Packers Report Card: Terrible Grades After Terrible Loss to Panthers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The grades are in and, as you’d expect, they are as uninspiring as the Green Bay Packers’ performance during Sunday’s 16-13 loss to the Carolina Panthers at Lambeau Field.

The Packers moved the ball consistently, but could not find their way into the end zone until the 2:32 mark of the fourth quarter. They suffered a litany of injuries to their pass-catching group, and their quarterback and blockers played poorly for most of the game.

On the other side of the ball, their previously top-ranked run defense could not slow down Carolina’s ground game despite the fact they were missing three starters on the offensive line at kickoff and lost a replacement starter during the game.

After the Packers scored the game-tying touchdown, their defense allowed Carolina to drive into field goal range late on the strength of a 19-yard run from Rico Dowdle.

Grades in this week’s Packers report card are down across the board after this performance, so let’s get to it.

Pass Offense

Jordan Love’s final stat line has some big numbers on it. He threw for 273 yards, completed 70.3 percent of his passes and averaged more than 10 yards per completion. He also had some ugly moments that make you scratch your head.

Love threw one interception, a deep post to Christian Watson in which Watson was triple-covered. The ball when it came down was not in a place where Watson could even play defense on the play and was easily intercepted by Tre’von Moehrig. He almost threw a second interception on fourth down in the fourth quarter, though that one was at least understandable given the circumstances.

Yes, the Packers’ receiving corps looked like a MASH unit at points during the game. Jayden Reed is on injured reserve and Dontayvion Wicks was inactive. Christian Watson was flagged down for concussion protocol during the game, so he was on the sideline for the failed fourth down. Matthew Golden left the game with a shoulder injury.

The big one, of course, was Tucker Kraft who left during the opening series of the third quarter with a knee injury that Matt LaFleur later said did not look good. The fear is he suffered a season-ending knee injury.

Tucker Kraft’s knee injury is a devastating blow for the #Packers. There’s almost no way to overstate what Kraft means as a leader, playmaker and blocker. ⬇️https://t.co/NPYsOPMqgX
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) November 2, 2025

Overcoming injuries and mistakes are the life of a franchise quarterback in the NFL. It’s not a fair ask, but this is an unfair sport.

Protection was not much better for Love.

Jordan Morgan was abused in pass protection and the run game. Elgton Jenkins and Sean Rhyan, who played most of the game after left guard Aaron Banks dropped out after the opening possession, struggled, as well, against a team that only had 13 sacks coming into the day.

Now, they have to get things figured out in protection and adjust without one of their best players with the defending world champions coming to Lambeau Field in eight days.

Grade: D

Rush Offense

The final numbers look OK. Josh Jacobs carried 17 times for 87 yards, finishing with 5.1 yards per carry and one touchdown. But coach Matt LaFleur continues to lament his team’s inability to move the ball on the ground with consistency as teams have played more conservatively against their offense to take away the big plays.

LaFleur has leaned more into a horizontal passing game recently as an extension to the run game, but most of that has been to no avail. Receiver Savion Williams caught a horizontal pass, which officially was deemed a run, and fumbled in the red zone to kill the opening drive.

Carolina Panthers safety Nick Scott (21) celebrates recovering a fumble by Green Bay Packers receiver Savion Williams (83). | Dan Powers-USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

With Tucker Kraft likely out for the rest of the season, Green Bay needs more out of its ground game, or opposing defenses will continue to play them in their shell defenses, forcing them to be patient. So far, that recipe has caused the Packers’ offense to struggle.

Perhaps Jacobs being further removed from a calf injury will help, but if they do not start blocking better, especially on the interior, there are not going to be any lanes for him to run through. Playing without Kraft won’t be helpful.

Grade: C

Pass Defense

The final numbers for Green Bay’s pass defense look good.

Bryce Young only threw for 102 yards and was picked off by Xavier McKinney in the back of the end zone. He was sacked once, and perhaps appropriate for how the game went, that sack gained 6 yards for Carolina. Xavier McKinney stripped Young on a blitz, but the fumble fell right to reserve running back Chuba Hubbard.

The rest of the highly touted pass rush was largely silent – McKinney and Quay Walker had the only quarterback hits – and Young was able to extend some plays with his legs.

Premier rookie receiver Tetairoa McMillan was limited to four receptions for 46 yards, though one catch for 10 yards came on the winning drive.

While the Packers didn’t make too many big mistakes, like they did in previous weeks, they also didn’t make any plays to change the game outside of McKinney’s interception on Carolina’s second possession.

Grade: C

Rush Defense

Green Bay’s run defense was one of its strong points coming into Sunday’s game. It was ranked third in the NFL in rushing yards allowed per game and fourth in yards allowed per carry. The Packers had allowed only one team to rush for 100 yards.

After showing a few signs of vulnerability in recent weeks, the defense was run around, over and through by Rico Dowdle. The biggest backbreaker came late in the game, a 19-yard run that put the Panthers in field-goal range.

Carolina Panthers running back Rico Dowdle breaks away for a long gain to set up the decisive field goal against the Packers. | Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The rest of the game did not inspire much confidence, either. Dowdle ran for 130 yards on 25 carries with two touchdowns.

Carolina’s plan from the start of the game was clear. Keep Dowdle and the run game involved, shorten the game and maximize opportunities on offense.

Green Bay’s inability to slow him down or do anything on offense to take him out of the game allowed the Panthers to play the exact type of game they were hoping to at Lambeau Field as a double-digit underdog.

There’s no rest for the weary as the Packers will have to face the Philadelphia Eagles fresh off their bye week on Monday Night Football. Saquon Barkley should be rested, and the Packers might be missing their best run defender in defensive tackle Colby Wooden, who left the game with a shoulder injury and did not return.

With Carolina’s passing game mostly a nonfactor and its offensive line in shambles, this performance is perplexing to say the least.

Grade: F

Special Teams

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

After Mason Crosby was jettisoned following the 2022 season, the Packers struggled to find a suitable replacement. Anders Carlson, Greg Joseph and Brayden Narveson all made their way through Green Bay in two years before the Packers ultimately settled on Brandon McManus.

McManus was a great find for Green Bay last year, stabilizing their kicking game.

This year?

It’s been a different story.

Green Bay Packers kicker Brandon McManus (17) reacts after missing a 43-yard field goal against the Carolina Panthers. | Tork Mason-USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

Since returning from a quad injury at Pittsburgh last week, McManus has missed three field-goal attempts. The third came on Sunday, a 43-yard field goal that followed Green Bay’s first drive of the second half.

The return game, which was rightfully worried about what has been called a dirty kickoff this week, did not see enough of those thanks to the windy conditions at Lambeau Field. Savion Williams had a nice moment with a 31-yard return before halftime but still looks too indecisive on some of these plays.

Meanwhile, Keisean Nixon, a two-time All-Pro, has yet to return a kickoff this season. On punt returns, Romeo Doubs had two returns for 6 yards against a coverage unit that ranked 31st. Daniel Whelan was not called upon to punt.

Green Bay lights too many scoring plays on fire. Its kicking situation drags them down today.

Grade: D

Coaching

Another week, another slow start for Matt LaFleur’s team in the first half.

This week, it goes hand-in-hand with Jeff Hafley’s approach on defense.

Hafley has talked about not wanting to give up explosives, and he’s right. Big plays will get you beat in big games. The issues rise when the opposing team is able to move the ball almost at will with a death-by-1,000-paper-cuts approach.

Carolina’s offense was able to hold the ball for 16:49 in the first half, which held the Packers to just three possessions. Averaging an excellent 7.1 yards per play, Green Bay turned those possessions into drives of nine, nine and 10 yards but just two field goals.

Hafley was willing to take more chances last year when he did not have Micah Parsons. Perhaps he doesn’t trust the corners, or maybe this is the approach he simply wants to take to keep the opposition from making explosive plays through the air.

Either way, Green Bay’s defense has looked a lot more like the iteration that Joe Barry was in charge of from 2021 through 2023 than the one Hafley ran in 2024.

Offensively, LaFleur continues to try to get his ground game going, and getting all of his playmakers involved, almost to the detriment of the team he has.

Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur saw his team lose its first home game of the season on Sunday against the Panthers. | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Savion Williams can be exciting. Does he need to touch the ball on the opening series of the game?

Regardless of what they’ve done in the second half, they’ve scored no more than 13 points in their last six first halves.

Slow starts might be escapable against teams like Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, but it wasn’t something they could escape against the Panthers, and it surely will be a bigger issue against some of the better teams left on the schedule.

They need to find whatever the answer is to what ails them in the first half of these games.

The second half of this game had some questionable decision-making, as well.

With the Packers trailing 13-6 with 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter and facing fourth-and-8 from the 13, LaFleur lined up to go for it. Instead of taking a short field goal, which assuming it was converted would have pulled the Packers within 13-9, LaFleur followed through on his decision to go for it after burning a timeout. The Packers did not convert, with Love almost throwing an interception when trying to turn nothing into something.

“Hindsight’s 20/20,” LaFleur said. “I wish we would’ve taken the points. Didn’t do that there. Yeah, bad decision.”

LaFleur has struggled with when he should lean aggressive, and when he should take points on a drive.

Add in that his team consistently looked like the one that was uninspired throughout the game, you get the effort that was put forth at Lambeau.

That sloppiness and lack of urgency against inferior opponents is something that has become a trend during LaFleur’s tenure. That’s been especially true this year with losses to Cleveland and Carolina, and a close call against Arizona.

For a team that said it needed more urgency, this performance was unacceptable for a team that views itself as a Super Bowl contender.