The oddest thing about this game is the Panthers had the ball late with plenty of time to drive for a game-tying score even though it seemed like the Packers had destroyed them. Granted Green Bay couldn’t run to save its life, and it’s hard to put teams away under those conditions, but Bryce Young took six sacks for 33 yards and managed only 209 positive yards on 41 attempts.
I was torn on this game in my ATS picking pool, made the wrong choice with Carolina off the blowout last week against the Bucs. It’s obvious any team in the NFC North would be a big favorite in the NFC South.
Young couldn’t get anything going. He was lighting it up early in the season, but looked like the guy from a year ago.
Chuba Hubbard is a workhorse — 22 carries, eight targets, seven catches and a touchdown. Peak Christian McCaffrey usage.
Tetairoa McMillan saw 11 targets, but had a modest six catches for 58 yards, mostly short throws over the middle. There wasn’t time for anything to develop down the field, and this was the Packers without Micah Parsons.
Jordan Love had a modest day — 288 yards on 41 attempts, but took no sacks, threw three TDs and contended with a few more drops from Matthew Golden (13-7-79-1) who makes Quentin Johnston look like Larry Fitzgerald.
Christian Watson (10-8-113-0) balled out, left with a rib injury, apparently vomited blood and came back in.
Josh Jacobs had 21 carries, six catches and two touchdowns. He also managed only 52 yards from scrimmage. Honestly, he looked like he had some juice to me, just nowhere to run. But maybe it was more enthusiasm, after having emerged from exempt list purgatory, than juice. Either way, he’s probably a top-10 back again and fresher than anyone else.