Carolina Panthers vs. Packers live updates: Green Bay wins on field goal in final seconds

The Charlotte Observer had five journalists in BofA to pass along live updates throughout today’s contest. Check the section below for those musings, including the final score, which saw the Panthers fall to the Packers, 33-30, in a game that was decided in the final minute.

Panthers vs. Green Bay Packers score

Packers 33, Panthers 30 — FINAL

Live updates from Bank of America Stadium

Fourth quarter

0:19: Anders Carlson is good from 32 yards out, punctuating a nine-play, 61-yard drive. Game-sealing drive led by Jordan Love. The game-changing play there came in the form of a completion to Tucker Kraft for 20 yards.

The Panthers end up making it a game — getting into field goal range but aren’t fast enough to spiking the ball. The ball landed on the ground with zeroes on the clock.

4:05: So much life in Bank of America Stadium! Fans are still chanting “Christ-mas Miracle!” over and over — and DJ Chark is listening. The deep-threat receiver is having his best game as a Panther by far. His latest triumph? A 10-yard toe-dragging touchdown catch from a scrambling Bryce Young. Then a two-point try — a jet sweep finished off by Raheem Blackshear — is successful to tie the game at 30.

7:14: Well, the Panthers have made this interesting! A lot happened on that last drive. Among the things: A huge run by Ihmir Smith-Marsette was great, but an unsportsmanlike penalty put the Panthers behind the proverbial eight-ball. Then a huge DJ Chark third-down catch (and subsequent fumble and recovery) extends the drive (despite a Packers challenge saying it was a drop). Then came an 11-yard touchdown to Chark to pull the game to within one possession.

The bad news? The Panthers then smartly decide to go for two — and they even got it on a tough Bryce Young scramble — but a holding call pulls it back. Then Panthers kicker Eddy Pineiro missed a PAT from 43 yards out.

So we’re at 30-22, Packers still lead. The Panthers force another Packers punt — so Young gets another chance to lead a consequential drive with just over five minutes left. Fans are chanting “Christ-mas Miracle!”, “Christ-mas Miracle!” as the Panthers take the field. Here we go.

Here’s a look at that TD catch by Chark:

12:51: The Panthers elect to punt down 14 points in the fourth quarter. Will the play work out, though? Carolina’s defense prompts a Packer three-and-out, and now the Panthers offense marches back onto the field on their own 40 with 11:38 left. Can Bryce Young string together two great drives to add to his late-game lore?

14:57: The Packers punctuate another solid drive — nine plays, 66 yards, 5:14 — with a five-yard touchdown pass to Romeo Doubs. That extends the Packers’ lead to 30-16. Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love is now 14 of 22 for 164 yards and two touchdowns. The Packers are also finding success on the ground. Aaron Jones has taken 16 carries for 118 yards. A stat from The Associated Press: Jones’ milestone makes him the first Packer this season to notch 100 yards rushing OR receiving.

Panthers corner Jaycee Horn was briefly taken to the sideline after sustaining an injury — looked like a left arm injury — but has since returned to the game.

Third quarter

5:11: Nice string of plays from the Panthers’ offense, which sees its first drive of the half end in a 4-yard touchdown run via the grit of running back Chuba Hubbard. (Eddy Pineiro’s PAT attempt is no good, so the margin is back to a clean seven points.) The Panthers benefited from a roughing the passer call that could’ve gone either way — similar to the one Jordan Love benefited from in the first half — to sustain the drive. But nonetheless! It’s also worth noting that Bryce Young used his legs multiple times, including on a QB sneak to convert a fourth-and-inches and a 9-yard scamper, on that successful possession. Packers 23, Panthers 16.

Check out the interesting play design, which featured Jonathan Mingo and DJ Chark serving as blockers behind the line of scrimmage on the left side, here:

13:31: The Panthers force the Packers to punt for the first time all afternoon on the opening drive of the second half. A lot of that had to do with a Frankie Luvu sack (for minus 12 yards), which forced a third-and-long and subsequent fourth-and-long. Panthers looking to cut into this lead.

Some Panthers injury news from halftime: cornerback Donte Jackson (ankle, questionable) and pass rusher Amare Barno (knee, out).

Second quarter

0:00: The Packers scored on every possession besides their last, which ended in a Hail Mary pass falling incomplete. Green Bay’s defense got “gashed” a week ago, but GB’s doing the gashing today. 23-10, Packers up at half. QB stats: Jordan Love leading the way with 134 yards on 12 of 19 passing; Bryce Young 7 of 15 for 113 yards and a passer rating of 72.4.

0:58: Another Packers touchdown. This one is a Jordan Love touchdown toss to Dontayvion Wicks from 21 yards out. Love was flushed from the pocket and seemed to have so much space in front of him — but he smartly launched a beautiful pass to Wicks instead. Love is quite sharp this afternoon: 11 for 16 for 126 yards and one touchdown (on top of a rushing touchdown, too). That’s good enough for a 113 passer rating.

Another note: Marquis Haynes came down with an injury that last Packers drive. He’s getting work done on the sideline. Looks like a leg injury. The play on which he sustained the injury ended up being among the Packers’ most important — one that featured a scrambling Jordan Love slinging a side-arm 11-yard toss to Bo Melton, who is having a huge game as a practice squad regular.

That’s 23-10, Packers up.

4:21: Shotgun? Pistol? Under center?! No matter where Bryce Young set up, that play probably wouldn’t have worked on that fourth-and-short for the Panthers. Chuba Hubbard is stuffed behind line of scrimmage on a Panthers possession to prompt a turnover on downs. The Packers take over at their own 40 and have four minutes to extend the lead to 13 before the half.

7:51: The Packers have points on three straight possessions — but no touchdown this time. Green Bay cashes in a 53-yard field goal from kicker Anders Carlson. The Packers looked like they’d have to punt, but a roughing the passer call on a third down extended the drive. That operative play: Pass rusher Yetur Gross-Matos goes untouched at the line, pressures Jordan Love and avoids hitting Love in the head. The play was met by a bunch of boos in Bank of America Stadium. 16-10, Packers lead.

10:29: Panthers returner and receiver and utility player Ihmir Smith-Marsette takes a jet-sweep 25 yards for a touchdown. The play featured great downfield blocking from Adam Thielen, and nice play design from offensive coordinator Thomas Brown, who sent Jonathan Mingo in motion pre-snap and completely fooled the Packers defense. 13-10, Packers still lead.

14:51: The Packers have extended their lead further with a second touchdown in as many possessions. This one is courtesy of Jordan Love, who QB sneaks it in from 1 yard out. (Green Bay’s PAT attempt is no good, much to the delight of interim head coach and special teams coordinator Chris Tabor.) This Panthers defense has only borne witness to one 200-yard opposing passer in the past eight weeks — but that trend might snap this week: Love is 4-for-4 for 60 yards through the air in this one. The Packers’ prolific rushing offense is the only thing that’s kept Love in check thus far; Aaron Jones already has nine carries for 82 yards. 13-3, Packers up.

First quarter

5:24: The Panthers can thank Tommy Tremble and Eddy Pineiro for those points. The six-play, 35-yard drive ended in a 52-yard field goal that would’ve been good from 60. There’s a flag on the play, but it’s on the Packers (offside), and the Panthers decline to keep the points. The chunk of that yardage came in a Tremble streaking route for 30 yards. The tight end already has two catches — both of Bryce Young’s completions — for 39 yards and three targets. 7-3, Packers still lead.

7:23: Packers running back AJ Dillon punches it in from 1-yard out, punctuating a 7-play, 80-yard drive. A perfectly scripted opening drive. One of the rare times the Panthers defense — who are a Top 3 unit in the league in total yards allowed — have given up points in the first quarter. Packers up a touchdown early.

11:28: Panthers QB Bryce Young misses an open Adam Thielen on third-and-long, and that ends the first drive of the Carolina Panthers’ Christmas Eve. The drive was originally supposed to be a three-and-out, but a roughing the kicker call kept the Panthers on the field for an additional three plays. In injury news: outside linebacker Amare Barno got carted off the field after landing awkwardly chasing down a punt returner. He’s questionable to return with a shin injury, officially.

Kickoff, 1 p.m.: Let’s watch some football!

12:45 p.m.: Still awaiting kickoff. But the on-field pregame festivities have been great, from skydivers parachuting onto the turf, to a Santa-hat-sporting drumline and more. Still a lot of Packers representation in the Processing Blue seats, though. A few football notes y’all might enjoy, all from the defense:

• With one tackle today, Derrick Brown will become just the seventh defensive lineman to record 80-plus tackles in a single season since 2015. (With five tackles, he’ll have his 11th straight game with five-plus tackles, which will be tops in the league this year.)

• Linebacker Frankie Luvu is one of two players (Demario Davis of New Orleans) with 100-plus tackles and five-plus sacks in each of the past two seasons.

• Outside linebacker Brian Burns needs just one tackle for loss to pass Kawann Short for fourth all-time in TFL in Panther history.

11:30 a.m.: The team’s inactive list is out, and one strange thing: everyone on the inactive list is a healthy scratch. Those guys: CB CJ Henderson, OL Eku Leota, OT Ricky Lee, WR Mike Strachan, WR Terrace Marshall Jr. (his sixth inactive in a row) and DE Chris Wormley. Another note: Offensive linemen Gabe Jackson and JD Direnzo are both active, meaning the Panthers should have sufficient O-line depth today.

11:15 a.m.: Fans have started streaming into the stadium. As predicted, they’re mostly wearing green. Expect a Packers takeover today, Panthers fans — much like what happened when other national fan bases have come to town this year, like the Dallas Cowboys and Minnesota Vikings. It’s 60 degrees and sunny and void of monsoons, so that’s an improvement from a week ago. Beautiful day for football!

Carolina Panthers vs. Green Bay Packers Observer score predictions

Sportsbooks have the Panthers as 4.5-point underdogs against the Jordan Love-led Packers. But here’s a closer look at what The Observer’s NFL experts, as well as writers across the country, think will happen when these two NFC teams face off in Week 16. Keeping accountable, all of The Observer’s weekly predictors were wrong last week when they chose a Falcons victory. That means the records all diminished but the standings on the season are the same: Columnist Scott Fowler leads the way with an 11-3 record, followed by Langston Wertz Jr. (9-5), Alex Zietlow (8-6) and Mike Kaye (7-7).

Mike Kaye: Packers 30, Panthers 23. While I don’t think the Panthers can pull off a second win in as many weeks, this does feel like the game that can offer Bryce Young the opportunity to erupt in the box score. The Packers just gave up 381 passing yards and four touchdowns to Baker Mayfield last week. If Young can’t get past the 250-yard mark in this one, there’s a problem. He should also be able to break his touchdown-less streak at four games. The Panthers will finally take a more-than-20-second lead in this game, but I don’t think they close.

Scott Fowler: Packers 20, Panthers 13. If a Cheesehead blocks your view at the stadium for this one, consider yourself warned. All signs point to a Packers takeover of Bank of America Stadium, given the Christmas Eve kickoff and Green Bay’s national fan base. I feel a close game coming on, but not a Carolina victory. Then again, all four of us Observer-ites were wrong in this space last week, and the Panthers are playing well enough defensively (what a beast Derrick Brown is) that an upset here isn’t out of the question.

Langston Wertz Jr.: Packers 27, Panthers 14: Yes, the Panthers snapped that nasty six-game losing streak against the Falcons, but they didn’t score a touchdown and still struggled on offense. Tickets to that game were available for less than a dollar on StubHub, plus fees. This week? Green Bay has a two-game losing streak and needs to win out to have a shot at the wild card. Expect a lot of green and gold at Bank of America Stadium Sunday and expect a determined Packers’ team to pass the point threshold, around 20, that will almost always spell defeat for this 2023 group of offensively-challenged Panthers.

Alex Zietlow: Packers 24, Panthers 9. For as exciting as last week’s finish was — 17-play, length-of-the-field, game-winning drives are always exciting, skeptics be darned — it still didn’t do much to imbue a whole lot of confidence in me about the Panthers’ offense. There were flashes of fun, sure, particularly on that last drive. But against a Green Bay team that has played enough complementary football to bring it within a game of the playoff hunt? One drive of offensive splendor probably won’t be enough. I predict a good Panthers defensive performance that ultimately gets erased by a few late, game-already-out-of-hand scores, and ultimately a Packers win.

What CBS Sports, ESPN predict will happen

CBS Sports: Pete Prisco has the Panthers losing to the Packers, 26-13, saying that Bryce Young’s late-game drive was good for the future but that the Packers will get on the right track.

Bleacher Report: This publication’s panel of NFL experts has six people choosing the Packers and one — Brad Gagnon — choosing the Panthers.

ESPN: ESPN’s network of experts don’t believe Carolina can get this one done, overwhelmingly choosing the Green Bay Packers.