The Panthers came into Green Bay looking to upset the current No. 1 seed in the NFC, and their quality of play in the first half made them look like a team who didn’t even deserve to be on the same field as the Packers. The Packers jumped out to a 21-3 lead after a litany of mistakes by both the Panthers’ offense and defense, and it looked like this game was going to be a blowout before the first half was over.
The second half was a completely different story, however, as the Panthers fought back and made it a one-score game twice: they pulled to within eight points at 21-13 and 24-16, but they were unable to put together a winning drive in the game’s final minute as a critical holding penalty on special teams put them in too deep of a hole to climb out of.
The Panthers didn’t quit, though, and they should be proud of the fight they showed on defense in the second half. The offense didn’t take advantage of the stops the defense gave them, and as a result they fell to 4-10 on the season and have just two more games on the schedule to try and salvage a respectable season.
There’s not a lot more you can say about this game. The Panthers were expected to lose, and they did, but I have to admit that I enjoyed watching the Panthers team that came out in the second half a lot more than the one that played in the first. If we see more of that team in the future, I think we’ll win a lot more games than we lose once this team gets some experience under their belts.
Today’s loss means the Panthers are officially eliminated from the playoffs. They’ll have to put that behind them and focus on the task ahead of them next week, which is a date with Ron Rivera and the Washington Football Team next Sunday. Hopefully the team who played the second half of this game is the one who shows up, otherwise it could be another afternoon of ugly football for us to endure.
Fourth quarter: Panthers 16 Packers 24
The Panthers continued their drive at midfield and made it down to a first-and-goal situation before having to settle for a Joey Slye field goal after a holding penalty negated a would-be touchdown on a Teddy Bridgewater fumble that was recovered by the Panthers in the end zone. The kick was good and the Panthers cut the deficit to eight points at 21-13 with 8:39 left in the game.
The Panthers defense held their ground and forced the Packers to attempt a 51-yard field goal to extend their lead to 11 points, and the kick was good. The Panthers trailed 24-13 with 3:39 left in the game.
The Panthers drove down the field and took the field goal early to make it a one-score game again at 24-16 with just over two minutes left in the game. The Panthers then kicked off deep to the Packers and bet on their defense to get a three-and-out to get the ball back with enough time remaining to tie the game at 24.
The Panthers defense did their part by forcing the Packers into a three-and-out to get the ball back with just under a minute left in the game. Pharoh Cooper returned the punt to the Panthers’ 40-yard line, and the offense came out with a chance to tie the game in the final minute. A holding penalty during the punt set the Panthers back 10 yards, making their task a little more difficult.
After multiple mistakes, the Panthers were unable to tie the game and the Packers ran out the clock to preserve the 24-16 win.
Third quarter: Panthers 10 Packers 21
The Panthers started the second half on defense and they did their job by forcing the Packers to punt the ball after going three-and-out. Unfortunately, the Panthers were unable to put a drive together and punted the ball right back to the Packers.
The Panthers forced the Packers to punt for the fourth consecutive drive and the offense took advantage of the defense’s hard work by putting together a touchdown drive to keep the game within reach. Teddy Bridgewater picked up his fifth rushing touchdown of the year with a 13-yard scramble, and Joey Slye hit the extra point to bring the Panthers to within 11 points at 21-10 with 5:15 left in the quarter.
The Panthers defense forced another Packers punt and gave the ball back to their offense at their own 20-yard line after Pharoh Cooper dangerously fielded a punt at his own goal line and weaved his way through the Packers punting unit to give the Panthers decent field position to start their drive.
The Panthers started driving and made it to midfield before the quarter came to a close with the Panthers trailing the Packers 21-10.
Second quarter: Panthers 3 Packers 21
The Packers continued their drive with first-and-goal at the start of the quarter and only needed two plays to punch the ball into the end zone when Aaron Rodgers took care of business himself with a touchdown run. The extra point was good and the Packers extended their lead to 14-3 with 14:09 left in the half.
The Panthers put a nice drive together, including a first down pickup on fourth-and-1, and had first-and-goal from the 1-yard line before Teddy Bridgewater fumbled the ball while trying to leap over the pile to score. The Packers scooped up the fumble and returned it all the way back to midfield and prevented the Panthers from cutting into the deficit.
The Packers took advantage of the turnover and ran the ball down the Panthers’ throats en route to another touchdown to take a 21-3 lead with 3:58 left in the half.
The Panthers took the ensuing kickoff and went three-and-out and had to punt the ball back to the Packers with 3:40 left in the half. The Panthers defense did their jobs and forced the Packers to punt for the first time in the game with less than two minutes left in the half. The Panthers had to start their next drive inside their own 5-yard line, and while they were able to pick up a first down to get out of their own end zone, they were unable to move the ball sufficiently down the field and had to punt the ball back to the Packers with 1:05 left in the half.
The Panthers defense held the Packers out of the end zone again on the final drive of the half, and Derrick Brown picked up his first sack of his career (a split sack with Efe Obada). The Packers punted the ball back to the Panthers with 0:09 left in the half, and that was the final play as the clock rolled to zero while the ball was in the air with the Panthers down 21-3 to the Packers.
First quarter: Panthers 3 Packers 7
The Panthers started the game on offense, but they were unable to pick up a first down and had to punt the ball to the Packers after only taking a little over a minute off the game clock.
The Panthers defense were unable to get off the field quickly after giving up a 46-yard run by Aaron Jones on third-and-1, which set the Packers up in the red zone. A few plays later, the Packers were in a first-and-goal situation, and shortly after that the Packers had taken a 6-0 lead after Aaron Rodgers found Robert Tonyan near the end zone. The extra point was good and gave the Packers a 7-0 lead with 9:54 left in the quarter.
The Panthers put a decent drive together on their next possession but they were unable to get the ball in the end zone and had to settle for a 36-yard field goal from Joey Slye to cut the deficit to four points. The Panthers trailed 7-3 with 5:57 left in the quarter.
The Packers continued to move down the field with ease and faced a first-and-goal situation as the first quarter came to an end with the Panthers trailing 7-3.
Game day information
What: Carolina Panthers at Green Bay Packers
When: Saturday, December 19 at 8:15 p.m. ET
Where: Lambeau Field (Green Bay, Wis.)
TV: NFL Network; Mike Tirico, Kurt Warner
Local TV: WSOC Channel 9 (Charlotte only)
Streaming: FuboTV, NFL Network Live, Yahoo! Sports, Panthers mobile app
Radio: Panthers radio (local); Mick Mixon
Spanish Radio: Panthers radio (local); Jaime Moreno, Antonio Ramos
Weather: 24° / AM Snow Showers / 7 mph N wind / 30% precip. (complete forecast)
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