The Green Bay Packers beat the Carolina Panthers 27-19 at Lambeau Field on Thursday night. Jordan Love threw three touchdowns, and Deadspin credited the defense with six sacks. Our box score agrees: Carolina's Bryce Young was sacked six times for 33 yards. The Panthers converted 5 of 18 third downs, and Green Bay converted 9 of 16.
Love completed 30 of 41 passes for 288 yards, with three touchdowns and one interception, for a 106.6 rating. Green Bay had 354 total yards to Carolina's 258, and 5.3 yards per play to 3.7. Young was 23 of 41 for 209 yards, with a touchdown and an interception. The box score credits Carolina with 176 net passing yards, after the sack losses. Matthew Golden caught a touchdown among his seven catches for 79 yards. Tucker Kraft and Josh Jacobs also scored.
Christian Watson had eight catches for 113 yards on 10 targets, including a 53-yarder. A post on r/nfl citing ESPN says that total moved him past his previous career-high season mark of 620 receiving yards. He now has 708 in eight games. The box score also shows Watson lost a fumble. CBS Sports' newsletter, written by Carter Bahns, refers to a "midgame hospital trip" for Watson. The feed summary gives no detail on what happened, and we have no report on his condition. He finished with a full stat line, and the Packers' next game is more than a week away. Any update will come from the team.
Yahoo Sports focused on the running game. The Packers "won in spite of their running game yet again," it said. The numbers support that. Green Bay ran 26 times for 66 yards, 2.5 per carry. Jacobs had 21 carries for 39 yards, 1.9 per carry, plus a short touchdown. Carolina's Chuba Hubbard did better on the ground, with 22 carries for 81 yards and a score. The Packers also turned the ball over three times, two of them fumbles, and still won comfortably.
Green Bay is 5-3 and fourth in the NFC North, with one win in its last three games. The other two were a 20-17 loss at Detroit on Oct. 25 and a 23-13 win over Dallas on Oct. 18. Carolina is 3-4 and still first in the NFC South, but it has lost two straight, 43-13 to Tampa Bay and now this game. Its last win was 25-14 at Philadelphia.
The Panthers host Denver on Sunday, Nov. 8. The Packers play at New England the same day.
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