Cat Scratch Reader
The Carolina Panthers defense suffocated the Packers offense in the red zone and their rookie kicker played the role of hero again.
Chandler Zavala marked his return to the lineup the best way he knows how—by committing a false start before the Panthers could get their first snap off. That put the offense behind the sticks, but they were still almost able to pick up the first down. Dave Canales left the offense on the field for a 4th and 1 in their own territory, and Jimmy Horn picked up the first on an end around. However, it was called back for a Tommy Tremble hold which to be fair probably was the only reason Horn was able to get the edge.
Green Bay took over after the punt and methodically marched down the field. They pushed into Carolina territory before a turnover ended the drive. Nick Scott took on a blocker on a bubble screen to create some traffic. While Savion Williams was trying to navigate the junk, Christian Rozeboom and company came in from the middle of the field and knocked the ball out. Scott was able to corral it on the ground.
The first quarter ended with the Panthers on a long drive into Packers territory. A first down completion to Tetairoa McMillan and a Bryce Young scramble for a first on fourth down got the drive going. Young took a shot on the scramble as he basically slowed down to a walk before he went out of bounds, which opened him up to a big hit.
A heavy dose of Rico Dowdle and another nice run from Jimmy Horn (that counted) got the Panthers into field goal range. Young took a shot to the end zone for Xavier Legette on third down, but he badly missed the target and was picked off by Xavier McKinney.
Jordan Love took two deep shots on the Packers ensuing drive, and the second one connected with Christian Watson. That got the Packers threatening to score the game’s first point, but they did their best to not make that happen. They botched a snap on 2nd and medium then committed a false start. Tershawn Wharton sacked Love on the actual second down play, then Emmanuel Wilson dropped a screen pass on 3rd and very long. Brandon McManus finally knocked in the field goal for the game’s first points.
Rico Dowdle ripped off a 29 yard run off the right side to open the next drive to get the Panthers moving, though Dowdle had to leave the game for a bit. A nice intermediate throw between the levels of the defense from Young to Legette got the Panthers into the red zone, and this time Legette had to leave after taking a shot to the head. Another fourth down conversion, this time with a Rico Dowdle run, set the Panthers up inside the ten. Dowdle got the ball a couple plays later and punched it in...
