After a brutal loss to the Detroit Lions that moved the Packers to 4-3 overall and pushed them to last in the NFC North, they absolutely had to win against the Carolina Panthers. The Packers did find a way Thursday against the Panthers. Here’s how they did it.
Per usual, there is little room for error for Green Bay, as they find themselves in arguably the most competitive division in the NFL. The NFC North is a blood bath, and after dropping a game against Detroit last week, the Packers desperately needed to bounce back.
Jordan Love led the way, as he has done so a lot lately. Love completed 31 of his 40 pass attempts for 288 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. His completion percentage was 73.2%, the third highest so far this season.
Additionally, his passer rating came in at 106.6 which is his second highest of the season so far. Love has been the leader of the offense, and it has certainly paid off thus far. Love almost has to the leader, but the run game continues to suffer.
Runningback Josh Jacobs did find the endzone twice against the Panthers, but he carried the ball 21 times for just 39 yards. A whopping 1.9 yards per carry. Not ideal.
The receiving room continues to be elite and make plays. Christian Watson caught eight passes for 113 yards. That’s an average of 14.1 yards per catch and his longest catch of the night coming in at 53 yards.
Watson did leave the game with a chest injury before returning later in the game. Unsure how much his rib injury will impact his
Matthew Golden had a pretty good night with seven catches for 79 yards and a touchdown. Golden has struggled with drops as of recently, but that hasn’t stopped Love from going back to him.
The defense continues to impress under defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon. Edges Lukas Van Ness, Brenton Cox, Barryn Sorrell and Dani Dennis-Sutton all registered a sack.
The biggest night on defense came from linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper. Hopper has been the go-to guy since star Edgerrin Cooper went down with his season ending achilles injury. Hopper has the best game of his career last night.
Hopper finished the night with eight tackles, one sack, three pass deflections, two quarterback hits and an interception. This is exactly the type of play the Packers need from the linebacker in the absence of Cooper.
Matt LaFleur stated, “Ty’Ron Hopper, I can’t say enough great things about him, the night he had. What a great performance.” The secondary also did a tremendous job of containing Panthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, who caught 6 passes for just 58 yards.
Overall, a very solid game from the Packers as long as you ignore the play within the kicking department. The Packers will travel to New England to take on the Patriots next Sunday at 4:25 EST.
