Jordan Love threw for two touchdowns and ran for another and Anders Carlson kicked a 32-yard field goal with 19 seconds remaining as the Green Bay Packers survived for a 33-30 road victory against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday afternoon in Charlotte, N.C.
Green Bay (7-8), which never trailed in the game, kept its hopes for an NFC wild-card spot alive by ending a two-game losing streak, aided by Aaron Jones rushing for 127 yards on 21 carries.
The Panthers (2-13) tied the game with 4:05 remaining when DJ Chark Jr. made his second fourth-quarter touchdown reception from Bryce Young. That 10-yard play came before Raheem Blackshear’s two-point conversion run pulled Carolina even.
Love was 17-of-28 for 219 yards in the air.
Panthers quarterback Bryce Young threw for 312 yards on 23-for-35 passing.
Unlike a week earlier when the Panthers knocked off NFC South co-leader Atlanta in messy, rainy conditions, this was an ideal day for a game and the thousands of Packers fans in the stadium ended up enjoying it.
The Packers appeared in control after Romeo Doubs made a 5-yard touchdown catch from Love on the first play of the fourth quarter. The 30-16 lead looked comfortable against a Carolina team that had stalled in Green Bay territory a couple of times earlier.
But the first Young-to-Chark touchdown play went for 11 yards to complete a nine-play drive. After a Green Bay punt, the Panthers got the ball back and moved 70 yards on five plays for the tying points.
Chark ended up with a game-high 98 receiving yards on six catches and teammate Adam Thielen racked up 94 receiving yards on six receptions.
Green Bay led 23-10 at halftime, scoring on Love’s 21-yard pass to Dontayvion Wicks with 49 seconds to play in the first half.
Both teams benefitted from long first-half field goals. Eddy Pineiro connected from 52 yards for Carolina’s first points in the first quarter, while Carlson was good from 53 yards in the second quarter for Green Bay.
Pineiro, though, missed an extra-point kick on Carolina’s first touchdown of the fourth quarter, creating the need for the two-point conversion later.
–Field Level Media