As much as the defense tried to ruin the holiday for us, Jordan Love, Aaron Jones, and Romeo Doubs wouldn't let them. What should've been a trouncing of a struggling Panthers team instead ended up being a nail-biter to the final second. I'll take this win and happily go into my holiday festivities, but I can't help but have a bad taste in my mouth after this one.

I'd say it was a pretty good game for the Packers' offense as Aaron Jones was able to bend the Panthers' defense to his will compiling a total of 135 all-purpose yards. Jordan Love also put together a pretty clean game with 219 yards through the air and 2 touchdowns. My only gripe would be the three-and-out late which put a tired Packers defense back out on the field after giving up a frustrating 4.5-minute drive that ended up in the end-zone. It's a gripe I've had for some time now that this team needs to put together more complimentary football if they want to get anywhere. 

The defense had a great start. They got a lot of great pressure on Bryce Young forcing some errant throws and held them to only 10 points in the first half. But the second half was terrible. The jokes were everywhere this week that Joe Barry's defense would make Bryce Young look like a stud, and it sure did as he threw for 312 yards and 2 touchdowns. The defense let Carolina right back in the game with 20 points in the second half and nearly gave them the tying score to take the game to OT.

But a victory is a victory, let's get to the recap:

First Quarter:

The Packers deferred possession to the second half so Bryce Young and the Panthers offense began the game from their own 15-yard line after a holding call on the kick return. After a nice 9-yard pass by Young to start the drive, he would be sacked on second down split between Quay Walker and Preston Smith, and with an incompletion on third down the Panthers would punt it away. However, after Lukas Van Ness ran into the punter on the kick, the Packers would be called for roughing the kicker, giving the Panthers 15 yards and the first down at their 32-yard line to continue the drive. A tough call to take after initially forcing a three and out. With the Panthers' offense getting a do-over on their first drive the Packers' defense stopped runs on first and second down, before Bryce Young sailed his third-down pass out of bounds to almost repeat the three and out previously. This time there’s no roughing the kicker on the punt and the Packers will take over on offense from their own 20-yard line with 11:28 remaining in the opening quarter.  

The first play from scrimmage, Aaron Jones took a handoff to the left for ten yards and wasn’t done there as the second play from scrimmage he broke out again for another 13 yards and the Packers' second first down of the drive. It was the Jones show for another two plays collecting 11 yards between a short run and a reception before Tucker Kraft would take the Packers into the redzone with a 27-yard catch hurdling his way to the Carolina 19. Aaron Jones would continue his ownership of the drive with a 12-yard run before Vonn Bell would be called for DPI in the endzone on Romeo Doubs taking the Packers to the 1-yard line where AJ Dillon would plow his way into the endzone on his first carry for the touchdown. A statement drive mainly on the legs of Aaron Jones as the Packers would go up 7-0 in this one with 7:30 remaining in the first.  

After the kickoff return to the 31-yard line, the Panthers would take over again for their second drive. After a run stop on first down and an offsides call on Devonte Wyatt on second, Bryce Young would hit Tremble for a 30-yard gain down to the Packers’ 34-yard line. On first down following that play the Panthers tried to run a reverse flea flicker, but Kenny Clark said no way blowing up the play and forcing Young to just throw the ball away. Great penetration by Clark on that one disrupting the play. After two more incompletions, Eddie Pineiro would attempt a 52-yard field goal and drill it through the uprights, however, Devonte Wyatt would be called for offsides a second time on the drive, but the penalty would be declined. The Panthers get within 4 to take the score to 7-3 with 5:24 remaining in the first quarter. The Packers defense had a great drive but that 30-yard pass to Tremble was the only play the Panthers needed to get some points on the board.  

After Keisean Nixon would take the kickoff out of the endzone, the Packers would begin their drive from the 21-yard line. The Aaron Jones show kicked off the drive again as Jones bounced out to the right and took the carry for 39 yards to the Carolina 40-yard line. Bo Melton would be introduced to the game after this as he would get his first catch of the game for 17 yards and then take a reverse 7 yards down to the Carolina 16-yard line. Two rushing attempts only generating three yards would follow before the Packers were faced with 3rd and 7 from the 10-yard line where Jordan Love would hit Tucker Kraft for a gain of 8 and a first and goal inside the 2-yard line. Love would hand off to Aaron Jones twice, but he would not reach the endzone before the first quarter would expire. 

Second Quarter:

Facing third and goal to go from the one-yard line the Packers' offense would start the second quarter with Jordan Love pushing the pile into the endzone for the touchdown. On the extra point however, again this season we can’t have nice things as the snap is a bit high which maybe threw off the rhythm a bit resulting in a missed extra point and the Packers going up 13-3 with 14:57 remaining in the half. 

The Panthers would get a good kick return to their 33-yard line but again there would be a holding penalty on the return pushing them back to their 23. After forcing 3rd and 7, Carolina would get the first down on a nice 19-yard throw from Young to DJ Chark to the Carolina 45-yard line. Facing third down again Bryce Young would make a great throw hitting Adam Thielen for a 17-yard gain down to the Packers’ 33-yard line where Chuba Hubbard would take it further on first down on a 13-yard run to the Packers 20. On the very next play, Smith-Marsette would take an end-around the distance for the touchdown taking the score to 13-10 with 10:29 remaining in the half. A quick drive there for the Panthers offense where we basically saw the Packers’ defense of old, unfortunately.  

Starting the drive at their 25, Love would hit Doubs right away on a 13-yard pass to the 38 before a false start would get Rasheed Walker pushing the Packers backward for 2nd and 12. Jordan Love would recover those yards on an 11-yard run before Jordan Love bobbled the snap and threw incomplete to Wicks on third down. However, on the play, Gross-Matos of the Panthers would be called for roughing the passer tacking on 15 yards for the Packers and the first down at the Carolina 38-yard line. After this though, the Packers would only get 3 yards on AJ Dillon’s legs before Anders Carlson would drill a 53-yard field goal right down Broadway to give the Packers a 16-10 lead with 7:51 remaining in the half.  

The Panthers starting off the drive from their own 25 picked up where they left off with two pass plays totaling 29 yards to the Packers’ 47-yard line. After two plays getting within a yard, the Packers' defense stopped Chuba Hubbard short of the line to gain on third down. The Panthers went for it on fourth and Kingsley Enagbare got the initial penetration off the edge before Isaiah McDuffie stuffed Hubbard behind the line for the turnover on downs.  

The Packers offense took over with 4:12 remaining on the clock before the half at their own 40-yard line. On 2nd down Love hit Bo Melton for his second catch of the game for the first down on a 14-yard catch to the CAR 46. A five-yard pass to Tucker Kraft and a 3-yard run by Aaron Jones would take us to the two-minute warning with the Packers set up 1st and 10. A catch for no gain and an incompletion would set up 3rd and 10 where Love would hit Bo Melton again, this time for an 11-yard gain and a first down to the CAR 23. Three plays later, Jordan Love would scramble, and Dontayvion Wicks would get open where Jordan Love would hit him for the touchdown. After the extra point, the Packers would go up 23-10 on the Panthers with 0:49 remaining in the half.  

The Panthers would take over at their own 23 where two incompletions and a nine-yard catch later, the Panthers would punt the ball away as the Packers would take over with 18 seconds left at their own 21 and three timeouts.  

First play of the drive, Carolina would be called for DPI on Donte Jackson moving the ball to the 37 before Love would be hurried and throw an incompletion on the next play. With 6 seconds left, Love would hit Wicks for an 8-yard gain with 1 second left on the clock. With one play remaining, Love would throw a Hail Mary that would fall incomplete taking us to halftime.  

Third Quarter:

Receiving the ball to begin the half the Packers’ offense would unfortunately put together their worst drive of the game going three and out following a Jordan Love sack on 2nd down that resulted in a 12-yard loss. Whelan would punt it away and the Panthers would take over at their own 28-yard line with 13:31 remaining in the 3rd.  

The Panthers' offense would get out to a good start converting on third down for the down reset on a three-yard run by Hubbard. Several plays later the Panthers would fall short of the line to gain on a pass on third down, but they would go for it and Bryce Young would take a sneak 2-yards picking up the first down up the middle to the Packers’ 36-yard line. Two plays later Bryce Young would sail a ball for the endzone where Jaire Alexander would run into the defender and not be called for DPI, however, McDuffie would instead be called for roughing the passer on Bryce Young giving the Panthers a first down and 15 yards to the Packers’ 20-yard line. Two more runs by Young and Hubbard each later and the Panthers would be set up first and goal from the Packers 6-yard line. Two plays later, Hubbard would head up the middle and into the endzone for the touchdown. After the extra point sailed wide left, the Panthers would cut the lead to 7. The score is now 23-16 with 5:11 remaining in the 3rd. 

After a good return by Keisean Nixon to the Packers' 34, Jordan Love hit Romeo Doubs up the middle for a 26-yard catch, which Doubs fumbled but every cheesehead alive was glad to see Josiah Deguara as he fell on it immediately at the CAR 33-yard line to save the drive for the Packers. Two plays later Aaron Jones would reach 100 yards rushing on the day with a 10-yard run to the CAR 21. Two plays later the Packers faced 3rd and 2 from the CAR 13 where Aaron Jones would pick up the first down, down to the CAR 7-yard line. Two AJ Dillon runs totaling 2 yards would round out the third quarter with the Packers up 23-16 and knocking on the door in scoring position. 

Fourth Quarter:

The Packers would begin the 4th and final quarter with 3rd and goal from the Carolina 5-yard line. On third down Jordan Love would hit Romeo Doubs on the five-yard touchdown pass, and after the extra point, the score would move to 30-16 Packers with 14:57 remaining in the game. 

After the kickoff, the Panthers' offense would begin their first drive of the final quarter from their own 21-yard line where Young would hit Thielen immediately on a one-handed grab for a 16-yard gain to the 37-yard line.  A few plays later, on third down Bryce Young would sail a pass intended for Chark incomplete bringing up fourth down. Before the punt, Carolina would be called for delay of game pushing them back five yards before the punt where the Packers would take over at their own 11-yard line.  

Taking over deep in their own territory with 12:37 remaining on the clock, an incomplete pass, and a short AJ Dillon run would set the Packers at 3rd and 9 where Love would throw an incompletion intended for Bo Melton. The defender with a good play on the ball and the Packers would need to punt the ball away. Following the 48-yard punt to the Carolina 40, the Panthers would take over in good field position with 11:38 remaining on the clock.  

Two plays into their drive Young would hit Thielen for a 15-yard gain to the Packers 45-yard line. On third and 1 Smith-Marsette would pick up the first down, but Carolina would be called for unnecessary roughness pushing them backward before Preston Smith would sack Bryce Young for a loss of 7. Two plays later the Panthers would face 3rd and 12 where Young would hit DJ Chark for the first down. Chark would fumble the ball and a scuffle would ensue to recover the football, but Carolina would end up with possession. Devonte Wyatt would be called for unsportsmanlike conduct on the play, his third flag of the game and Carolina would proceed from the Packers’ 11-yard line. The next play Young would hit Chark for the 11-yard touchdown. Carolina would line up for a two-point conversion which Bryce Young would scramble for the 2-points, but Carolina would be called for holding on the play resulting in them instead settling for the extra point which would sail wide-left. No good. The score would move to 30-22 with 7:14 remaining in the game. 

After the kickoff, the Packers would take over at their own 25 with a decision of whether to be aggressive for another score or to just run the clock a bit. After a 6-yard Aaron Jones run and a –1-yard catch by Patrick Taylor the Packers were faced with 3rd down where a Jordan Love pass to Bo Melton would sail incomplete. It was debatable there should've been DPI on the play, but no call, and the Packers kicked it away.  

The Panthers offense would take over at their own 30-yard line with 5:47 remaining. On 3rd and 2, Bryce Young hit DJ Chark for a 20-yard gain. With a 15-yard penalty tacked on for Unnecessary roughness on Anthony Johnson Jr. For a helmet-to-helmet hit, the Panthers would get down to the Packers’ 27-yard line where Young would hit Thielen for a 17-yard gain to the 10 before DJ Chark would catch another touchdown the next play. Carolina would need to line up for the two-point conversion to tie and they would easily convert on a Blackshear rush into the endzone. The score was now tied 30-30 with 4:05 remaining in the game.  

Taking over at their 25-yard line, the Packers put together two Aaron Jones rushes for 6 yards before being faced with 3rd and 4 where Love would hit Doubs 36 yards downfield to the Panthers' 33-yard line. The play would be challenged but would be upheld, the call stands, and the Packers would run one more play before the two-minute warning. After the two-minute warning Love hit Kraft for a 20-yard gain to the Carolina 13-yard line. The Packers were set to run the clock at this point forcing the Panthers to use their timeouts as they’d only run it three times for a few yards before taking a timeout with 22 seconds left on the clock to send out Anders Carlson for a 32-yard field goal which he’d drill right down the middle. The Packers would take the lead 33-30 with 0:19 remaining on the clock.  

After the kickoff, the Panthers would have 19 seconds and zero timeouts to get into field goal range. They nearly did it. Two catches for 44 yards between Thielen and Chark got the Panthers the distance but they couldn’t spike the ball in time to stop the clock.  

This one wraps up with the Packers winning 33-30 to move to 7-8 on the season.  

Offensive Player of the Game:

This goes to Aaron Jones hands down. Early in the game, it was the Jones show. The Panthers had no answers for him earlier where he was the difference maker. 21 carries for 127 yards and then 1 catch for 8 yards. It was a welcome back to the show game for Jones. I only wish he could've gotten into the endzone. 

Defensive Player of the Game:

I'm putting this one as a tie between Isaiah McDuffie and Preston Smith. McDuffie had some big tackles tying for the team lead, including a big tackle on fourth down of Chuba Hubbard to turn the ball over after the initial penetration by Enagbare. Preston Smith finished with 1.5 sacks including a big one late in the game that should've been a drive-killer but alas, our defense happened. 

What Went Right:

Aaron Jones having a monster of a game really set the tone early. 

Jordan Love continues to have some clutch throws including the big one late to Romeo Doubs that set up the game-winning field goal. 

Bo Melton got to show off that he could be a force in the future with a nice four-catch 44-yard game.

What Went Wrong:

Joe Barry. I don't know how this defense can look so good at times but look so terrible a single drive later. We know he's not getting fired yet, but we need to move on from this guy after the season. 

Devonte Wyatt's penalties. This was a bad game for Wyatt jumping offside twice and then his unnecessary roughness call late pushed the Panthers closer to scoring range. That can't continue. 

Looking Forward:

Moving ahead to next week, the Packers will head to US Bank Stadium in Minnesota for their second game of the season against the Vikings on Sunday night football. That's right, your New Year's Eve party will consist of some Packers football. In the Packers' first meeting with the Vikings this season they were defeated in an embarrassing 24-10 loss at home. So, the Pack will definitely be looking for a little payback. The Vikings will be coming off their match-up with the Detroit Lions where they were defeated and still fighting for their playoff lives just like the Packers. This game could be a deciding factor for both teams in whether or not they have a post-season birth so it's sure to be a good one before the clock strikes midnight to begin 2024. Until then, I hope you all have a great Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Go Pack Go.