Even as a team that has struggled over the past several seasons, the Jets have had a lot of home games that played out like Sunday’s home opener against the Green Bay Packers. This was another tight, cagey affair, which was tied 7-7 at the half, and ended up being decided in overtime.

Those previous Jets teams could never seem to find a playmaker to get that crucial impact moment or get that lucky bounce to go their way. Opposing teams could usually just play conservatively and wait for the Jets to shoot themselves in the foot.

Sure enough, the Jets blew a 10-point fourth quarter lead and then hurt themselves with offensive line breakdowns and penalties in overtime, setting up rookie Trey Smack’s game-winning kick.

Green Bay didn’t record a first down until the final play of the first quarter, but that ended up kick-starting a nine-play scoring drive, with Jordan Love connecting with MarShawn Lloyd on a six-yard touchdown run.

This was the first time the Jets have trailed this season, but it didn’t last long, as they tied the score on Braelon Allen’s five-yard touchdown run on their next drive.

New York took its first lead with 2:30 to go in the third quarter when Geno Smith found Garrett Wilson on a five-yard touchdown pass to wrap up an impressive 10-play drive.

They were able to extend their lead to 10 on a short Jason Sanders field goal, following a Lloyd fumble deep in Packers’ territory. That made it 17-7 with 11:04 remaining.

Green Bay hit back on their next possession to cut the deficit to 17-14 with just under eight minutes remaining on Love’s three-yard touchdown pass to Christian Watson. Then, after a long Skyy Moore punt return, they tied the score with 2:59 to go on a 34-yard field goal by Smack.

Once again, the Jets showed that they look like they’re going to be a competitive team this year, as they outgained the Packers 285 to 199 yards despite the loss. However, they clearly have more things to work on if they’re ever going to shake the losing habit from their DNA.

Here are the key takeaways...

-- Both offenses struggled to get anything going in rainy conditions at MetLife Stadium. Love had just 65 passing yards by the end of the third quarter and the Jets struggled to run the ball. Breece Hall’s first 10 carries netted just seven yards, as he and Allen combined for just 36 rushing yards on 21 carries between them.

-- Penalties were a huge factor as the teams combined for 27 penalties and almost 300 penalty yards, together with eight first downs via penalty. The Packers had 112 penalty yards at halftime, but just 21 more in the second half and overtime.

-- The Jets had some bad fumble luck last season, and that didn’t seem to be changing in 2026. The Packers fumbled three times near midfield and recovered all three of them, even though there were several Jets players around the football each time. Any one of those would have swung the momentum in the Jets’ favor. However, a fourth fumble, forced by former Packer Kingsley Enagbare, was finally recovered by Harrison Phillips to set up the Jets in the red zone early in the fourth quarter.

-- On the other hand, the Jets got lucky a couple of times on special teams as last year’s team MVP Isaiah Williams muffed two first half punts. Each time, Qwan’tez Stiggers was first to react and got to the loose ball to prevent the turnover. Stiggers has had a huge impact on special teams through the first two games.

-- Although the offense wasn’t very productive in the first half, Adonai Mitchell stepped up with five first half catches. He also drew a pass interference penalty downfield to set up the Jets’ first touchdown. It could have been an even bigger half for Mitchell, who had two passes go off his hands. Mitchell, who also showcased some good effort as a blocker, had just one catch after halftime, as he ended up with six catches for 63 yards.

-- One defensive standout was cornerback Azareye’h Thomas, who made some energetic plays in the first half, including a tackle in the flat and a third down pass breakup. Thomas also drew a hold on a run blitz. However, he had a 38-yard pass interference penalty on a deep ball in the fourth quarter.

-- Rookie David Bailey didn’t have a huge impact, but he picked up his second sack in two games on a coverage sack on the first snap of the game and also had a forced fumble in the first half.

Game MVP: Skyy Moore

On a day when the Packers’ offense wasn’t firing on all cylinders, Moore made a huge impact in an area where the Jets are normally dominant. He racked up an impressive 214 all-purpose yards, which included a 63-yard punt return to set up the game-tying field goal and a 43-yard kickoff return.

Here are the key takeaways...

Game MVP: Skyy Moore

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