Grading Panthers’ shootout loss to Packers: Bryce Young, DJ Chark put on a show in defeat
The Panthers simply ran out of time, as Carolina lost its penultimate home game Sunday, 33-30, against the Green Bay Packers at Bank of America Stadium.
A season-best effort by rookie quarterback Bryce Young and the Panthers’ offense wasn’t enough to overcome the stellar performance by the Packers’ balanced offensive attack on the other side of the ball, even as Carolina mounted a would-be comeback drive as the clock expired in the fourth quarter.
With droves of Packers fans yelling “Go Pack Go!” from the crowd, the Carolina defense — which had been the team’s strength throughout the majority of a letdown season — couldn’t figure out a way to stop Green Bay running back Aaron Jones on the ground or quarterback Jordan Love through the air, as the Packers offered up a mix of big plays.
Young — who came out firing — had his best pass performance of the season. But, as impressive as Young’s handling of the offense was, the defense simply couldn’t get enough stops, and that was Carolina’s downfall, even as the offense eclipsed 30 points for the first time this season.
The Panthers (2-13) still have two games left on the schedule to continue to build up Young and the offense. Meanwhile, the Packers (7-8) can continue to try salvage their up-and-down campaign.
Here is how the Panthers graded out against Green Bay:
Rushing offense
The Panthers took a bit to get going on the ground. While Chuba Hubbard touched the ball often in the first half, he only had 22 yards on six carries through the first three series. Carolina, though, was able to score on the ground with some trickery in the second quarter.
Wideout/punt returner Ihmir Smith-Marsette scored on a 20-yard run off a lateral motion play. Wide receiver Jonathan Mingo went in motion behind the line, and Smith-Marsette took a direct handoff from a vertical pitch from Young. The blocking was terrific as Smith-Marsette only had one man to beat on the way to pay dirt.
Young got in the rushing the game in the second half. He picked up a first-down conversion on fourth-and-1 with a QB sneak, and later, scrambled for a 9-yard gain on a third-quarter scoring drive. Hubbard closed off the series off with a 4-yard touchdown run.
Smith-Marsette was able to find more success on the ground with a 13-yard run. However, an unnecessary roughness penalty after the play — by guard Cade Mays — wiped out the success.
Hubbard wasn’t as effective as he had been in previous weeks. He ran for just 43 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries, averaging just 2.7 yards per tote. The Panthers collected 96 total rushing yards and two touchdowns on the ground against the Packers.
Grade: B-
Passing offense
Young started the game with a pair of nice passing plays to tight end Tommy Tremble in the first quarter. The rookie quarterback made an excellent laser throw on the second series of the game, targeting Tremble, who broke wide open down the field, for a 32-yard connection. The explosive play set up the Panthers’ first points of the game, as Carolina managed a field goal after its second series.
Young made an excellent throw over the middle to DJ Chark for a gain of 19 yards to begin the third series. Chark leaped up to make the catch in traffic and secured the grab for a big gain. Young followed up that connection with an accurate strike to wideout Adam Thielen for a gain of 18 to get the Panthers in Packers’ territory. That play eventually set up the Panthers’ first offensive touchdown since Dec. 3.
Young threw for 113 passing yards in the first half, completing 7 of 15 tosses in the first quarters. He had five passes completed for more than 10 yards.
To start the second half, Young used the short-to-intermidate pass game to lead another scoring drive. He also received a 15-yard gift in the form of a “roughing the passer” penalty. The rookie QB anchored a 14-play, 72-yard drive, which was capped with the Hubbard rushing touchdown.
During the first drive of the fourth quarter, Young went back to the air and made some big tosses to Thielen, Chark and Tremble. Young capped the drive with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Chark. The passing score was Young’s 10th of the season, and his first passing touchdown since a loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Nov. 19 in Week 11.
Young went back to the air after the defense stopped the Packers’ momentum. He completed a 20-yard pass to Chark, who then drew a 15-yard personal foul penalty for good measure. He then fired a shot to a wide-open Thielen over the middle for 17 yards.
Fans chanted “Christmas Miracle! Christmas Miracle!” before and after Young hit Chark for a 10-yard touchdown, which set up the game-tying two-point conversion run by running back Raheem Blackshear.
Young got one more opportunity to tie the game but after two big completions to Chark and Thielen, the clock expired as he tried to spike the ball.
Young threw for a career-high 312 passing yards. He also led five scoring drives, which included two passing touchdowns. He produced a 113.0 passer rating. Chark caught six passes for 98 yards and two scores. Thielen added six catches for 94 yards. Tremble collected four passes for 59 yards.
Grade: A
Rushing defense
The defense got off to a brutal start against the run, allowing Packers running back Aaron Jones to have his way with the unit on the ground. Jones ran four times for 38 yards (9.8 YPC) on the opening series, before backup A.J. Dillon picked up a 1-yard touchdown.
It didn’t much better from there, as Jones picked up 39 rushing yards on the first play of the second series. Jones had 80 rushing yards with two minutes left in the first quarter. The Panthers gave up another 1-yard touchdown run to start the second quarter, but this time it was Love sliding over the goal line with a QB sneak. Through the first two series, the Packers accumulated 93 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries.
Jones finished with 127 rushing yards on 21 carries. The Packers combined for 162 total yards and two total rushing touchdowns on 34 carries.
Grade: D
Passing defense
Love was able to use the Packers’ early run game success to his advantage on the opening series. With the Panthers struggling to stop the run, Love picked matchups in coverage to exploit. He connected on two passes for 35 yards in the opening touchdown drive.
While Green Bay leaned on the ground game — because it was working well — Love wasn’t asked to do much in the first half. The Panthers, though, did an excellent job on third-and-7 in the second quarter, as cornerback Jaycee Horn broke up a pass from Love to tight end Tucker Kraft to hold the Packers to a 53-yard field goal.
Love capped the first half with an impressive 21-yard touchdown connection with wideout Dontayvion Wicks. Love got excellent blocking as a he slung the ball across the middle to Wick in the end zone. The Packers’ quarterback completed 12 of 19 passes for 134 yards and a touchdown in the first half. He led four scoring drives in the first two quarters.
Inside linebacker Frankie Luvu was able to break free on a blitz to start the second half. His second-down sack of Love went for a loss of 12 yards and ultimately forced a three-and-out.
Love continued to move the ball in the second half, capping a fifth scoring drive with a short touchdown pass to wideout Romeo Doubs. His accuracy and placement were hard to overcome, as the young quarterback was dealing throughout the afternoon.
Love’s final scoring drive of the game — which ended with a game-winning field goal — was aided by a 36-yard completion by Doubs, which was challenged by interim head coach Chris Tabor. The play ultimately stood as called.
Love completed 17 of 28 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns on a 60.7% completion percentage. He had a 109.1 passer rating. Kraft caught four of six targets for 60 yards, while Doubs collected four catches for 79 yards and a touchdown on five targets.
Grade: B-
Special teams
Special teams was felt early in the game. Punter Johnny Hekker drew a “roughing the kicker” penalty to extend the offense’s first drive following what would have been a three-and-out. Later in the first quarter, kicker Eddy Piñeiro nailed a 52-yard field goal to get the Panthers on the board after the second series.
Blackshear was efficient and elusive in his return duties against the Packers. He had five returns for 114 yards with a high of 30 yards in the first quarter.
Piñeiro missed two extra point attempts wide-left in the second half. The second miss came off a penalty which made the attempt take place from 43 yards out.
Hekker punted three times for 151 yards with an average of 50.3 yards per attempt.
Grade: B
Overall grade
The Panthers’ defense finally gave up a stinker after being the backbone of the bad team for most of the campaign. Young, Chark, and Tremble all put forth season-best performances on offense, and it just wasn’t enough, as Green Bay regularly poured on points early in the game.
The offense simply couldn’t climb out of its first-half hole quick enough, despite tying the game in the final minutes. The defense ultimately gave up a game-losing field-goal drive with less than a minute on the clock. The Panthers’ offense tried to answer but didn’t have enough clock left to work with, despite two successful downfield heaves by Young to his playmakers.
OVERALL GRADE: B-
This story was originally published December 24, 2023 at 4:45 PM with the headline "Grading Panthers’ shootout loss to Packers: Bryce Young, DJ Chark put on a show in defeat."
