The Green Bay Packers entered Sunday as two-touchdown home favorites over the Carolina Panthers, yet their 16-13, last-second loss may not be the worst outcome on a grey Green Bay day. Star tight end Tucker Kraft’s season is in jeopardy after a third quarter knee injury.
“I know how much ‘Tuck’ puts into this,” coach Matt LaFleur said via packers.com. “He’s a big leader, and it’s hard to replace that. Unfortunately we had a lot of guys going in and out of the lineup today. It’s one of those things you’ve got to be able to overcome and we didn’t.”
Kraft limped off the field with help before being carted to the locker room. A small pile rolled up on his planted right knee as he pulled around for a run block. LaFleur didn’t seem optimistic after the game, and only said he didn’t know in regards to any hope for a late-season return. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported the “fear” ahead of the MRI test is a torn ACL.
The carnage didn’t stop with Kraft, though his injury appears to be the most serious. Colby Wooden (shoulder), Aaron Banks (stinger), and Matthew Golden (shoulder) each left the game and didn’t return. Josh Jacobs battled through his pains and was shown keeled over on the sideline at one point. Christian Watson missed some time due to the concussion spotter removing him before being cleared to return.
While Kraft’s injury looms largest for the season, Wooden’s loomed largest for the game. The run-stuffing defensive tackle’s presence was sorely missed as the Panthers clawed their way to 163 rushing yards. Rico Dowdle accounted for 130 on 25 carries and two touchdowns.
The Panthers were able to remain balanced and committed to the run because the Packer offense consistently failed to convert in the red zone. Five red zone trips resulted in an abysmal 13 points. Two turnovers – a fumble and downs – caused empty possessions, and the Packers found the end zone just once out of the other three. Add in a missed Brandon McManus 43-yard field goal from just outside the red zone and the Packers created a recipe for disaster.
“You can’t have holding penalties, you can’t fumble the football, you’ve got to be able to tackle, you’ve got to be able to stop the run,” LaFleur said. “Just basic football principles and if you don’t do them well, you’re susceptible to getting beat.”
The first nine minutes started about as well as anyone expected for Green Bay. The defense forced a three-and-out, and Jordan Love had engineered a balanced nine-play drive inside the Panther 20. A wide receiver screen to Savion Williams ended in a fumble recovered by the defense. The rookie was fighting for extra yardage with just one hand on the ball when it was punched out by the pursuit in traffic.
On the next Panther possession, Xavier McKinney kept the game scoreless with his second interception of the season. He snagged an errant Bryce Young pass in the back of the end zone after the Panthers mounted a 15-play drive that took 8:39 off the clock. Green Bay then turned the turnover into points on a 49-yard field goal from McManus for the lead, 3-0. The kick was hardly worth celebrating. The Packers had the ball on the Carolina 14 with a second-and-6 before the attempt. They followed with a false start, sack, false start, and drop.
“We deservedly got our ass beat,” LaFleur said.
The Panthers answered with another long driver – 10 plays for 76 yards – and a touchdown, 7-3. Green Bay’s third and final possession of the first half resulted in a 27-yard McManus field goal after the offense again failed to find paydirt from in close, 7-6.
Special teams contributed its blunder to start the second half when McManus hooked a 43-yard field. The next Green Bay drive ended with a Jordan Love interception as he inexplicably threw deep into triple coverage. A long return set up another Panther touchdown, 13-6 after a missed PAT.
The offense’s biggest red zone botch occurred on the next drive. Facing a third-and-3 at the Carolina eight, LaFleur called for a left swing screen to Emmanuel Wilsont. The offense had blocking numbers, but Panther safety Tre’von Moehrig blew right through a Malik Heath block attempt to tackle Wilson for a five-yard loss. LaFleur bypassed a short field goal, and despite a timeout, the play call resulted in a dropped interception after Love scrambled around backyard style. Kraft, Golden, and Christian Watson were not available for the critical play. LaFleur acknowledged it was a “bad decision” to go for it.
“You can’t chase the big play,” LaFleur said in reference to himself, but undoubtedly also Love’s ill-advised interception. “They were playing soft zone the majority of the game and making us consistently move the ball. On every drive almost, we made a mistake. We’ve got to be more consistent.”
The defense forced a three-and-out and the offense finally broke through in the red zone to tie the game at 13 thanks to a Jacobs lunge to the goal line. However, the defense failed to muster one more stop as Young made a couple of critical conversions ahead of the Dowdle gash to set up the field goal.
Young finished 11-of-20 for 102 yards, a pick and a 48.3 quarterback rating. Love countered with 26-of-37, 273, and 80.1. Jacobs found moderate success on the ground for 87 yards on 17 carries and the score. Romeo Doubs caught seven passes for 91 yards.
McKinney led the team in tackles with nine, indicative of Carolina’s rushing attack. His running mate at safety, Evan Williams, had eight. The ground game also negated Micah Parsons as the FOX broadcast didn’t have him registered for a pressure, much less a sack. If the stat held, it would be Parson’s first career game without a pressure.
Other Notes
The Packers committed seven penalties for 42 yards. Six penalties occurred in the first half.
The Packer offense did execute its own ball-control style – six of its seven drives went for nine plays and 43 yards as they never punted in the game.
The 163 rushing yards were the most allowed by Green Bay all season, and just the second time a team eclipsed the 100-yard mark.
The Lions lost to the Vikings, keeping Green Bay in first place in the NFC North
The Packers will play host to the Philadelphia Eagles next week on Monday Night Football