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Name: BigE
Email: BigE@idatasports.com
Date: Tue Oct 1 23:07:35 2002

Headline: Wide Right for a Packer Win

The Green Bay Packers benefited from a missed 24-yard field goal by Carolina kicker Shayne Graham to outlast the Panthers 17-14. Quarterback Brett Favre performed what has become routine driving the Packers 65 yards with 4:10 left on the clock, finishing with a 22-yard bullet to Donald Driver for another fourth quarter comeback.

The Packers are not a very good team right now, and once again Favre will be expected to carry them as he’s done so many times before. This was not one of Favre's best games, but if you give him too many chances he will do what he did on Sunday, and that was pulling out a victory when Carolina controlled the game.

Favre marched the offense 73 yards in their first series, but they eventually settled for 30-yard field goal by Ryan Longwell that gave the Packers a 3-0 lead. The Panthers have a very good front seven, but in this drive the Packer offense kept Carolina off balance with a couple draw plays, and a reverse to Donald Driver for 15 yards. Ahman Green looked as if he was going to have a big day, as he took a draw up the middle and punished defenders for 11 yards. Karsten Bailey also chipped in with a great one-handed catch for 10 yards on third and 3.

The Panthers answered with an eight play, 83-yard drive the ended with veteran running back Lamar Smith scoring on a three yard run to give Carolina a 7-3 lead. The Packer defense was playing pretty good until the unthinkable happened. Future Pro-Bowler Mike McKenzie missed a tackle on third down that enabled Panthers wideout Steve Smith to take it 61 yards deep into Packer territory. The defense forced the Panthers into a couple third down situations, but like the first three games the Packers failed to come up with the big play.

The Packers regained the lead on a trick play, when Favre threw a lateral to Bubba Franks who then threw to a wide-open Driver for a 31-yard touchdown. This drive covered 70 yards in six plays, and gave the Packers a 10-7 lead going into the half.

After both offenses struggled in the third quarter, the Carolina offense took over at their own 47-yard line after forcing the Packers to punt. The Panthers proceeded to pound the Packer defense right down the field, going 53 yards in five plays, and finishing with another touchdown run by Lamar Smith.

With the Panthers leading 14-10, Favre and the Packers took over at their own 35 with just over six minutes left in the game. On first down Favre dropped back but was corralled by the blitzing Dan Morgan for a 10-yard loss. Favre then found Robert Ferguson for 11 yards to make it third and 8. With a heavy rush provided by rookie Julius Peppers, Favre threw an ill-advised pass that was underthrown and subsequently picked off. A pass interference call nullified the interception and gave the ball back to the Packers at the Carolina 29-yard line. After Najeh Davenport ran off tackle for 7 yards, Favre dropped back and threw a laser beam to Driver, who eluded two defenders to score.

With the Packers holding a 17-14 lead with 4:10 left in the game, the defense was expected to shut down the Panthers. But the defense played very lax, sitting in a two deep zone, and allowing the Panthers to throw underneath. The Panthers drove all the way down to the Packer 7-yard line, before Shayne Graham missed a 24-yard field goal that would have sent the game into overtime.

This Panther team is up and coming, but the Packer defense left us all feeling a little disappointed. There were some good things that came out of this game, most importantly first place in the NFC North. Also, some young players are starting to step forward and make a name for themselves. Cletidus Hunt has been the best defensive lineman on the team, and Sunday was no different with him collecting two sacks. Robert Ferguson had a good game also, finishing with 5 catches for 58 yards.

But the coaches need to look in the mirror when deciding how they're going to fix the problem. The bottom line is that there are far too many missed assignments on defense, and they have not blitzed or gotten to the quarterback with any success. I don't even want to get into the fact that the Packers had 12 men on the field once and had to use a time-out, and another time had only 10 men on the field when Panther running back Dee Brown ran for 21 yards. Local media has said that Mike Sherman's organizational skills are exceptional, but having the wrong amount of players on the field is unacceptable, I don't care how many players are injured.

Things have got to be corrected for the Packers to beat the Bears, and I'm guessing that the Packers will show they are nothing more than a marginal team. The Bears will beat the Packers this week because the Packers can't get to the quarterback; it's as simple as that!

Green Bay Packers vs Carolina Panther Game Photos

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