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NFL Fans Respond To Carolina Panthers’ Upset Win Over Green Bay Packers In Pre-Trade Deadline Matchup

Jeff Hawkins Written by Sports EditorJeff Hawkins
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NFL Fans Respond To Carolina Panthers’ Upset Win Over Green Bay Packers In Pre-Trade Deadline Matchup

Talking to special teams coordinator Tracy Smith before Sunday’s NFL matchup against the host Green Bay Packers, Carolina Panthers coach Dave Canales revised their game plan at the windy Lambeau Field.

If the Panthers won the pre-game coin flip, the coaches decided to buck the league-wide trend of deferring the opening kickoff. They decided to accept the ball and position themselves to have the wind at their back during the fourth quarter.

The move worked.

Quarterback Bryce Young directed the Panthers on a nine-play, 40-yard drive, pausing at the Packers’ 31-yard line with one second remaining.

Rookie kicker Ryan Fitzgerald connected on the game-winning, 49-yard field goal, lifting the Panthers to a walk-off 16-13 upset victory. The Panthers entered as 13-point underdogs.

“I gotta give a lot of props to Tracy Smith,” Canales said during his postgame press conference, via Panthers.com. “He and I were talking before the game and he was like, ‘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.”

Fitzgerald also made up for running back Rico Dowdle’s mistake of getting flagged for thrusting his hips in a way to pay homage to a “Key & Peele” comedy sketch. The unsportsmanlike conduct penalty forced Fitzgerald into a 48-yard extra-point try into the wind fell short.

Dowdle, making his start as the new RB1, otherwise helped carry the Panthers’ offense, posting his first NFL two-touchdown effort.

The Panthers, who have not qualified for the playoffs since 2017, improved to 5-4. Will they be players before Tuesday’s 4 p.m. ET trade deadline?

X (Twitter) users responded to Fitzgerald’s second walk-off winner this season …

Is there something different about this version of the Panthers (5-4), who remain in second place in the NFC South? …

Funny moment in the second quarter. Jalen Coker to the rescue …

Safety Tre’von Moehrig intercepted Packers QB Jordan Love, on his 27th birthday …

Here is what he said of his first turnover this season. He also added two tackles for loss and two passes defended …

Dowdle’s second score and controversial celebration …

Should CB2 Mike Jackson, along with the rest of the defensive backs, start working with the JUGS machine? He could have scored from 104 yards out and possibly sealed the game early. CB1 Jaycee Horn walked off the field with his arm around Jackson, who did not post a pass defense …

Young, who was playing on a hurt ankle, did not have an efficient game, completing 11 of 20 passes for 102 yards and one interception. But he proved he can make a throw when needed …

Canales, who learned from his 3-22 start as an NFL coach, is starting to win over a fickle fan base …

Young/Love …

Five Panthers highlights …

Final score: Panthers 16, Packers 13

Jeff Hawkins Written by Sports EditorJeff Hawkins
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry, in both print and digital media. He joined the Sportscasting team in 2021 following a decade of freelancing. He spent his early career as a reporter for various newspapers in Illinois, New York, Florida, North Carolina, and Michigan, with a particular emphasis as a beat reporter for the Chicago Blackhawks. Jeff earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from Oakland University. Over the course of his career he earned several sports writing awards, including two national awards from the Associated Press Sports Editors for column writing and news reporting. One of the five prized columns included a commentary on NASCAR's increasing corporate influences, particularly in northern racetracks — commentary which you might find Jeff building on as part of the Motorsports writing team at Sportscasting now.  
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