Skip Bayless did not spare the Green Bay Packers on Friday, delivering a blunt assessment of a team that was just routed in its home opener.
“You look inept. You look incompetent. You look pathetic,” Bayless said on ESPN’s “First Take,” a clip the show’s official account posted to X.
The remarks came one day after Atlanta beat Green Bay 35-14 at Lambeau Field on Thursday Night Football. The Falcons improved to 1-2. The Packers fell to 1-2 and last place in the NFC North.
Bayless, making a guest appearance alongside Stephen A. Smith and Marcus Spears, went further in the same segment.
“You looked hopeless and hapless at home. That’s what happened,” he said. “And I can make the case … they are playing the worst in pro football right now. Over three games, I can say playing the worst.”
The “First Take” post framed the rant as a response to an 0-2 start. That was incorrect. Green Bay is 1-2 after an overtime win at the New York Jets last Sunday. Viewers quickly noted the discrepancy in replies.
The on-screen graphic during the debate asked whether the Packers were the NFL’s worst team and highlighted another ugly number: Green Bay is 2-for-6 on fourth down this season, tied for the most failed conversions in the league.
The run game has been worse. The Packers are last in the NFL at 48.7 rushing yards per game. On Thursday they managed 17 rushing yards while Atlanta piled up 242, including 194 from Bijan Robinson.
Green Bay’s season has lurched from collapse to survival to humiliation. In Week 1 at Minnesota, the Packers lost 39-22 after a fourth-quarter breakdown that included a fumble, an interception and two turnovers on downs. In Week 2 they beat the Jets 20-17 in overtime despite finishing with fewer than 200 total yards. Then came Thursday’s home opener.
Quarterback Jordan Love has 844 passing yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions through three games. He completed 28 of 53 passes for 312 yards against Atlanta, but much of it after the outcome was decided. His passer rating for the night was 75.4. The Packers have scored 18.7 points per game and allowed 30.3.
The loss snapped a 13-game home-opener winning streak and marked Green Bay’s first home-opening defeat since 2013. It was also the Packers’ most lopsided home loss since Detroit won 31-0 at Lambeau Field in 2018. Fans booed the team off the field.
Head coach Matt LaFleur is 1-2, his worst start in Green Bay. The Packers visit the 0-2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Oct. 4 before a stretch that includes the Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions.
Bayless is no stranger to inflaming Packers fans. He recently returned to “First Take” for periodic Friday appearances with Smith after years away from ESPN. The official account’s clip drew more than 52,000 views within hours, along with 791 likes.
Social reaction split along familiar lines. Some users treated the rant as standard Bayless theater. Others argued three games is too small a sample, even after a 21-point home loss to a team that entered the night winless.
The football, however, has been hard to defend. Green Bay has been outscored 91-56. The offensive line has been inconsistent. The running backs have not created lanes. Fourth-down decisions have gone poorly.
LaFleur and general manager Brian Gutekunst built this roster to contend for a fourth straight playoff berth and an NFC North title that has eluded them. Through three weeks, that plan has produced one overtime escape and two lopsided losses.
Bayless’s language was harsh. The film from Thursday night gave him material. The Packers now have 10 days to prove the early verdict is premature.
Whether they look competent in Tampa Bay will matter more than any studio monologue. For one morning on national television, the verdict from Bayless was already in.
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