Packers seeking third straight win as they return home to face Panthers
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Carolina (4-4) at Green Bay (5-1-1)
Day/Time/TV: Sunday, 12:00 p.m. CST, FOX.
Against the spread: Panthers 5-3; Packers 3-4
Series record: Packers lead 12-6
Last meeting: Packers won 33-30 at Carolina on Dec. 24, 2023.
Last week: Panthers lost 40-9 at home to the Buffalo Bills; Packers won 35-25 at Pittsburgh.
Panthers offense: overall (20), rush (5), pass (29), scoring (27)
Packers offense: overall (7), rush (16), pass (7), scoring (5t)
Panthers defense: overall (11), rush (16), pass (10), scoring (20)
Packers defense: overall (6), rush (3), pass (15), scoring (10)
Turnover differential: Panthers minus-5; Packers plus-1
All the elements are in place for a possible Green Bay Packers letdown. The Packers are coming off an emotional victory over former Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers. A rematch of last season’s playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles is a week away. All that stands in the Packers’ way is a Lambeau Field matchup Sunday with a Carolina Panthers team that just got blown out at home.
Green Bay is confident it won’t get caught looking ahead. The Packers are intent on avoiding the mistakes that led to their lone loss of the season. “We’ve been in this position before,” quarterback Jordan Love said. Indeed, the Packers stumbled through a 13-10 defeat at Cleveland just before a highly anticipated trip to Dallas for Micah Parsons’ first matchup against his former team. The Packers ended up tying Dallas 40-all but have won three straight since.
Green Bay (5-1-1) owns the NFC’s best record but doesn’t have much margin for error in a conference featuring six teams with two or fewer losses. “We’ve got enough to worry about just within ourselves and a lot of growth in front of us,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “If we want to play our best football, we should only be worried about today and this game and nothing else outside of that.”
Carolina won four of its first seven games, an impressive accomplishment for a franchise that has suffered double-digit losses in each of the last six seasons. But the Panthers (4-4) got a reality check Sunday with a 40-9 loss at Buffalo in which veteran quarterback Andy Dalton filled in for the injured Bryce Young. Now comes a second straight matchup with a team that made the playoffs last season. “These are the types of matchups that we need to continue to push our football forward and find out a lot of information about who we are right now,” Panthers coach Dave Canales said.
The Packers know they can’t take anything for granted. “I think we’ve learned that you can never look past any team,” Love said. “You’ve got to take it one week at a time and you’ve got to be your best on Sunday.”
Young expected to return
Young returned to practice this week, and the Panthers are optimistic he will play after sitting out last week with an ankle injury. Young had won three straight starts before missing the Buffalo game. Dalton has a broken thumb and was limited in practice on Thursday. If Young and Dalton were both sidelined, the Panthers’ options would include Hendon Hooker and Mike White.
Packers’ pass rush
Parsons has a league-leading 44 quarterback pressures, according to Next Gen Stats. Parsons, who was named the NFC defensive player of the month, represents an imposing challenge for a Carolina offense that allowed seven sacks against Buffalo. Parsons has 6½ sacks and Rashan Gary has a team-high 7½. Gary delivered two sacks against the Steelers.
Dowdle likely to carry the load
Canales appears ready to give Rico Dowdle the bulk of Carolina’s carries this week. Chuba Hubbard and Dowdle had alternated series over the past two weeks, but Dowdle has clearly been more productive. “We cannot ignore the fact that Rico has been exceptional,” Canales said. Dowdle amassed 473 yards from scrimmage in back-to-back wins over Miami and Dallas while Hubbard was out with a calf injury. Dowdle ran for 133 yards on 25 carries the past two weeks, while Hubbard was limited to 65 yards on 26 carries with one touchdown.
Defending Kraft
The Panthers have struggled this season defending tight ends, which means Tucker Kraft could be in for another big day. Kraft had nine receptions for 143 yards and two TDs in the Packers' win at Pittsburgh. While the Panthers were able to hold Buffalo’s Dalton Kincaid in check on Sunday, New England’s Hunter Henry, Miami’s Darren Waller and Dallas’ Jake Ferguson all put up big games against Carolina.
Packers’ running issues
Green Bay is looking to get its running game in gear after gaining just 94 yards on the ground in each of its last two games. The Packers averaged 3.6 yards per rush against Pittsburgh, and Josh Jacobs was limited to 33 yards on 13 carries. Jacobs could have an easier time against Carolina, which allowed Buffalo’s James Cook to rush for a career-high 216 yards.
Panthers player to watch
WR Tetairoa McMillan, the No. 8 overall pick in the draft, is in the midst of a solid season with 37 receptions for 512 yards and two TDs in eight games, while averaging 13.8 yards per catch. The Panthers would like to get him into the end zone more often — one of his specialties while at the University of Arizona — but McMillan has been drawing a lot of double coverage in the red zone.
Packers player to watch
TE Tucker Kraft scored two touchdowns and set career highs in catches (seven) and yards receiving (143) against the Steelers. He has caught a touchdown pass in each of the Packers’ three home games this season. Kraft has 30 receptions for 469 yards and six touchdowns already this season. The only other tight ends ever to have at least 30 catches, 450 yards receiving and six touchdowns and an average of 15.5 yards per reception through the first seven games of a season are Jimmy Graham in 2013 and Rob Gronkowski in 2015.
Key matchup
Panthers running game vs. Packers run defense: Carolina is rushing for 136.9 yards per game to rank fifth in the league. Rico Dowdle had two massive games against Miami and Dallas in which he amassed 473 yards from scrimmage. Dowdle and Chuba Hubbard split carries the past two weeks after Hubbard returned from a calf injury. However, coach Dave Canales has finally admitted that Dowdle’s production has been too great to ignore and appears ready to give him a bigger share of the workload against Green Bay. He has a tough challenge ahead. Green Bay is allowing just 78.9 yards rushing per game to rank third in run defense.
Key injuries
Panthers: The Panthers had three more offensive linemen go down on Sunday with guard Brady Christensen lost for the season to a torn Achilles tendon. Right tackle Taylor (knee) and center Cade Mays (ankle) were also hurt and their status is unclear for Sunday. Moton has a better chance to play than Mays, per coach Canales. The Panthers should get G Chandler Zavala back from IR this week, so that will help.
Packers: DE Lukas Van Ness (foot) and WR Dontayvion Wicks (calf) didn’t play against the Steelers and weren’t practicing early this week.
Series notes
Green Bay won at Carolina on Christmas Eve two seasons ago on a tiebreaking field goal with 19 seconds left after the Panthers had rallied from a 14-point deficit. Carolina’s Bryce Young threw for 312 yards and two touchdowns in that game, while Green Bay’s Jordan Love had two touchdown passes and ran for a third score… The Packers have won their past three matchups in this series… The Panthers last beat the Packers 31-24 in 2017 at Carolina. The Panthers’ last win at Lambeau Field was a 35-31 decision in 2008… The past two times these two teams faced off at Lambeau Field, the Packers won by identical scores of 24-16. Those results came in 2019 and 2020… Seven of the past eight Packers-Panthers matchups had single-digit margins.
Stats and stuff
The Panthers are 1-3 on the road this season with their only win coming against the then-winless New York Jets in a sloppy game… QB Bryce Young (ankle) is expected to return to the lineup. He has won three straight starts, the longest streak of his NFL career… RB Chuba Hubbard scored Carolina’s lone touchdown last week, that coming on a fourth-quarter run against Buffalo with the Panthers down by 37 points… QB Andy Dalton was sacked seven times on Sunday and had three turnovers against the Bills to fall to 1-6 as a starter since joining the Panthers… Carolina’s defense had allowed just 131 rushing yards over the span of three games prior to allowing James Cook to run for 216 yards and two TDs last week… The Packers and Indianapolis Colts (7-1) are the only NFL teams with fewer than two losses… The Packers haven’t allowed a first-quarter touchdown all season… The Packers have committed only three turnovers to match the Philadelphia Eagles for the NFL’s lowest total… Packers QB Jordan Love is coming off a performance in which he threw 20 straight completions to tie Brett Favre’s franchise record. Love, the reigning NFC offensive player of the week, ended up throwing for 360 yards and three touchdowns against the Steelers… Kraft’s 143 yards receiving against the Steelers represented the second-highest, single-game total by any Packers tight end. Richard Rodgers had 146 yards receiving against Detroit on Dec. 3, 2015… Packers DE Rashan Gary has 7½ sacks to rank fifth in the league and Micah Parsons is sixth with 6½. Parsons has a league-high 44 quarterback pressures according to Next Gen Stats… Packers CB Keiesan Nixon has 11 passes defensed to rank second in the league, behind only Cincinnati’s D.J. Turner (13).
