Green Bay Packers: Week 15 Studs and Duds vs Panthers

The Green Bay Packers move to 11-3 on the season after defeating the Carolina Panthers 24-16. Here are the studs and duds from the victory.

The Green Bay Packers continue their run to clinch home-field advantage through the NFC playoffs. The Packers have now won their last four games and six of their last seven. Their performance on Saturday left a lot to be desired, especially in the second half. This week’s game was a strange one, so this week’s studs and duds will be a little different as well.

Studs

First-half offense

The Packers’ offense was playing extremely well early on in this game against the Carolina Panthers. The first three drives of this game ended in touchdowns for the Packers. During those first three drives, Green Bay averaged seven and a half yards per play.

The Packers were moving the ball at will in their first three drive on the ground as well as through the air. On their opening drive, Aaron Jones broke off a 46-yard run, while Robert Tonyan gets the final eight yards of the drive and the touchdown.

During the second touchdown drive, the Packers used Davante Adams to move the ball down the field. On this drive, Adams had two plays over 10 yards, and this possession was also helped by a defensive pass interference penalty by Troy Pride for 16 yards.

The last touchdown drive of the game for the Packers was a short 47-yarder due to the fumble that was caused by Krys Barnes and returned into the Panthers’ territory by Kevin King. Aaron Jones controlled this drive; he carried the ball on the last five plays, covering 31 yards and a touchdown.

First-half defense

The Green Bay Packers’ defense was very good in the first half of this football game as well. They gave up just two drives that had more than four plays out of five total drives. The extended drive the Packers gave up in the first half stalled out just outside of the red zone, and the Panthers were only able to get a field goal.

The next time that the Panthers got the ball, they were able to move the ball down the field again. This time the Packers forced a fumble by Teddy Bridgewater on the goal line. Barnes was the one to knock it loose while King was able to return it to the 47-yard line. The three other drives of the half ended in a punt, a very effective half of football for both the offense and defense.

Honorable Mentions

This week I want to give my honorable mention to the special teams. Why do you ask? Well, they did not do anything egregious this game. If we get solid play from the special teams that is a win at this point. They were very close to a blocked punt catastrophe, but I am choosing to look at the positives from this unit this week.

Duds

Second-half offense

More specifically, this offense’s last eight drives of the game, seven if you take away the final kneel down possession, yielded just three points. The last two possessions of the first half and the first two possessions of the second half included four punts from J.K. Scott, three of which were following a three-and-out. For an offense that has been consistently great this year, the second half of this game was discouraging. Especially considering that the Panthers’ defense has struggled in the secondary, while the Packers have been good throughout the season throwing the football.

While watching the game live on TV, I had a hard time figuring out what the issue was with sacks in this game. When you see sacks, it is very easy to blame the offensive line, but I couldn’t tell if it was the offensive line, receivers not getting open, or Rodgers hanging onto the football. Either way, this is something that cannot continue into the playoffs. More talented teams will be able to take advantage of the Packers if they are only able to score three points in their last seven possessions.

Second-half defense

I do not think the second-half defense was as big of an issue during this second half as the offense was; that being said, it was still not good. There seemed to be a lot of open receivers in the second half. At times, it just looked like a game a pitch and catch for Bridgewater and his receivers. I do not want to discount the talent on this offense, especially at wide receiver, but it did not appear that the receivers were that consistently open in the first half of this game.

Overall, it was a win for the Green Bay Packers and another win closer to home advantage throughout the playoffs. This is something that is important to Rodgers and the rest of the team, so it, in turn, should be important to us as fans.

Who are your studs and duds for this week’s victory over the Carolina Panthers? Let us know below or on Twitter @DairylandXpress.