It was neither tidy nor comfortable, but the Green Bay Packers got the job done at Lambeau Field on Thursday night. A 27-19 victory over the Carolina Panthers lifted Matt LaFleur’s side to 5-3.
The opening minutes looked like a blooper reel. Coleman Owen coughed up the opening kickoff, Trey Smack pushed an extra point wide and Christian Watson lost a fumble of his own. Watson then turned into the story of the night. After hauling in a 53-yard throw he landed on the ball, was seen coughing blood on the sideline and left in an ambulance for precautionary tests. The tests showed nothing worse than a broken rib, and he jogged back out of the tunnel after halftime to a huge ovation, finishing with 113 receiving yards.
Quarterback Jordan Love was on target 30 times in 41 attempts and gained 288 yards through the air. Matthew Golden, tight end Tucker Kraft and Josh Jacobs each caught one of his three scoring passes, and only a late interception dented an otherwise sharp night. Jacobs added a score on the ground, but 21 carries produced just 39 yards, and LaFleur admitted the running game is “not good enough”.
The defence carried the load when the offence stalled. Bryce Young went down six times, a season high for Green Bay, and Carolina managed only 87 yards before the break. On one fourth down at midfield, first-year lineman Chris McClellan stopped running back Chuba Hubbard cold, and Green Bay turned the field position into a 27-10 lead. After a 26-yard touchdown by Jalen Coker pulled Carolina back into it, the Packers forced one more turnover on downs with under three minutes left to seal it.
