Can the Cheeseheads Bounce Back? Packers vs. Jets — NFL Expert Picks & Predictions (9/20)
Written by: Varun Sharma
Last Update: Fri Sep 18, 2026, 3:33 pm ET
Read Time: 5 minutes
nfl
Spread
Total
Moneyline
-3.0
-115
45
-110u
-173
Spread
Total
Moneyline
+3.5
-110
44
-110o
+155
The Green Bay Packers head east this week with a matchup against the New York Jets on the docket. Things got ugly in Minnesota for my Packers, while the Jets are riding high off a Week 1 win.
We've got tons to discuss, so let's jump right into this game.
For additional information on picks, props, moneylines, and more on today's slate, take a look at our NFL Picks Page or our NFL Odds Page.
Game Information
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Matchup Information
- Location: MetLife Stadium; East Rutherford, New Jersey
- Date: Sunday, September 20th, 2026
- Kickoff: 1:00 PM EST
Quarterback Matchup
- Green Bay Packers: Jordan Love (2025: 9-5-1; 225.4 YPG | 23 TD | 6 INT)
- New York Jets: Geno Smith (2025: 2-13; 201.7 YPG | 19 TD | 17 INT)
Betting Odds
Odds via Lucky Rebel, an industry leader in the sports betting world.
Analysis & Breakdown
J-E-T-S
Are the Jets back? Probably not, but their Week 1 win marks just the second time the team's won the season opener since 2019.
New York beat the Titans 23-10 on Sunday, finishing with 367 yards of total offense, 19 first downs and nearly 40 minutes of possession time. The Jets dominated the Titans, giving up just 195 total yards of offense, 1 touchdown and holding the Titans to 4.0 yards per play.
The numbers look fantastic, but it was against the Titans. Tennessee looked awful. Cam Ward looked uncomfortable, throwing for just 140 yards and 1 touchdown. The run game never got off the ground, Tony Pollard finished with 35 rushing yards and the team finished with just 47 total rush yards from their two backs.
Outside of their Week 1 opponent, the Jets offense looked good. New Jets OC, Frank Reich, has this offense trying new things and in Week 1 it seemed to work great.
The Jets opened up the scoring with a 3-yard rushing touchdown from their rookie TE, Kenyon Sadiq and that was just the beginning.
New York ran the 3rd highest rate of 2+ TE sets on Sunday and it worked incredibly well. The Jets had a run out of 22-personnel that ended in a 9-yard gain on first down and even ran a play with 5 TEs on the field.
Frank Reich is one of one and I can't wait to see what else he has in store for Geno and the Jets.
Closing Time?
Writing this as a Packers' fan is going to be tough, but I'm going to push through it. The Packers just can't close games. You can blame Head Coach Matt LaFleur, you can blame the defense and lack of Micah Parsons; the only person you can't blame is Jordan Love.
Going back to last year's playoff collapse in Chicago, Love's thrown for 710 yards and 6 touchdowns in his last two games. Love was pressured on nearly 75% of his dropbacks in Week 1. He still threw for 387 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception.
The Packers offensive line wasn't just bad, they were easily the worst OL in Week 1. Love had an average of just 2.45 seconds to throw the ball, he was hit 11 times and sacked just 4 times. It was terrible, but if not for Love's quick trigger it could've been a lot worse.
The Packers, despite being without Parsons, looked great. The team gave up the 6th fewest yards per play on Sunday and held the Vikings to just 239 total yards of offense.
The Packers did a great job of busting open big plays and minimizing big plays on the other side. The defense finished with 1 (almost 2) interception, 3 sacks and held both Vikings backs to under 4 yards per carry.
This Green Bay defense is real and hinders on the play of both Edgerrin Cooper and Lukas Van Ness. Both were great in Week 1 and we'll need more of the same here in New Jersey.
Sunday's Best Bets
Jordan Love o1.5 Passing Touchdowns (-120) | Lucky Rebel
Jordan Love is doing everything he can to help the Packers win and this week at MetLife, he's going to put on a show.
Love's thrown 2+ touchdowns in 5 of his last 7 games on the road, with one of the misses coming due to injury. He's thrown 7 touchdowns over his last two games and after a soft matchup against Tennessee, this Jets secondary is going to be tested.
The Jets also run man coverage at a top-10 rate in the NFL and that's a matchup made for Love. He finished last year as a top-5 QB against man coverages and this should be the perfect spot for him to cook.
Green Bay's not lost five straight games, that stops this week in the Big Apple.
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