Photo via Green Bay Packers - Facebook
Micah Parsons
Micah Parsons gestures to the crowd during a game against the Detroit Lions (Nov. 27, 2025)
On the road in Denver, for just over a half, the Packers were in great shape. They possessed a two-score lead on the AFC-leading Broncos, their passing offense was firing on all cylinders, and they looked every bit like the Super Bowl contender many believed them to be. Then in a matter of minutes, disaster struck.
It started when right tackle Zach Tom tweaked a knee and was forced to leave the game. Tom is the team’s best offensive lineman, and the injury is not believed to be serious, but his replacement Darian Kinnard struggled to keep Denver’s pass rush out of the backfield. Compounding Tom’s injury, receiver Christian Watson suffered an injured chest while fighting for a deep ball against Denver corner Patrick Surtain. Surtain made a brilliant, clean interception on the play, and Watson landed awkwardly on his shoulder. Early reports are that he avoided a “significant injury,” but with only three games remaining, any injury is potentially season-ending.
However, the big blow came a few plays later when star edge rusher Micah Parsons suffered a non-contact knee injury while slowing up after a play. An MRI later confirmed the worst, and Parsons will miss the remainder of this season, and possibly the start of the 2026 season with a torn ACL. As if all of this wasn’t enough, safety Evan Williams also suffered a knee injury, though he does not believe it to be serious.
Without Parsons on the field, the Broncos were able to let bigger plays develop, and pick on Keisean Nixon, who struggled with Bronco star receiver Courtland Sutton all day. Without Tom and Watson, the offense wasn’t able to generate any big plays of its own down the stretch to stem the Denver comeback. The Broncos did a nice job picking on the Packers’ weaknesses and managed to rally to win 34-26 behind 302 yards and four touchdowns from quarterback Bo Nix.
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Shot at the Playoffs
Without Parsons and tight end Tucker Kraft, who was lost to an ACL injury earlier in the year, it’s hard to imagine the Packers as serious contenders this season, but despite the loss and the injuries, they still have a great shot at making the playoffs. They have a one and a half game lead on Detroit for the final wild card spot with three games to play and the Lions have no margin for error if they are to catch Green Bay. The Cowboys also remain mathematically alive, but they are facing a big uphill battle.
And while the Packers are diminished contenders without the all-world play of Parsons on defense, they did manage to cobble together a good enough pass rush last season based on Jeff Hafley’s creative blitz packages. If Watson’s injury is truly not that serious, their offense may still be able to carry this team, especially because the Los Angeles Rams are the only truly dominant team in the NFC. It’s a wide-open field of good, not great teams, and the Packers now find themselves firmly in that group.
The Packers face the Bears next Saturday, and that game will go a long way towards telling us what Green Bay has left in the tank. The Bears staged a comeback that came up just short in their last meeting after making two crucial second-half adjustments. The first was to run the ball inside against the Packers’ undersized defensive tackle unit. The second was to get quarterback Caleb Williams out of the pocket and rolling to his right where he is most comfortable as a passer.
Not having Micah Parsons available will make it more difficult to contain Williams, but the Packers also made a mistake with Parsons last time, as they played him over right tackle for most of the game, which led to Williams scrambling in the direction he wanted to scramble. I suspect Jeff Hafley will adjust to this by bringing blitzes primarily from the left, and either forcing Williams to stay in the pocket, or to roll to his left.
And while the Packers are as injured as they’ve been all season, they did get one important player back this week. Lukas Van Ness returned from injury, and while Van Ness has been ineffective as a pass rusher for much of the year, he is their best run defender. If the Packers can upset the Bears in Chicago, they will take back control of the division, and almost certainly make the playoffs. If they can still sneak into the playoffs, even without their best players, anything can happen.
