Packers escape with undeserved win against the NFL’s worst team

 

The Packers were on the road against the team with the league’s worst record, the Panthers, who barely won its second game of the season in an offensive snore-fest against the Falcons last week, 9-7. The Panthers defense is in fact one of best in total yards allowed, but near the bottom in points allowed, which may be explained by its offensive ineptitude, 30^th in yards gained, and 29^th in points scored (14.7).

The Panthers’ quarterback, Bryce Young, was the number one overall pick in the 2023 draft, but entered the game near the bottom in QB rating, averaging just 181 YPG and 9 TD passes in 13 games started; he only threw for as many as 200 yards in three of those games. Frank Reich was supposed to “nurture” Young into an NFL quarterback with the help of QB coach Josh McCown, and they were gone after 11 games having failed in this mission. But could the Packers defense, which managed to make the likes of Tommy DeVito and Baker Mayfield look like pro-bowlers, do what they were supposed to do?

This is Christmas, so I am not going to belabor what happened in this game, but the Packer defense very nearly handed the Panthers an early gift and Packer fans a lump of coal for Christmas. Young had his first 300-yard game of his NFL career, the Panthers doubled their season point average, it was only a pass to Romeo Doubs on third down after the Panthers tied the game at 30 that put the Packers in position to take back the lead on an Anders Carlson field goal. Yet with just 19 seconds left and no timeouts, Young managed to complete two pass to the Packer 31, but time ran out before the ball could be spiked to attempt a game-tying field goal and OT; frankly it was a damn close call.

OK, it wasn't all bad news; on the “positive” side, Aaron Jones gained 127 yards on the ground, the best game by a Packer running back this year on a team that was supposed to be earning its bread on the ground. And the Packers did manage to score more points than the team that had been averaging less than 15 points a game. In 1997 on their way to a second-straight Super Bowl, they lost to an 0-10 Colts team, so these things happen.

So the Packers escaped with a 33-30 win against the team with the worst record in the league. If the Packers had lost this game it would have been a crushing blow to its season. After this near debacle the next games against the Vikings on the road and against the Bears who have won 4 of 6 are no “gimmes.” Winnable games for sure, you betcha. But I’m not putting any money on it.