The Green Bay Packers moved to 5-3 on Thursday night, as they defeated Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers, 27-19.
Green Bay jumped out to a 10-point lead by halftime thanks to a Young interception late in the second quarter that led to a Matthew Golden touchdown, and Josh Jacobs' second trip to the end zone in the third quarter extended Green Bay's lead to 17 points. The Panthers did score 10 unanswered in the fourth quarter to trim the deficit to eight points, but the Packers defense stood tall in the final minutes and helped Green Bay escape with a win.
The main takeaway from this matchup was Carolina's offense. The Panthers were looking to bounce back following last week's embarrassing 43-13 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at home, but did not find redemption in Green Bay. Young was under attack all night from this Packers pass rush -- which registered six sacks and what felt like countless pressures. Defensively, the Panthers didn't fare too much better. They entered this matchup without cornerbacks Jaycee Horn, Mike Jackson and Akayleb Evans. Then, Will Lee III exited in the second quarter with a hamstring injury. Jordan Love took advantage.
Love completed 30 of 41 passes for 288 yards, three touchdowns and one interception, with Christian Watson leading the way with 113 yards on eight receptions. He actually left the game in the second quarter to be examined for a chest injury at a local hospital, but returned in the second half and caught two more passes.
Despite the ugly 1-2 start, the Packers are right back in the mix of the incredibly competitive NFC North. Let's take a look at what went down in Green Bay on Thursday night.
Bryce Young was under attack all night
It's easy to blame the Panthers' quarterback for the loss on Thursday night, but not many signal-callers would fare well behind this kind of "protection."
Left tackle Rasheed Walker allowed three sacks and seven pressures in Week 7 against the Buccaneers. Week 8 felt like déjà vu. Left guard Corey Bullock started in place of the injured Damien Lewis, center Luke Fortner and right guard Robert Hunt struggled, and rookie Monroe Freeling was in place of the recently-injured Taylor Moton. Young became the first Panthers quarterback to be sacked five or more times in consecutive games since Kyle Allen in 2019, according to CBS Sports Research.
You can't play efficiently from the pocket when there is no pocket, and when you're forced to run for your life half a second after fielding the snap.
I mean, the Packers were getting home with a three-man rush!
The curious case of Green Bay's offense
Love has found a dynamic duo in Watson and Golden. They are actually the first duo to account for 600 receiving yards each through the first eight games of a season since -- get this -- Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle in 2022. However, Golden has an NFL-high NINE drops this season. No other player in the NFL has more than five drops. His nine drops are more than 19 NFL teams alone. He's still putting up numbers, but some of his missteps are maddening.
Love has thrown at least two touchdowns in seven of the Packers' first eight games. This hasn't been done in Green Bay since Aaron Rodgers -- who did it thrice. Each time, he won NFL MVP. While the passing game is flying high, the ground game is struggling.
The Packers have the fewest rushing yards in NFL history by a team above .500 through eight games, with just 485. Jacobs has scored three touchdowns in his first two games of the season, but has rushed for just 75 yards. He hasn't exactly looked spry since being removed from the commissioner's exempt list.
Christian Watson hospital game
You don't see this every day. In the second quarter, Watson reeled in a deep ball from Love on a play where he and Panthers rookie corner Will Lee III were injured. Watson walked off the field under his own power, but exited the stadium via ambulance to get checked out for a chest injury. He returned by ambulance in the third quarter -- hopping out of the emergency vehicle in the tunnel in his shoulder pads -- and reentered the game! He ended up catching two more passes.
World Series champs in the building
What's next
The Panthers return home next week and will host Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos. They have a date with the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. As for the Packers, they travel east to play the Patriots in New England. Drake Maye and company are in Miami this weekend.
