Week 8 of the NFL schedule got underway Thursday night with a battle of NFC squads looking to improve their position in what looks to be a crowded standings field. It also was a matchup after several of the teams above these two teams in the standings already fired their first salvos ahead of the November 10 trade deadline. We’ll have to see what either of these teams end up doing as far as adding, subtracting or standing pat over the next two weeks.
When all was said and done, Bryce Young picked a poor time to turn in a dud performance. As a result, the Green Bay Packers managed to earn a 27-19 home victory over the Carolina Panthers to rebound from Sunday’s loss to the Lions. Meanwhile, Carolina suffered their second straight loss and fell into a first-place tie, at least until Sunday, with he Falcons in the NFC South. Green Bay improved to 5-3 on the season while Carolina dropped to 3-4 with the loss.
QUARTERBACKS
Bryce Young had a rough night and there’s no way to sugar coat that for the Panthers. I know a lot of people were touting him for putting up big numbers in the early part of this season. After throwing for more than 280 yards in each of his first five games, the last two saw him throw for 163 in the blowout loss to Tampa Bay last week. That was followed by a 23 of 41, 209-yard showing in this game. Young tossed a touchdown pass on fourth and 3 from the Packers’ 26-yard line in the fourth quarter. However, he threw a pick that set up the Packers in Panthers territory in the second quarter, which led to a touchdown. Meanwhile, he was sacked six times, hit on nine other occasions and had eight passes defensed by Green Bay’s defense.
On the flip side, Jordan Love was pretty consistent, taking what the Panthers’ defense gave him. There were three big pass plays as he hit Christian Watson on strikes of 53 and 24 yards while he had a 24-yard touchdown pass to Matthew Golden. All told, Love finished 30 of 41 for 288 yards with three touchdown passes. He threw one interception that was picked off at the Carolina two-yard line in the opening minute of the fourth quarter where the Packers could have taken a three-score lead. Importantly, his patchwork offensive line prevented Love from taking a sack in the game, though he did take an intentional grounding call late in the fourth quarter. Carolina’s inability to generate pressure was noticeable as the Panthers failed to even record a hit on Love in the game.
RUNNING BACKS
While it wasn’t the prettiest night for Chuba Hubbard, one thing was certain. You knew you were going to get some kind of numbers out of him just due to sheer volume. Hubbard was on the field for 67 of Carolina’s 73 offense snaps (91.8%) in the game. There was a ton of volume as well as he had 29 touches in the game. He finished with 22 carries for 81 yards and a one-yard scoring run on the first play of the second quarter. In addition, he caught seven passes on eight targets for 38 yards. That gave him 119 total yards and a score in the game. Of course, he failed to convert a 4th and 2 from midfield on the opening drive of the second half. Trevor Etienne (five snaps) had just one carry, which went for one yard, in the contest.
For the Packers, remember how we talked about how the Panthers have been gouged on the ground this season? Carolina was dead last in rushing yards (919), rushing scores (11) and yards per carry (5.2) allowed on the year. It seemed primed for a big day for Green Bay’s moribund run game to get going, right? As Rowdy Roddy Piper used to say “Just when you think you have all the answers, I change the questions.” The Packers ran 26 times for 66 yards as a team in the game, a measly 2.5 yards per carry. Josh Jacobs finished with 21 carries for 39 yards with no run longer than six yards. The good news was he caught six balls. However, the bad news? They totaled 13 yards. On the plus side, he scored on the ground and through the air, which made for a solid night in fantasy. He was on the field for 49 of Green Bay’s 69 snaps. Marshawn Lloyd (11 snaps, three carries, seven yards, catch, nine yards) and Pierre Strong Jr. (nine snaps, one carry, two yards) were afterthoughts. I guess Jacobs has value because of the scores and the receptions, but as far as doing damage yardage wise, this run game looks no better than it did weeks one through six.
WIDE RECEIVERS
With injuries to rookie Chris Brazzell II in the preseason and Xavier Legette last month, the Panthers are thin at the receiver spot. We saw just four guys take snaps offensively at the position for Carolina in this game, with each seeing at least 19 snaps in the game. Tetairoa McMillan was targeted 11 times by Young in the game but he reeled in just six of those balls for 57 yards. Jalen Coker turned in his third dud showing in his last four outings, catching just two of five targets for 36 yards. Yes, he did have a score in the fourth quarter but he was charged with a lost fumble on the final play of the game. What was a bit surprising is that John Metchie III (three targets, three catches, 14 yards) outsnapped Brycen Tremaine (target, catch, 11 yards) by a 33-19 margin in the contest. That might be something to watch going forward.
With the Packers, it was pretty much the same two-man show we’ve seen most of the season, especially with Jaylen Reed done for the year. Matthew Golden led the way with 59 snaps in the game while Savion Williams (38), Christian Watson (34), J. Michael Sturdivant (29) and Bo Melton (25) all saw their fair share of action. Watson took a trip to the hospital with a chest injury sustained on his 53-yard catch in the second quarter but returned to the game. However, that was why his snap count was down. He also lost a fumble. As it was, Golden (seven catches, 79 yards, TD) paced the team with 12 targets while Watson (eight catches, 113 yards, TD) was right behind him with 11. Williams (one carry, 18 yards, two targets, one catch, five yards), Sturdivant (target, catch, 16 yards) and Melton (no targets) were non-entities in the pass attack. Sticking with a Milwaukee oriented team, anyone remember Spahn and Sain and pray for rain? Here, it’s Watson and Golden because no one else is holding.
TIGHT ENDS
We saw a lot more 12 and 13 personnel out of the Panthers in this game, mainly due to the lack of receiver depth. The problem is, in part due to the pass rush and Young getting sped up, the ball didn’t really go to this group. Darren Waller led the way, playing 45 snaps, but was targeted just once, hauling in an 11-yard reception midway through the fourth quarter. Tommy Tremble saw 44 snaps and was targeted twice, catching one pass for 19 yards. Mitchell Evans played 23 snaps in the game and was targeted twice in the game. He led the position with two receptions for 22 yards. Still, it’s safe to say that if you were expecting more from this group, you were let down.
In what was a deviation from what we’ve seen lately, the Packers actually played two tight end sets more often than we’ve seen in recent weeks. However, at the end of the night, it was still the Tucker Kraft show. He was on the field for 61 of the Packers’ 69 snaps in the contest. Kraft hauled in all six of his targets in the contest for 53 yards and a touchdown in the victory. Mark Redman was on the field for 27 snaps (39.1%) in the game. However, it was mainly in an effort to try and spur the run game as he wasn’t targeted in the contest. Meanwhile, Josh Whyle got three snaps before leaving with a concussion. Let’s just say neither of them are Butch Rolle.
MISCELLANEOUS
Green Bay was up 17 in the second half of this game but saw Carolina make it a one-score contest with 5:37 to play. The Panthers had two more chances with the ball but didn’t pick up a first down either time. Their inability to pressure Love or get a stop in the red zone proved costly. The Packers were three of three scoring touchdowns in the red zone to the Panthers’ one of two showing. Green Bay owned a 354-258 advantage in total offense, picked up 21 first downs while allowing 14 and held a 31:03 to 28:57 edge in time of possession. They did enough offensively to make up for turning the ball over three times while recording just two takeaways.
For Carolina, Ryan Fitzgerald was solid in the kicking game. He connected on his lone extra point attempt and knocked through field goals from 39 and 50 yards in the contest. In our A Day in Football column Sunday, I figured that Trey Smack would have been out of a job by now. I’m going to double down on that here. Smack didn’t attempt a field goal in the contest and missed his first extra point attempt. He rebounded to hit his final three. However, on the season he is just 16 of 19 on extra point attempts and 11 of 16 on field goal tries. He arguably cost Green Bay the game last week and is a liability in close games. You can’t have a lack of faith in your kicker in crunch time if you want to make the postseason. Greem Bay also lost a fumble on the opening kickoff and was fortunate to limit the Panthers to three points on that drive.
Week 9 gets underway next Thursday night in Charm City with a battle of AFC teams trying to pick up a critical victory. The Jacksonville Jaguars are on the road as they travel to take on the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium. Jacksonville has cushion in the AFC South, which has been a dumpster fire this season. Baltimore finds itself in the midst of a crowded AFC North race.
