Live Updates: Packers Beat Panthers 33-30
With their playoff aspirations on the line, the Green Bay Packers will play the Carolina Panthers on Christmas Eve in Charlotte. Will the Packers earn an early Christmas present or will Joe Barry’s defense crumble like a cookie? Follow along all day for updates.
Final Score
Packers 33, Panthers 30
Bryce Young’s 21-yard pass to Adam Thielen moved the ball to Green Bay’s 32 – in range for a 50-yard field goal – but time expired before Young could clock the ball. So, the Packers have survived despite another miserable performance by Joe Barry’s defense.
Fourth Quarter
Packers 33, Panthers 30 (19 seconds remaining)
On third-and-4, the Panthers blitzed. Patrick Taylor picked it up and Jordan Love went deep to Romeo Doubs, who made a rising catch against safety Troy Hill. Doubs had the ball as he hit the turf but he lost it after he tumbled over. The Panthers challenged but lost. The 36-yard gain was a monumental play with 2:11 to go.
Moments later, Love hit tight end Tucker Kraft between Hill and linebacker Frankie Luvu. Neither player made the tackle so Kraft gained 20 to the 13. Three consecutive runs set up Anders Carlson’s 32-yard field goal.
Packers 30, Panthers 30 (4:05 remaining)
The Panthers, with one of the worst offenses in the NFL, have scored their season high in points to tie the game against Joe Barry’s horrendous defense. With the game on the line, Bryce Young hit D.J. Chark for 20 yards on third-and-2 – with 15 more on unnecessary roughness – and 9 yards for the touchdown. The two-point run was successful.
Packers 30, Panthers 22 (5:47 remaining)
Just what the Packers didn’t need: a going-nowhere three-and-out. The Panthers will start at their 30.
Packers 30, Panthers 22 (7:14 remaining)
The Panthers moved into scoring range on a one-handed grab by Adam Thielen for 19, an 11-yard run on a third-and-1 jet sweep by Ihmir Smith-Marsette and a third-and-12 completion to D.J. Chark that gained 17. Jaire Alexander ripped the ball loose but the Panthers recovered. Making matters worse, defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt was penalized for unnecessary roughness and coach Matt LaFleur wasted a challenge on the catch.
On the next play, Bryce Young ripped a 12-yard touchdown pass to Chark. On the two-point play, Rashan Gary drew a holding penalty on Young’s successful run and the extra point was wide left.
The Panthers had fallen short of 20 points in nine consecutive games.
Packers 30, Panthers 16 (11:38 remaining)
The Packers had a chance to put the game on ice but instead went three-and-out. Cornerback Donte Jackson broke up a third-and-9 pass to Bo Melton, and the Panthers will start a hugely important drive at the 40.
Packers 30, Panthers 16 (12:37 remaining)
The defense got a key stop. On second-and-4, Rashan Gary stopped Miles Sanders for no gain. On third-and-4, Eric Stokes had excellent coverage on a deep pass to D.J. Chark, who made the catch well out of bounds.
Can Jordan Love and the offense put the game away?
Packers 30, Panthers 16 (14:57 remaining)
How would Green Bay answer? Keisean Nixon’s 38-yard kickoff return was a good start. On the first play, Jordan Love hit Romeo Doubs for 28; Doubs broke one tackle but fumbled, with Josiah Deguara saving the day and recovering at Carolina’s 33. That’s when Aaron Jones took over, for runs of 10, 4, 4 and 6 yards on consecutive plays. On the 10-yarder, Jones broke two tackles and went over 100 rushing yards – the team’s first 100-yard game by a runner or receiver this season.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, a third-and-goal from the 5, Romeo Doubs motioned to give the Packers trips to the left. He won his route at the snap and Jordan Love, given time by Patrick Taylor’s blitz pick-up, connected for the score. Doubs celebrated by chucking the ball into the seats.
Third Quarter
Packers 23, Panthers 16 (5:11 remaining)
The Panthers closed within a touchdown as Chuba Hubbard blasted in untouched from the 4. It was a 14-play drive for the Panthers, who moved methodically down the field without a truly explosive play. In fact, the long gain was a roughing-the-passer penalty by linebacker Isaiah McDuffie. The extra point was wide left.
The Panthers had scored a combined 15 points the last two games but have eclipsed their season average of 14.7 points.
Injury update: WR Dontayvion Wicks is out with a chest injury.
Packers 23, Panthers 10 (13:31 remaining)
The Packers, who scored on their first four possessions of the game and ran out of time on their fifth, went three-and-out. Frankie Luvu telegraphed his second-down blitz but sacked Jordan Love, anyway.
Injury update: With receiver Dontayvion Wicks having suffered a concussion on his first-half touchdown, the Packers are down to Romeo Doubs, Malik Heath, Bo Melton and Samori Toure.
Halftime
Packers 23, Panthers 10
Green Bay is taking care of business. Aaron Jones jump-started the offense and finished the half with 11 carries for 89 yards, putting him 11 yards shy of the team’s first 100-yard rushing or receiving game this season. Jordan Love was a relatively efficient 12-of-19 for 134 yards. Without Christian Watson and Jayden Reed, Bo Melton had four catches for 44 yards and Dontayvion Wicks had a 21-yard touchdown.
The Packers had 19 first downs, their most in the first half since 2015.
Green Bay leads 251-154 in yards against arguably the worst offense in the NFL.
Injury update: Packers WR Dontayvion Wicks suffered a chest injury on his end-of-the-half touchdown and is questionable.
Second Quarter
Packers 23, Panthers 10 (49 seconds remaining)
On third-and-8, Jordan Love calmly extended the play to the right and fired a strike to rookie Dontayvion Wicks for a 21-yard touchdown. Wicks caught the ball at the 1 and took a hit from safety Xavier Woods but controlled the ball for the score.
To start the drive, Love had a 14-yard completion to Bo Melton, who showed surprising strength in gaining about 5 yards after the catch. Later, on third-and-1, Aaron Jones was stopped near the first-down marker but left guard Sean Rhyan – in as part of a rotation with veteran Jon Runyan – pushed Jones to the first down. Later, it was Love to Melton again, this time on third-and-10. Love drifted back in the pocket with pressure coming and hit Melton over the middle against safety Vonn Bell.
Packers 16, Panthers 10 (4:12 remaining)
Will this be the play of the game? Back-to-back completions by Bryce Young moved the Panthers across midfield. On third-and-2 from Green Bay’s 38, TJ Slaton engulfed Chuba Hubbard. On fourth-and-2, Kingsley Enagbare came screaming down the line and met Hubbard in the backfield. While Enagbare failed to take him down, he made the play, with Isaiah McDuffie cleaning up the mess to give Green Bay the ball at the 40 and in position to take a two-score lead with the ball coming out of halftime.
Packers 16, Panthers 10 (7:51 remaining)
Anders Carlson blasted a 53-yard field goal to make it a six-point game. The big play came on third-and-1. The Packers didn’t block outside linebacker Yetur Gross-Matos, who had a free run at Jordan Love. Love missed Dontayvion Wicks, who was sprinting free over the middle, but Gross-Matos was flagged for roughing the passer. It was a weak call but gave Green Bay a first down. The drive stalled, thanks in part to a botched screen in which Love threw inaccurately and Rasheed Walker failed to block linebacker Frankie Luvu, anyway.
Packers 13, Panthers 10 (10:29 remaining)
Joe Barry’s defense started impressively but just got ripped for a 77-yard touchdown drive. Bryce Young had completions of 29 yards to D.J. Chark and 17 yards to Adam Thielen to convert a pair of third-down plays. Chuba Hubbard ran for 13 by breaking tackles by Devonte Wyatt and Anthony Johnson before Ihmir Smith-Marsette took an end-around 20 yards for a touchdown. Green Bay’s defense was totally outflanked and Smith-Marsette bounced off a feeble tackle attempt by Jaire Alexander. Carolina had gone 25 consecutive possessions without a touchdown.
Packers 13, Panthers 3 (14:57 remaining)
The Packers haven’t had a 100-yard runner or receiver. Aaron Jones is up to 82 yards. He started the second drive of the game with a 39-yard run, breaking a tackle by Panthers star Brian Burns near the line of scrimmage and picking up 37 yards after contact. A leaping grab by Bo Melton picked up 17 yards and moved the ball into the red zone, and Tucker Kraft spun for the first down to convert on third-and-7. On third-and-goal from the 1, Jordan Love took an old-school quarterback sneak behind Josh Myers and Elgton Jenkins. Anders Carlson missed his league-worst fourth point-after try.
First Quarter
Packers 7, Panthers 3 (5:24 remaining)
Eddy Pineiro booted a 52-yard field goal. Bryce Young’s 30-yard bullet to tight end Tommy Tremble put the Panthers in scoring range. Tremble beat linebacker Isaiah McDuffie, then broke a tackle by Anthony Johnson. Green Bay got off the field, though, thanks in part to Young missing a wide-open Chuba Hubbard while pressured by Karl Brooks and Rashan Gary. Coach Matt LaFleur was furious that Devonte Wyatt wasn’t on the field and was flagged for offside on the field goal.
Packers 7, Panthers 0 (7:30 remaining)
The Packers struck first in what might have been their best drive of the season. Aaron Jones started with back-to-back cutbacks runs of 10 and 13 yards. After another run for 3, Jones took a swing pass for 8 yards and another first down. After that, it was a 27-yard catch-and-run by tight end Tucker Kraft, whose 24 yards after the catch including an attempted leap over a defender. Jones than ran for 12 more, with a stiff-arm resulting in an additional 6 yards. After pass interference, AJ Dillon – playing with a broken thumb – blasted into the end zone. He handed the ball to Jones. Jones got five touches for 46 yards.
Packers 0, Panthers 0 (11:28 remaining)
It’s a three-and-out for Green Bay’s defense. Or at least it should have been a three-and-out. On second-and-1, linebacker Quay Walker’s blitz set up Preston Smith for a sack. On third-and-8, Smith’s pressure forced an incompletion. However, Lukas Van Ness was flagged for roughing the kicker when he slid into punter Johnny Hekker’s plant leg. Green Bay entered the game with league-worst totals of 18 penalties for 163 yards on special teams. So, the defense got three more stops, thanks in part to run stops by Lukas Van Ness and Isaiah McDuffie. It wound up being a 27-yard loss in field position, though.
Playoffs? (In Jim Mora Voice)
With their 6-8 record, the Packers are in 11th place in the NFC and facing a series of three must-win games to reach the playoffs.
According to Pro Football Focus, the Packers have a 19.5 percent chance to qualify for the postseason. With Carolina (2-12), Minnesota (7-7) and Chicago (5-8) on the closing schedule, the Packers’ remaining strength of schedule ranks 24th.
According to The New York Times, the Packers have a 22 percent chance to reach the playoffs. Sweep those three remaining games, and that number increases to better than 90 percent.
“We’ve got to win,” quarterback Jordan Love said. “We’ve got three opportunities to go out there and get a win. The goal right now is to get to 9-8 and then let the playoffs kind of play themselves out, see if we can get a shot in there. Obviously bouncing back after two tough losses, we’ve just got to find a way to go win these last three.”
Packers-Panthers Inactives
Out: Receivers Christian Watson and Jayden Reed.
In: Running back AJ Dillon and cornerback Jaire Alexander. Alexander will start alongside Eric Stokes.
Of note, this is the receiver corps:
Romeo Doubs: 52 catches, 567 yards (10.9 average), seven touchdowns.
Dontayvion Wicks: 31 receptions, 491 yards (15.8 average), one touchdown.
Malik Heath: 10 receptions, 103 yards (10.3 average), one touchdown.
Samori Toure: Seven receptions, 84 yards (12.0 average), zero touchdowns.
Bo Melton: One reception, 7 yards (7.0 average), zero touchdowns.
The Big Matchup: Zach Tom vs. Brian Burns
Carolina’s best defensive player is outside linebacker Brian Burns. A two-time Pro Bowler, Burns has six sacks this season.
According to Pro Football Focus, his snaps are split at about two-third on the defense’s left side (or against the right tackle) and one-third on the defense’s right side (or against the left tackle). Based on that breakdown, the onus on keeping Burns away from Jordan Love will fall largely on right tackle Zach Tom.
Burns is a superb all-around player and not just a pass rusher. The numbers don’t tell the full story of his impact.
“He’s a special talent in terms of his measurables, size, length, the ability to run, change direction, his play style,” defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero said this week. “He’s very aggressive, he’s very physical, he built his body up the right way. And he’s been very productive.
“It’s unfortunate that the numbers, especially the sack numbers, don’t reflect the disruptive play that he’s had. But if you go watch the film and see what this young man is doing game in and game out, he’s affecting the quarterback. He plays hard, he’s a run-down and a pass-down player, and he’s really done a good job."
PFF has charged Tom with just two sacks this season.
Will Someone Make a Play?
Given the incredible youth, the Packers’ offense has made sizable strides through the course of the season.
The next step in the progression will be turning something good into something better.
According to data provided to Packer Central courtesy of Pro Football Focus, the Packers on running plays have a missed-tackle rate of 12 percent. Only the Raiders (11 percent) are worse. On passing plays, they’ve forced a missed-tackle rate of 13 percent following a reception. That’s 26th in the league; the Rams are last at 9 percent. Dontayvion Wicks has been one of the top performers in the league.
Carolina’s defense is next-to-last in missed-tackle percentage, according to SportRadar.
Green Bay’s defense, on the other hand, has tackled better than you think, with missed-tackle rates of 13 percent vs. the run (11th-best) and 13 percent vs. the pass (24th-best on all dropbacks, including sacks and quarterback runs).
How to Watch Packers vs. Panthers
Date and time: noon Sunday
Location: Bank of America Stadium
TV: Fox (Chris Myers, Robert Smith and Jen Hale)
TV Map: Unless you live in Wisconsin or the area around Charlotte, this game probably won’t be on your television. Here’s the broadcast map from 506 Sports.
Stream: fuboTV offers more than 100 channels and a free trial.
Radio: Packers Radio Network (Wayne Larrivee and Larry McCarren) and SiriusXM 138, 381 or SiriusXM.us/PackersSXM
What You Need to Know About Packers vs. Panthers
Betting line: Packers by 3.5 at SI Sportsbook with an over/under of 38.5.
History lesson: The Packers are 10-6 in regular-season play and beat the Panthers in the 1996 NFC Championship Game.
Coaches: Green Bay’s Matt LaFleur is in his fifth season and has a career record of 53-27. He is 2-0 vs. Carolina. Interim coach Chris Tabor is 1-2 for the Panthers.
In the rankings: Green Bay on offense ranks 17th in points per game (21.4), 17th in passing per play (6.49) and 10th in rushing per play (4.23). On defense, it ranks 17th in points per game (21.5), 22nd in passing per play (6.73) and 28th in rushing per play (4.55). It is even in turnovers and 19th in yardage differential (minus-21.2).
Carolina on offense ranks 29th in points per game (14.7), 32nd in passing per play (4.62) and 24th in rushing per play (3.95). On defense, it ranks 29th in points per game (24.9), 10th in passing per play (6.13) and 11th in rushing per play (4.03). It is tied for 23rd in turnovers (minus-6) and 18th in yardage differential (minus-20.7).
In the power rankings: At Sports Illustrated, the Packers are 20th and the Panthers are 32nd.
