All-Pro safety Xavier McKinney is demanding more from the Green Bay Packers. He's questioning a win that shouldn't have been so close. He doesn't think the Packers can play this way and beat good teams, and he's right about that.
The Green Bay Packers are 4-1-1 after beating the Arizona Cardinals in Week 7 of the 2025 NFL season. It was a thrilling victory by the Packers that came down to the last minutes.
Ultimately, a gusty fourth-down call from head coach Matt LaFleur and a beautiful conversion between star quarterback Jordan Love and start tight end Tucker Kraft kept the game-winning drive alive for the Packers with just over two minutes to go.
That conversion set up Josh Jacobs' second touchdown of the night, but the Cardinals did have 1:50 to produce a game-winning drive of their own. They did end up getting all the way to the Green Bay 35 yard line, but the Packers were ultimately able to slam the door shut.
In the meantime, Green Bay's prized offseason addition, pass-rusher Micah Parsons, notched the first three sack game of his career. To go along with those sacks came five tackles, two tackles for loss and five quarterback hits.
It was an elite game from Parsons and a great reminder of why the Packers traded a haul to the Dallas Cowboys and then gave him a long-term deal worth $188 million. On the offensive end, there were also glimmers of a quarterback in Love who is getting comfortable in his own skin and in his ability to come up big in big moments.
Throw in a star tight end in Kraft, an All-Pro running back in Jacobs and an emerging young receiver in Matthew Golden and there are a lot of positives to take out of this win, despite the fact that at times it felt like the Packers were being outplayed by the Cardinals.
Ultimately, it was the case of a team riding a four-game losing skid playing desperate in order to avoid a fifth, but not everybody is going to take that charitable approach to this win for the Packers.
In fact, there's some consternation within their own locker room stemming from All-Pro safety Xavier McKinney.
He's happy the Packers got the win, but he still expects more from this team.
"It shouldn't even come down to the fourth quarter. I think we have a better team, and I don't think we played really up to our standard as much," McKinney said after the game, according to beat reporter Ryan Wood.
That's a pessimistic way to look at a win, but it's worth noting that if the Packers really want to be Super Bowl contenders, that is the way this team is going to have to approach it.
Road wins are tough in the NFL and you never apologize for any you can get, but there will be plenty head coach Matt LaFleur and his staff can find to criticize in this game film.
The offense stalled out one too many times in the first half. As McKinney mentioned, this didn't have to be a come-from-behind victory in the fourth quarter, because the Packers do have the offensive weapons to "boat race" teams.
Defensively, the Packers have a lot to work on in their defensive secondary. McKinney is included in that.
Arizona quarterback Jacoby Brissett, playing for an injured Kyler Murray, is going to have nightmares of Parsons, but the rest of this defense played too soft. The Packers allowed Brissett to complete 25-of-36 passes for 279 yards and two touchdowns. They had no answers for Trey McBride (10 catches for 74 yard and two touchdowns) or the deep ball in general.
The Packers have consistently been strong against the run, but they still allowed Bam Knight to rush for 57 yards on 14 carries, averaging 4.1 yards per rush.
It was a win, and a good win considering the context. The Packers can't rest on their laurels, though. They still have a lot to improve.
"We'll get back to the film room and find ways to be better, but we damn sure can't do this against good teams, because it's not going to work," McKinney said. "I think the guys know that. Yeah, we're happy about the win, but we've got to be a lot better."