This pretty much sums up the Green Bay Packers game with the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. It was broadcast nationally and Fox cut away from it midway through the third quarter to show a more competitive game.
The Panthers never should have deferred when they won the coin toss. The Packers scored on their first drive — a 59-yard catch and run by Jordy Nelson — and it was pretty much over at that point. The Packers would end up cruising to a 38-17 win.
They got there by putting up 21 in the first and 28 before Carolina even got on the board. In addition to Nelson, Aaron Rodgers hit Randall Cobb for a score and Eddie Lacy and James Starks added rushing touchdowns in the first half.
The Panthers were able to muster a field goal at the end of the half, but it was obvious from early on they were never going to be in the game.
Green Bay’s offense did pretty much whatever they wanted to the Panthers defense, which has gone from one of the best in the NFL to one of the worst in the span of an offseason.
Aaron Rodgers had arguably his most complete game of the season, going 19-of-22 for 255 yards, three touchdowns and no picks. While that’s swell, the statistic that best exemplifies Rodgers’ and the Packers’ offensive dominance is that the QB hit nine different receivers.
Chief among those was Cobb, who had six receptions for 121 yards.
The Packers also ran the ball effectively. Although they didn’t pile up huge yardage, they did average 4.1 per carry. Lacy led the way with 63 yards on 12 carries.
Obviously, the Packers defense was also on point. The Panthers haven’t been a good running team this year, so it’s no surprise they weren’t any good in that department on Sunday, even though they were facing the Packers. Playing from behind, it didn’t make sense to run and the Panthers mustered only 108 yards on the ground, much of that coming after the outcome was no longer in question.
The Panthers can throw the ball though. Or at least they could. Despite being without injured cornerback Sam Shields, the Packers shut down Cam Newton (205 yards, one TD, one pick) and the Panthers’ passing game, as well.
Newton didn’t get anything going until garbage time in the fourth quarter. He hit Kelvin Benjamin for the Panthers’ first touchdown with 9:43 left in the contest.
Although tight end Greg Olsen was predictably effective (eight catches for 105 yards), no other receivers did much and the Packers’ pass rush — led by Clay Matthews — was in Newton’s face all day.
Yes, you read that right. Matthews had his most effective game of the season. Although the line in the box score wasn’t terribly impressive (two tackles, half sack), Matthews was incredibly disruptive and that led to other guys making plays.
The real question is what we can take away from this game and the answer seems pretty simple. The Packers are starting to put it all together. They’re a team on the rise. However, we’re not going to call them elite.
The Panthers are clearly not the team they were last year when they won the NFC South. This was a should-win game for Green Bay. The way they dominated is a great sign, though.