Packers head into bye week seeking to correct costly mistakes from their past two games

After they played as well as any team in the NFL through their first two games, the Green Bay Packers got a reality check the past two weeks.

Now they head into their bye week facing a crossroads after a 13-10 loss at Cleveland and a 40-40 tie at Dallas, causing them to fall behind the Detroit Lions in the NFC North.

“We can go home and put our heads down, and we are just blaming each other and point the finger,” said Micah Parsons, who made a potential touchdown-saving sack in overtime to highlight the former Cowboys’ pass rusher’s return to Dallas.

“Or we can be men and say, ‘This is where I’m coming from. This is where you are coming from. And how do we fix it?’ I think we have to be adults here. We have to be professionals. We have to find a way to be positive.”

There’s plenty of blame to go around for the Packers’ issues these past two Sundays.

The offense that struggled in Cleveland a week earlier was resurgent Sunday at Dallas. Green Bay scored on all five of its possessions after halftime.

But a defense that entered Sunday having given up the fewest points of any NFL team allowed Dallas to score touchdowns on five of its last seven drives, even though the Cowboys were missing two starting offensive linemen and four-time Pro Bowl receiver CeeDee Lamb because of injuries.

The Packers (2-1-1) hadn’t allowed as many as 40 points in a game since a 40-33 loss at Philadelphia in 2022.

“I take ownership,” Parsons said after the game. “Coach and them take ownership. But ownership is one thing, and doing something about it is another. Tomorrow, let’s all watch this film together as a team. Let’s break it down. Let’s talk about it. I think that’s the tough conversation that we have to have all together.”

The Packers will spend their bye week having those talks as they figure out how they can recapture the form they showed in their earlier victories over the Lions and Washington Commanders.

“There’s just a lot of little areas that if we clean them up and execute better, we’ll be the team we want to be,” quarterback Jordan Love said.

“I have no doubt. We’re still a really good team. But it comes down to Sundays, coming out here and performing, executing at a high level. Yeah, there’s some disappointment in these past two weeks. We’ve got some things to clean up and there’s a long season ahead of us.”

One week after the Browns limited them to 81 yards on 31 carries, the Packers rushed for 164 yards on 35 attempts. ... The Packers went 10 of 14 on third down and 1 of 1 on fourth down. ... An offensive line missing two starters allowed only one sack, though it was a big one — a strip-sack that led to a Dallas touchdown just before halftime.

The special teams breakdowns continued Sunday as an extra-point attempt got blocked and returned to the end zone. That three-point swing proved critical in a game that ended in a tie. ... Green Bay's poor clock management in overtime nearly prevented the Packers from attempting a tying field goal to end the game. There were about 22 seconds left when Emanuel Wilson was tackled for a 1-yard loss after making a catch. Green Bay snapped the ball with about 6 seconds left, and a single second remained after Love threw an incomplete pass to Matthew Golden in the end zone.

Romeo Doubs had a career-high three touchdown catches. He has four touchdowns this season to match his 2024 season total. ... Josh Jacobs rushed for 86 yards and two touchdowns. ... Brandon McManus kicked a tying 53-yard field goal at the end of regulation and a 34-yarder on the final play of the game. ... Golden made a game-saving, 14-yard catch on fourth-and-6 late in the fourth quarter.

LT Rasheed Walker appeared to get beaten on James Houston's strip-sack late in the second quarter. ... CB Carrington Valentine struggled in pass coverage.

DT Devonte Wyatt left with a knee injury and CB Nate Hobbs was evaluated for a concussion. OT Zach Tom (quadriceps), G Aaron Banks (groin) and OT Anthony Belton (ankle) didn't play.

6-0-1 — The Packers' record at AT&T Stadium following Sunday's tie. The Packers had won each of their first five meetings with the Cowboys at A&T Stadium. Their most recent Super Bowl victory also came in that stadium.

The Packers don't play again until an Oct. 12 home game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Then they head back on the road to face Arizona and Pittsburgh.

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Green Bay Packers' Jordan Love (10) celebrates a touchdown run by Josh Jacobs (8) in the second half of an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Green Bay Packers' Josh Jacobs (8) is stopped after a short gain by Dallas Cowboys defensive end Donovan Ezeiruaku (41) in the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter)

Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs (8) and Romeo Doubs (87) celebrate a touchdown scored by Jacobs in the second half of an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Jessica Tobias)

Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) throws a pass under pressure from Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa (97) in the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Jessica Tobias)

Green Bay Packers defensive end Micah Parsons (1) rushes after getting past Dallas Cowboys offensive tackle Tyler Guyton (60) in the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Jessica Tobias)

WASHINGTON (AP) — There is broad bipartisan support in the House and Senate for reviving federal health care subsidies that expired at the beginning of the year. But long-standing disagreements over abortion coverage are threatening to block any compromise and leave millions of Americans with higher premiums.

Despite significant progress, bipartisan Senate negotiations on the subsidies seemed to be near collapse at the end of the week as the abortion dispute appears intractable.

“Once we get past this issue, there’s decent agreement on everything else,” Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, who has led the talks, told reporters.

But movement was hard to find.

Republicans were seeking stronger curbs on abortion coverage for those who purchase insurance off the marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act. Democrats strongly opposed any such changes, especially in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe vs. Wade in 2022. And advocacy groups on both sides were pushing against any compromise that they believe would weaken their positions.

The impasse was a familiar obstacle for lawmakers who have been arguing over the health law, known widely as “Obamacare,” since it was passed 16 years ago.

“The two sides are passionate about (abortion) so I think if they can find a way to bring it up, they probably will,” said Ivette Gomez, a senior policy analyst on women’s health policy for KFF, the health care research nonprofit.

The abortion dispute dates back to the weeks and months before President Barack Obama signed the health overhaul into law in 2010, when Democrats who controlled Congress added provisions ensuring that federal dollars subsidizing the health plans would not pay for elective abortions. The compromise came after negotiations with members of their own party whose opposition to abortion rights threatened to sink the legislation.

The final language allowed states to offer plans under the ACA that cover elective abortions, but said that federal money could not pay for them. States are now required to segregate funding for those procedures.

Since then, 25 states have passed laws prohibiting abortion coverage in ACA plans, 12 have passed laws requiring abortion coverage in the plans and 13 states and the District of Columbia have no coverage limitations or requirements, according to KFF. Some Republicans and anti-abortion groups now want to make it harder for the states that require or allow the coverage, arguing that the segregated funds are nothing more than a gimmick that allows taxpayer dollars to pay for abortions.

Senators involved in the negotiations said a potential compromise was to investigate some of those states to ensure that they are segregating the money correctly.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who has led the negotiations with Moreno, said “the answer is to audit” those states and enforce the law if they are not properly segregating their funds.

But that plan was unlikely to win unanimity from Republicans, and Democrats have not signed on.

Negotiators were more optimistic last week, after President Donald Trump told House Republicans at a meeting that “you have to be a little flexible” on rules that federal dollars cannot be used for abortions.

Those words from the president, who has said little about whether he wants Congress to extend the subsidies, came just before a House vote on Democratic legislation that would extend the ACA tax credits for three years. After his comments, 17 Republicans voted with Democrats on the extension over the objections of GOP leadership and the House passed the bill with no new abortion restrictions.

Anti-abortion groups reacted swiftly.

Kelsey Pritchard, a spokeswoman for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said the group would not be supporting the 17 Republicans who voted for the extension. Trump’s comments were “a complete change in position for him” that brought “a lot of backlash and outcry” from the anti-abortion movement and voters opposed to abortion rights, she said.

Those who did not support changes to the ACA to reduce abortion coverage “are going to pay the price in the midterms” this year, Pritchard said. “We’re communicating to them that this isn’t acceptable.”

Democrats say the Republican effort to amend the law and increase restrictions on abortion is a distraction. They have been focused on extending the COVID-era subsidies that expired on Jan. 1 and had kept costs down for millions of people in the United States. The average subsidized enrollee is facing more than double the monthly premium costs for 2026, also according to KFF.

The two sides have been haggling since the fall, when Democrats voted to shut down the government for 43 days as they demanded negotiations on extending the subsidies. Republicans refused to negotiate until a small group of moderate Democrats agreed to vote with them and end the shutdown.

After the shutdown ended, Republicans made clear that they would not budge on the subsidies without changes on abortion, and the Senate voted on and rejected a three-year extension of the tax credits.

Maine Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, said at the time that making it harder to cover abortion was a “red line” for Democrats.

Republicans are going to “own these increases” in premiums, King said then.

The bipartisan group that has met in recent weeks has closed in on parts of an agreement, including a two-year deal that would extend the enhanced subsidy while adding new limits and also creating the option, in the second year, of a health savings account that Trump and Republicans prefer. The ACA open enrollment period would be extended to March 1 of this year, to allow people more time to figure out their coverage plans after the interruption of the enhanced subsidy.

But the abortion issue continues to stand in the way of a deal as Democrats seek to protect the carefully crafted compromise that helped pass the ACA 16 years ago.

“I have zero appetite to make it harder for people to access abortions,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.

Associated Press writers Ali Swenson in New York and Joey Cappelletti and Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, is met by reporters outside the Senate chamber, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, center, talks with reporters as he walks through the Ohio Clock Corridor at the Capitol, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

FILE - Pages from the U.S. Affordable Care Act health insurance website healthcare.gov are seen on a computer screen in New York, Aug. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison, File)

FILE - The Capitol is seen at nightfall in Washington on Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)