CHARLOTTE – The Packers held on, barely, for a 33-30 victory over the two-win Panthers at Bank of America Field on Sunday to get their record to 7-8 with two games to go.
Here are five takeaways from the down-to-the-wire triumph.
- These crazy fourth quarters on the road are getting to be the norm.
The Packers survived this one by, literally, a fraction of a second.
After kicking the go-ahead field goal with 19 seconds left, the Packers allowed Panthers QB Bryce Young to complete two throws – one to DJ Chark along the sideline and another to Adam Thielen in the middle of the field – covering 44 yards total to get Carolina to the Green Bay 31-yard line.
Hustling up to spike the ball after Thielen was tackled, the Panthers got the snap off and the clock hit zero as Young's spike hit the ground. Carolina argued for one second and a chance to kick a 49-yard field goal to tie, but after the officials conferred, they ruled the game over.
"I thought they snapped the ball with one second, and the play has to take a second," Head Coach Matt LaFleur said. "I thought it was the correct decision."
- It never should've been that close, though.
Not only did Green Bay's struggling defense give up 43 yards in the last 19 seconds, that had come on top of surrendering back-to-back touchdown drives to allow Carolina to rally from a 30-16 deficit to tie the game.
A couple of personal fouls, open receivers, and Young's scrambling all played a part as the rookie No. 1 overall draft pick recorded his first career 300-yard game (312) and 100-plus passer rating (113) at the Packers' expense. Chark (6-98) and Thielen (6-94) combined for 192 receiving yards.
Mixed in there were a pair of Green Bay three-and-outs on offense against heavy pressure from the Panthers that prevented the Packers from putting the game away. It was a full-scale fourth-quarter meltdown.
"That was definitely frustrating," LaFleur said of watching his defense give up TD drives covering 60 and 70 yards, wiping out the 14-point lead in roughly 7½ minutes of game clock. "But it wasn't just on the defense. Offensively you've got to give them a breather, especially if we're bleeding a little bit defensively.
"Momentum is a crazy phenomenon. They got the momentum in the second half and they were rolling in every phase."
Check out photos from the Week 16 matchup between the Green Bay Packers and Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium on Sunday, Dec. 24, 2023.
- Fortunately, the offense pulled out of its funk in time.
With 4:05 left and the score tied at 30, the Packers were on the verge of their third straight three-and-out (and fourth of the second half) when QB Jordan Love beat the Panthers' man-coverage blitz on third-and-4 with a 36-yard strike down the sideline to Romeo Doubs.
Love called it a "fantastic catch." Carolina challenged the reception, believing Doubs had bobbled it while leaping over the defender to snag it and then going out of bounds, but replay upheld the original call.
"We love that option to Rome, to go outside and win on that route, and that's what he did," Love said of the single-high safety look with the blitz coming. "The play was designed for that coverage and it worked out."
Two plays later, Love threaded the needle to tight end Tucker Kraft, who bounced off converging defenders after the catch to gain 20 yards in all. That put the Packers in position to run down the clock before kicking the field goal.
"That was a tight throw, man. That was a tight throw," LaFleur said. "Some of them are."
Doubs and Kraft each caught four passes for 79 and 60 yards, respectively, and Doubs had a TD. Love finished with 219 yards and a 109.1 rating.
- Aaron Jones was back to his old self.
With the offense missing receivers Christian Watson and Jayden Reed, and with Dontayvion Wicks leaving with a chest injury after halftime following his TD catch, it's impossible to overstate how important Jones was to the offense.
He carried 21 times for 127 yards in his second game back from a knee injury, the Packers' first 100-yard rushing or receiving performance of the season.
If he hadn't been running out of gas, the Packers might've gotten the couple of first downs they needed earlier in the fourth quarter. Jones came out after a 5-yard carry on first down on the second three-and-out and the Packers punted again after two more plays.
"He needed it," LaFleur said of a breather. "He just had to gather himself."
Jones added an 8-yard reception for 135 total yards from scrimmage, a big reason the Packers hit the 30-point mark for the first time since Week 1, despite Jones himself not getting into the end zone.
"We ran a couple keepers great today, and you can't do that unless you're running the football effectively," LaFleur said. "Guys were coming off the rock, especially early in the game.
"Carolina brought a lot of pressure in the second half. They were adjusting and made our offense stall."
- The Packers remain alive in the playoff chase, but still need to win and get some help.
The Packers are 7-8 and in a crowded mix for the final two wild-card spots in the NFC. In the early games Sunday, the Vikings losing helped Green Bay, but the Falcons and Seahawks winning didn't.
"We know exactly what's out in front of us, and we've got to go finish the season off," Love said. "We know to keep those hopes alive and give ourselves a chance we've got to win these last two.
"We know what's in front of and we know what we're capable of."
Next up is a trip to Minnesota, also 7-8, in primetime on New Year's Eve in what is almost a de facto elimination game. Winner stays alive in the playoff hunt, and the loser is likely out.
"Everything's at stake," LaFleur said. "We're going into a great environment next week in Minnesota, against a really good football team. It's going to be a great challenge.
"This is what we prepare for all year."
