With tight end Tucker Kraft knocked out of the game with a knee injury, the Packers sat and watched as Carolina Panthers kicker Ryan Fitzgerald connected on a game-winning, 49-yard field goal to win the game 16-13 and give Green Bay its second loss of the season Nov. 2 at Lambeau Field.
Green Bay entered this game as 13.5-point favorites, meaning this loss was the biggest upset, based upon point spread, in the NFL since 2023.
While the loss to the Panthers certainly stings, as Green Bay is knocked down to the fourth seed in the NFC, things get much worse for the Packers, as Kraft’s knee injury in the third quarter forced the star tight end out of the game and likely for the foreseeable future.
“It doesn’t look good,” said Packers head coach Matt LaFleur, on Kraft’s injury. “Its going to be tough (to overcome the injury). But it is football; the other guys are going to have to step up.”
The injury to Kraft seemed to be a microcosm of the Packers offense as a whole in this game. Carolina’s defense held the Packers to just 13 points in Green Bay’s second-lowest scoring output this season. The lack of points seemed to come from making mistakes when given chances to score.
Five of the Packers’ first six drives saw the team march down to inside the Panthers’ 35-yard line, but the team was only able to come away with six points.
“We have had penalties; we obviously had a fumble on the first drive. We had three possessions in the first half — a nine-play drive, a nine-play drive and a 10-play drive, and we had six points,” said LaFleur. “It is going to be tough if we can’t figure (things) out and score in the red area. It is just going to be tough to win football games like that.”
Playcalling also seemed to be somewhat of an issue for Green Bay in this game.
That came to a climax when the Packers faced a fourth-and-4, down 13-6 with 11 minutes left in the game. From the Panthers’ 13-yard line, instead of attempting a field goal for three points, Green Bay elected to send the offense out on the field. Not liking the setup before the play, the Packers called timeout to reevaluate.
After the timeout, Green Bay sent the offense back out on the field. Jordan Love received the snap and, after running around out of the pocket, his jump ball intended for Romeo Doubs fell incomplete, forcing Green Bay to turn the ball over on downs.
“Matt (LaFleur) made a decision on that one to want to try to put up a touchdown, and obviously it didn’t work out,” said Love.
“Hindsight is 20/20. I wish we would have taken the points. We didn’t do that there,” said LaFleur. “Yeah, bad decision.”
As a whole, the Packers offense totaled 369 yards, outgaining the Panthers by 104 yards. The fact of the matter was that Green Bay made those mistakes to ruin drives, while Carolina didn’t.
On his 27th birthday, Love finished this game completing 26-of-37 passes for 273 yards and no touchdown passes while throwing one interception. Doubs led the Packers in receiving, catching seven passes for 91 yards. Christian Watson added 58 yards on two receptions, while Luke Musgrave totaled 34 yards on two receptions.
In the run game, Josh Jacobs churned out a hard-fought 87 yards and a 1-yard touchdown, the only touchdown for the Packers in this game, on 17 carries. Emanuel Wilson added 16 yards on six carries.
For Carolina, quarterback Bryce Young completed 11-of-20 passes for 102 yards and no touchdown passes while throwing for one interception. Tetairoa McMillan led the Panthers in receiving, catching four passes for 46 yards. Xavier Legette added 22 yards on one reception.
In the run game, Rico Dowdle saw the majority of the work, as the former Dallas Cowboy rushed 25 times for 130 yards and scored both of Carolina’s touchdowns. Chuba Hubbard added another 17 yards on five carries.
While losing to an inferior opponent is never in the cards, the loss to Carolina only gives Green Bay its second loss on the season and moves its record to 5-2-1. With the Detroit Lions losing to the Minnesota Vikings this week, the Packers stay atop the division and sit at the fourth seed in the NFC playoff picture.
Green Bay will face the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night at Lambeau Field in the team’s next game.
