​EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – This one stings. Head coach Aaron Glenn admitted as much while still trying to piece together how the Jets, nursing a two-score lead in the fourth quarter against a Packers team with Super Bowl aspirations, lost.They were home with a rowdy crowd at their back. Their defense had been so dominant, suffocating Jordan Love and Matt LaFleur. Their offense, with the rain beading down, in control.
Still, they lost.
Eventually, the coach will come to the same realization as everyone else after New York’s 20-17 overtime collapse.
They have only themselves to blame.
“I’ll be honest,” Glenn said, “I’m highly upset.”
There are games each season, no matter when they occur, that carry a sense of importance. That those four quarters foreshadowed what was to come, or set the trajectory of what ultimately didn’t. That’s why there was an unsettling as the Packers rushed the field to celebrate Trey Smack’s 26-yard, game-winner.
On paper, the Jets are not a better team than Green Bay. On Sunday, they were. LaFleur had no answers for Glenn, who had been the defense’s greatest addition since retaking play calling this offseason. Glenn’s island of misfit toys held the high-powered Packers to just 199 yards of offense. Green Bay was 1-of-9 on third down. They picked up just 16 first downs. They held the ball for just 26 minutes.The Jets want to ground-and-pound on offense. That wasn’t happening against Green Bay. Breece Hall rushed for 29 yards on 16 carries (1.8 yards per attempt), and while Braelon Allen scored, he didn’t fare better. Hall’s physical counterpart managed just seven yards on five touches (1.4 average). Center Josh Myers said after the game the Titans were stunting, run blitzing and keeping an extra defender in the box to neutralize the run. That was fine. It opened things for Geno Smith. The quarterback threw for 247 yards and completed 65.9 percent of his passes. Smith’s touchdown to Garrett Wilson gave the Jets a 14-7 lead in the third. After Kyle Phillips recovered a MarShawn Lloyd fumble, the Jets drove to the Green Bay 11 yard line where they faced a fourth and inches.
From that moment on, they played not to lose. And they lost.“We just have to close the game better,” said Smith.
The Jets hired Glenn, in part, because of his successes as the Lions defensive coordinator. Those heroics are among the reasons the undermanned defense have exceeded expectations to begin this young season. But there was a concern that Glenn retaining all defensive responsibilities would put too much of a strain on his in-game, whole-team management – an area of concern following a three-win 2025..@Connor_J_Hughes breaks down the Jets’ game management issues in their overtime loss to the Packers: pic.twitter.com/T97NoQTcMN— SNY Jets (@snyjets) September 20, 2026Instead of going for the kill on fourth and inches, Glenn took a delay of game and sent his field goal unit on. The Jets went up 17-7, but the Packer