quarterback was making a debut after a long injury break.

The frustration was clear. The Green Bay Packers were booed off the field at halftime and continued to hear heavy boos throughout the second half when the team was offensively breaking down. The reaction intensified after Atlanta outgained Green Bay 242-17 on the ground and scored 27 unanswered points during the 35-14 blowout win. That response also reached the players.

“Everyone pictures Lambeau Field and not boos. I don’t picture boos when I picture my home stadium. That’s tough,” Tucker Kraft, Packers tight end, addressed the boos after the game. “It’s pretty disappointing, especially for a home opener… It’s not going to help us win. I don’t know what people think, that’s going to rally us or something like that. It’d be much easier with the 70,000 people behind us rather than opposing us.”

Wide receiver Christian Watson, who caught the first touchdown pass for the night, did understand the fans’ frustrations.

“It’s tough,” said Watson, who had seven catches for 96 yards and a touchdown. “But at the end of the day, it’s an entertainment business, so we have to put a better product out on the field if we want to have the fans have our back. Obviously, we like to think that the fans will be there through the ups and downs, but we’ve got to put out a better performance than that.”

Meanwhile, head coach Matt LaFleur could not put a finger on what makes their offense strong to begin with.

HC addressed the Packers’ offensive issues 

Despite the team lacking three players on their offense, QB Jordan Love was sacked only once. But his 12 QB pressures turned deadly for the team.

In the first three games, Love has completed just 52 percent of his passes, the second-lowest for the Packers in the last 20 years. But Love was under constant threat from the Atlanta defense, getting pressured on 42% of his dropbacks per Next Gen Stats. As a result, he threw 28-of-53 for 312 passing yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. And then there’s the team’s running game.

The Packers’ run game was so ineffective that they ran the ball only nine times, including Love’s scramble, for a measly 17 yards. Love’s pass-run ratio was also alarming, posting 54 dropbacks against 9 pressures. But LaFleur did not shy away from putting the blame.

“I don’t wanna put all the blame on the offensive line; I mean, there’s plenty of land to go around,” head coach Matt LaFleur said during the post-game press conference. “We gotta catch the ball better; certainly, there are some throws that I think (Jordan) Love would love to have back, just like there are some play calls that I would love to have back.”

Meanwhile, the QB only wanted to take the positives from a night filled with negatives.

“We’re very frustrated tonight with the performance,” said Love. “But I think the positive is knowing that there’s still a lot of ball out there for us, and I think as a unit, we’ve all got to stick together.

“I think we always look back to the 2023 season, my first year starting, it didn’t start well that season as well. And we started figuring stuff out, started getting rolling, and we got hot. So there’s still a lot of ball out there in front of us. No one’s throwing in the towel at all. It’s just, we’ve got a lot of work to do to get better as a team and as an offense. So, it’s just about continuing to find the positives of what we’re doing.”

While offense collapsed and the defense failed to show up, the Packers’ penalties also became their biggest enemies.

The penalty issues really hurt the Packers 

Looking deeper into the Green Bay Packers’ start to the season, their discipline — or the lack thereof — has become a concern. After two games of the 2026 regular season, the Green Bay Packers had a league-high 26 accepted penalties, five more than the New York Jets’ 21. When declined and offsetting penalties are included, the total number of flags thrown against Green Bay rises to 32.

The number is also noticeably higher than last season. The Green Bay Packers had 134 total flags thrown against them in 2025, with 112 counting as accepted penalties. That worked out to roughly eight flags per game. This season, that figure has climbed to 13 flags per game through the first two contests. On Thursday, one of the game’s more costly penalties came during a critical third-down play early in the first quarter.

Green Bay Packers edge rusher Brenton Cox Jr. rushed Michael Penix Jr. and made helmet-to-helmet contact, resulting in an immediate roughing-the-passer penalty that cost the team a score.

Instead of forcing a fourth-down stop and getting off the field, the Green Bay Packers gave the Atlanta Falcons 15 yards and an automatic first down. Atlanta took advantage on the very next play, with Bijan Robinson breaking free for a 55-yard touchdown run that swung the momentum. Beyond the impact on the game, Cox could now face a $17,911 fine from the NFL’s player-safety process.

Micah Parsons’ brother questions a call on the field

In the second quarter, Atlanta Falcons linebacker Divine Deablo tackled Love near the Green Bay end zone, causing the ball to pop loose. The on-field officials initially ruled the play a fumble, with the Atlanta Falcons recovering at the Green Bay 13-yard line and appearing to be in position to score. Replay officials later reviewed the play and overturned the ruling.

They determined that Love’s arm was moving forward in a passing motion when contact occurred. The reversal allowed the Green Bay Packers to retain possession rather than surrendering the turnover. However, confusing broadcast angles led to criticism from some viewers online, including Terrence Parsons Jr., who questioned the decision.

“FUMBLE.?!!! Yeah, this game rigged,” he wrote on X. 

There was certainly plenty to discuss from a turbulent night at Lambeau Field. Still, nobody can take away what Penix Jr. and Bijan Robinson produced on Thursday night.

The Falcons finally fly after a 0-2 run behind Penix Jr. and Bijan Robinson

Bijan Robinson delivered a dominant performance on the ground, finishing with 194 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries. He set the tone early with a 55-yard run that helped set up Atlanta’s first score. Later, he broke loose for a 31-yard sprint in the second half to keep the Green Bay Packers’ defense under pressure.

His combination of patience and power was evident throughout the night. Robinson generated 175 yards after contact and forced eight missed tackles. By matching teammate Drake London’s 194 receiving yards, Robinson also helped create a remarkable statistical night for the Atlanta Falcons, with both players surpassing 190 yards from scrimmage in the same road game for the first time since 1976.

That rushing dominance also opened up opportunities for Michael Penix Jr., who looked increasingly comfortable in his first start back from last season’s ACL injury.

After a difficult 1-for-5 start that included an early interception, Penix Jr. settled down and completed 17 of his next 20 passes. He finished with 256 passing yards and one touchdown, averaging more than 10 yards per pass attempt.

His connection with London repeatedly pushed the Green Bay Packers’ defense downfield and opened up the Atlanta Falcons’ offensive playbook. Penix Jr.’s poise also helped Atlanta convert multiple red-zone opportunities, ending the team’s two-week scoring drought inside the 20-yard line and keeping the Green Bay defense on the field for much of the second half.

But somehow, Penix Jr.’s return was not the only thing that drew attention during the broadcast.

Al Michaels faced heavy fan scrutiny

Al Michaels, who was calling the game alongside Kirk Herbstreit, faced heavy criticism online after a string of early broadcast mistakes during the opening minutes of Thursday Night Football.

While discussing Michael Penix Jr.’s return from his ACL injury, Michaels said Penix had “two great years at Oregon.” In reality, Penix played at the University of Washington, a major Pacific Northwest rival of the University of Oregon. The mistake quickly caught the attention of college football and NFL fans, who only got more of such lapses.

During the same opening drive, Michaels referred to Falcons star running back Bijan Robinson as “Brian Robinson.” He also mispronounced the name of Packers defensive back Bryan Cissé.

Michaels then placed the Atlanta Falcons’ offense at the Green Bay 49-yard line when the team was actually backed up on its own 49-yard line.

Since the mistakes came within the opening minutes, social media reacted quickly. Fans and analysts pointed out the errors, while some posts questioned whether the 81-year-old broadcasting veteran should continue calling games. Michaels later corrected the mistake about Penix Jr.’s college career on air, but the sequence remained one of the early talking points from the broadcast.

It is important to note, however, that the play callers are calling the game live with no chance of backing away from a mistake. The best they can do is hold themselves accountable and correct the mistake, which Michaels did.

Ultimately, the Atlanta Falcons turned a 0-2 start into a statement victory, while the Green Bay Packers were left searching for answers. Hopefully, they will solve their struggles before things get out of hand as they face the third-hardest schedule this season.