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Bryce Young threw an early interception in the end zone.
The offensive line battled even more injury attrition.
Mike Jackson dropped a potential pick six.
Rico Dowdle earned an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after a touchdown that cost the team an extra point and changed the complexion of the game.
And yet, somehow, the nearly two-touchdown-underdog Carolina Panthers surprised one of the best teams in the NFL on Sunday, defeating the Green Bay Packers, 16-13 — thanks to great defense and a final drive that was punctuated by a 49-yard kick from rookie Ryan Fitzgerald as time expired.
The win moved the Panthers to 5-4. The Packers fell to 5-2-1.
Young finished Sunday’s contest 11 of 20 for 102 yards and an interception. That added up to a 48.3 passer rating. Still, in one of the toughest environments in football, he led his ninth game-winning touchdown drive — his ninth in 11 total NFL wins — and earned his third win on the road in his career.
Dowdle finished Sunday with 25 rushes for 130 yards and two touchdowns against one of the best rush defenses in the league. Young’s favorite receiver on the day was Tetairoa McMillan, who finished with four catches for 46 yards and came up with a big first down on the final drive.
The defense, meanwhile, forced two turnovers — one a forced fumble by linebacker Christian Rozeboom collected by safety Nick Scott, the other an interception from Tre’Von Moehrig — and held the Packers to 1-of-5 in the red zone.
Head coach Dave Canales answered to the Panthers’ imperfect and confusingly delightful day on Sunday in his postgame press conference. Here’s a recap of what he said.
Opening statement
“Unbelievable finish. And it took all three phases: just like we imagined, just like we pictured it. First and foremost, just the grit in our guys and in our group to keep a battling against a team that was moving the ball well.
“But the defense to come out 1 for 5 in the red zone is a big deal for us. Offensively, we had their first early interception; ball kind of got hung up in the wind, it felt like. It definitely was a factor in the things in the choices that we were making in this stadium.
“But again, the run game came alive. There was some balance. And the critical, obviously, the critical two-minute drive there at the end, really with the mix of run and pass to try to get it done there. So I’m really proud of this group. And again, there’s stuff to look at. There’s stuff to say, ‘OK, we gave up some big plays in some different scenarios. And offensively, you know, we missed some opportunities as well.’
“So, I think a lot to learn from. But again, just building in the confidence of this group to believe: If we play our style of ball and keep ourselves in it, we’ll give ourselves a chance to finish the way we want to.”
Was choosing to take the ball first on the opening kickoff related to the wind at all?
“Yeah, I got to give a lot of props to (special teams coordinator) Tracy Smith. He and I were talking before the game, and he was like, ‘If we if we take the ball, we can set ourselves up to have the ball with the wind to our backs to finish the game, to give us an opportunity.’ And it played out just like that. It was unbelievable. But it took all of us doing right to make it happen. So it was a little bit of a change from what we normally do. We’d normally defer in that situation, but the wind was a factor in that decision.”
On how the defense performed so well in Green Bay
“Yeah, it was execution, and it was putting pressure on the quarterback. When he did have time, he hurt us on a couple of balls down the field, and when we put pressure on him, he let the ball out early. Mike (Jackson) had an opportunity there at the end, on that fourth down in the red zone, you know, to make it a little less interesting. I would have liked to see how far he could go on that one right there. But it was all the guys working together, attacking our rush plan, all that, and then just coming up with those opportunities. (Rozeboom) with the punch out early on. That’s a huge one you talk about. You know that that early drive in the game. Just really proud of these guys.”
On quarterback Bryce Young’s day
“I think the best part of it was he functioned so well, and he anticipated. He operated quickly. This is a group that we really respect defensively-speaking with their pass rush and the challenges that we knew they were going to present to us. And Bryce did a magnificent job of getting the ball out in rhythm. You get one hitch, and that ball better come out. But it was good to see him move around, pick up a couple of first downs with his legs as well. And that’s just a tribute to him being aggressive, knowing when to hold him, knowing when I got to go, and being decisive. Really, really helped us there.”
Despite all mistakes, you still beat the Packers. What does that say about your team?
“They’re resilient, and we’re learning to trust and have confidence. At the same time, we’d like to do better. We got to do better in those situations, especially in a tight game like this. We put ourselves in a hard spot. There was a thought to try to go for two there. We’d have been somewhere around the 16- or 17-yard line. I think on the two-point. The odds aren’t great from that spot right there.
“But we knew we had that headwind on the kick, so I decided to go with the kick, and it came up short right there. So that was a kind of a split decision I had to make right there.”
On Rico Dowdle’s 19-yard run on final drive that put Panthers in field goal range
“It was not a check. That was a called play. They were loading the box up, but they were pretty thinned out in terms of how they rushed. I got to give the O-line props for handling the movement. That’s the hardest part. If you’re going to run the ball on (passing downs), you have to be ready for the exotic looks and, you know, with guys standing up in different spots. And then after that it’s Rico, just hitting it hard and finding a little daylight and really flipping the field for us right there.”
On Rico Dowdle’s day in general
“That’s from carry one, it was attitude. It was aggression and violence at the end of it. And it really does affect the group. It affects the whole sideline. When they see that kind of energy and that kind of violence, it gives them confidence and it’s who we want to be. And so just really loved what he was able to do.”
On Jake Curhan coming in and stepping up for injured offensive line
“Jake and I were together in Seattle. So he’s got a lot of familiarity with our run game, our pass protection philosophy and how we handle things. He’s a very sharp guy, and he’s got a lot of versatility. I’ve seen him play all but center, really, I think in the time that I’ve been around him. So to be able to pick him up from Arizona’s practice squad a couple of weeks ago was huge for me because it gives us another veteran player that allows us to have the continuity for when things happen. And he did a great job going in there and executing with the guys.”
On Rico Dowdle’s celebration that cost the penalty
“I didn’t see it, so I just I heard about it. They’re jogging off the field, and they’re happy about the touchdown. We have to do better. We got to put ourselves in position right there to make it more challenging. We can’t give the opponent anything, especially a good opponent like this. Any margin that you give them can come back to hurt you. “
How big is this win for the program you’re developing?
“It’s huge because it just comes down to the fundamentals and basics of football. It’s tackling, it’s blocking, it’s executing. And to get into this type of environment, this is a special place. The fans are unbelievable, and this is a really good team. And we understood all the things that what it was going to take for us to take for us to have a chance to win this game: it was doing right longer, and that’s our mentality.
“And that’s also the things that we have to capture. Can we capture this style of football? It didn’t show up for us last week. It showed up for us today. To get back to our basics and execute. These are the things that you need to know, what to expect when we get into close games like this.”
On the Panthers trying to limit the Packers’ big-play ability
“That’s two weeks now, really, of playing quarterbacks who have the ability to extend the play with a really talented skill group and making sure that we stay connected to guys all the way through the down. Even on the fourth down. I’ve seen that play go the other way. Jordan love kind of rears back, throws it across the field, and Mike Jack had the presence of mind to stay with his guy on that one, and could have come up with a big interception. But either way, he was in the right spot at the right time. And so having the carryover from one week to the next, in the emphasis plaster, stay connected to your guys, really prepared us for this.”
On Ryan Fitzgerald’s resilience for nailing winner after missing first kick
“I just love his confidence to get back out there give us a chance: with the challenge and the wind at his face and all of a sudden you have it at your back. A big moment. Crowd is as loud as it was all day, and to have the focus to hit that one. We trusted in him to do it, and we got down there. I don’t know if we had much of a choice, but Ryan just has the same kind of ability. He bounces back, he learns lessons, he stacks and he just continues to improve.”
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Alex Zietlow
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