Packers Set Unwanted NFL Record as Green Bay Hits Historic Low in Loss to Ravens

 

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Packers Rewrite NFL History in a Season Defined by Efficiency Without Results

When Jordan Love was ruled out of Saturday’s matchup, the Green Bay Packers handed the offense to Malik Willis with modest expectations. What followed was one of the most efficient quarterback performances the team has seen all season. Willis played with poise, accuracy, and confidence, finishing with 348 total yards and three touchdowns against one of the league’s most physical defenses.

Yet when the final whistle blew at M&T Bank Stadium, the scoreboard told a brutal story: Ravens 41, Packers 24.

The numbers underneath that score make the loss even harder to explain. Green Bay did not punt once—not in the first quarter, not in the fourth, not at any point in the game. In modern NFL logic, that should all but guarantee a competitive outcome, if not a win. Instead, it became another chapter in a season-long paradox.

Saturday marked the third time this year the Packers have lost a game without punting, a statistical anomaly that now stands alone in NFL history. Across 60 seasons of Super Bowl-era football, no team has ever reached three such losses in a single year. Prior to 2024, only two teams—the 2021 Chargers and the 2024 Bengals—had even lost two no-punt games in one season.

Both of those teams finished 9–8. Green Bay may be headed toward the same conclusion, with a potential nine-win season looming should it fall to Chicago in Week 18. What separates the Packers, however, is not record—it’s repetition.

The Anatomy of Three Unlikely Losses

The Packers’ first no-punt defeat came quietly in Week 9, a 16–13 loss to the Carolina Panthers that looked ordinary on the surface. Underneath, it revealed the blueprint for Green Bay’s recurring problem. Seven possessions produced 369 yards but only 13 points:

Fumble

Field goal

Field goal

Missed field goal

Interception

Failed fourth down

Touchdown

The offense moved the ball consistently between the 20s but unraveled at the worst possible moments. A failed fourth-down attempt from Carolina’s 13-yard line in the fourth quarter epitomized the issue: aggressive decision-making paired with poor execution.

That pattern resurfaced with greater consequences in Week 16 against the Bears. Green Bay entered the fourth quarter with a double-digit lead and full control of the game. By the end of overtime, it was walking off the field stunned after a 22–16 loss. Once again, the Packers never punted:

• Failed fourth down (4th-and-1 at Chicago 7)

• Field goal

• Field goal

• Kneel to end half

• Fumble

• Touchdown

• Field goal

• Kneel to end regulation

• Failed fourth down in overtime (4th-and-1 at Chicago 36)

• 
  The overtime decision loomed large. After failing to convert, Green Bay’s defense was forced back onto the field, and four plays later Caleb Williams connected with D.J. Moore for a 46-yard game-winning touchdown.
  Against Baltimore, the cycle reached its most extreme form. Willis and the offense continued to generate movement, but mistakes erased momentum:
  Touchdown
  Failed fourth down (4th-and-1 at Green Bay 34)
  Fumble

• Touchdown

• Kneel to end half

• Field goal

• Touchdown

• Interception

• Failed fourth down (4th-and-8 at midfield)

Green Bay went 0-for-2 on fourth-down attempts against the Ravens and 1-for-3 the week prior against Chicago, leaving the team 1-for-5 on fourth down over a two-game span. In high-leverage moments, efficiency vanished.

Head coach Matt LaFleur’s willingness to stay aggressive has aligned with modern analytics, particularly when a team is moving the ball at will. But the margin for error shrinks when punting is removed from the equation. Turnovers, missed field goals, and failed fourth-down attempts effectively replace punts—and they often come with far worse field position.

Green Bay’s season has been a case study in that reality. The offense ranks among the league’s better units in total yardage during these no-punt games, yet the Packers repeatedly failed to convert those yards into points. Red-zone inefficiency and situational errors have transformed productive drives into empty possessions.

The Quiet Season of a Rarely Used Punter

Lost in all of this is punter Daniel Whelan, who has become an unlikely symbol of the Packers’ statistical oddity. Whelan has punted just 41 times this season, tied for the fourth-lowest total in the league among punters who have played at least 15 games.

When called upon, he has been exceptional. His 51.3-yard punting average is tied for the best in the NFL, and his 42.6-yard net average ranks 11th overall. Ironically, one of the league’s most efficient punters has been sidelined by an offense that moves the ball—but too often self-destructs.

A Season Defined by What Could Have Been

The Packers’ place in the record books this year is not a reflection of poor offense. It is a reflection of missed opportunities, thin margins, and repeated failures at critical moments. Three games without a punt should signal dominance. For Green Bay, it has instead highlighted a season-long inability to finish.

As Week 18 approaches, the Packers are left with a strange legacy: a team capable of controlling games statistically, yet unable to control their outcomes. Until execution catches up with efficiency, Green Bay’s history-making season will remain one the franchise would rather forget.

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