Bears fans might have had more interest in the Green Bay-Carolina game than Packers and Panthers fans. The Bears were resigned to rooting for the Packers, with the No. 1 overall pick potentially hanging in the balance.
The Packers held on, barely, pulling out a 33-30 win over the Panthers.
Green Bay improved to 7-8, while Carolina fell to 2-12.
The Packers blew a 14-point fourth quarter lead and needed a 32-yard field goal from Anders Carlson with 19 seconds left for the lead. They held on when the Panthers ran out of time.
Adam Thielen caught a 22-yard pass from Bryce Young to the Green Bay 31, but the Panthers, who were out of timeouts, couldn’t get the spike before the clock struck zero.
The Packers, though, discovered that the Panthers aren’t the Panthers of a few weeks ago because Young isn’t the same Young from a few weeks ago.
Young brought the Panthers back with two fourth quarter touchdown passes to DJ Chark, covering 11 and 10 yards. Eddy Pineiro missed an extra point after the first Chark touchdown, which followed a holding penalty on the Panthers to negate a successful two-point conversion. The Panthers, though, tied it with Raheem Blackshear’s run on the two-point play following Chark’s second touchdown to tie the game with 4:05 left.
Young finished 23-of-35 for 312 yards and two touchdowns, and Chark caught six for 98. Thielen had six catches for 94 yards.
The Panthers outgained the Packers 394 to 369.
Jordan Love was 17-of-28 for 219 yards and two touchdowns, and Aaron Jones had a season-high 127 rushing yards on 21 carries. Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks each had a touchdown grab, and AJ Dillon ran for a score. Love also had a rushing touchdown.