4th Quarter
3:16 p.m. 0:00 Packers' 4th Drive
After the call-the-timeout game by McCarthy, the Panthers got stopped for a three-and-out, forcing a punt, begging for a Hail Mary and then some at the Packers 5 yard line with :02 left.
A drop by Jennings kills the Packers on the last play. 4th loss by four points or less.
3:12 p.m. 1:09 Packers' 3rd Drive
Will Blackmon on a short return out of the end zone makes it an 83-yard drive needed to produce a comeback win for the ages, and one to realistically keep their playoff hopes alive.
And they just ended....Rodgers' only bad throw all day - to Beeston for an interception to end Green Bay's hopes on a play where Rodgers realistically had to force things to produce a miracle.
Playoff hopes, you just went on life support.
3:07 p.m. 1:27 Panthers' 2nd Drive
Carolina 35, Green Bay 31
D. Williams 1 yd TD run
Jones again to the 45 yard line on the kickoff. It's just 20 yards to John Kasay's range and they have 1:48 left. Delhomme has 17 comebacks in his career already.
NO!!!!!!!!!! Another Steve Smith special catch and he's down at the one yard line because Charles Woodson was too shocked that he made the catch...plus having fell down while trying to stop the play.
Smith may have won this game by himself if it turns out that way.
Miracle, defense...we need one....and we might get it as they're reviewing the play in the booth. We think it's because he was downed at the seven yard line., with Woodson just flicking Smith's leg as he fell That makes things a LOT harder for Carolina to score -seven yards with 1:33 left instead of one yard.
Nope...down at the one. Smith actually possessed the ball after that point because he was juggling it.
As I said, boys, miracle, defense...we need one!!!
D. Williams puts the Packers in comeback necessity again.
3:00 p.m. 1:57 Packers' 2nd Drive
Green Bay 31, Carolina 28
Crosby 19 yd FG
Boys, let's respond to Carolina's salvo.
Ruvell Martin gets into the act of making great catches. Rodgers showed toughness in the pocket getting blasted after the throw. Awesome.
Again - Rodgers does his Elway impersonation, diving and putting a shake mmove for a first down. LOVE the first-down arm action on the celebration, too.
A Rodgers-Finley pass play on 3rd and he didn't extend his arm properly to get the first down at the Carolina 41...rookie mistake for not having enough presence of mind to do that...and it costs them...one inch short.
Play of the season if they go for it...and they will.
Crowd standing, all players jumping up and down...
...and the result - RODGERS WITH THE 35,000th successful quarterback sneak of the year for the first down!
This is not a recording: Rodgers to Jennings again - 1st down catch for 18 yards. It's becoming beautifully boring to be that redundant in the passing game.
Rodgers to Driver to the nine yard line and Aaron is feeling it.
He was, until he took forever to get the snap off...five yard penalty. What is the reason for this - 2nd time today.
Julius Peppers being even more boneheaded than Rodgers was previously by Dr. Peppering Rodgers out of bounds.
Oopsie, Julius Caesar Salad. That was an attempt to not hit, but destroy Rodgers.
As the snow falls for the first time in today's game, Jackson smashes to the one yard line. Now it's Lambeau football - and the chills in the air are only matched by the chills on your spines as you watch this.
3rd down...Kuhn denied the end zone. The O-line gets stuffed twice on middle runs.
Thank you, Mike McCarthy, for getting the bird in the hand instead of going after two in the bush and getting the lead with 2:00 left.
2:38 p.m. 11:10 Panthers' 1st Drive
Carolina 28, Green Bay 28
D. Williams 1 yd TD run
Oh crapping no! Jones with the kickoff return to midfield. Nothing blasts your momentum like a kickoff return after you score a huge touchdown. It's like immediately giving hope to an offense that should feel overly discouraged.
Tramon Williams with an interception, but an obvious flag down after Muhammad went down with Williams hitting him. Genuinely, Williams did wrestle him a bit, but you have to give Muhammad a bit of an Academy award on that play.
Brady "Badabinga" Poppinga stuffed Williams as the last line of defense before he could have run wild...great ankle tackle, two yard loss.
I'm feeling a TON of life from a Packers run defense that earlier in this game was swiss cheese...worse, limburger.
Oh my goodness...Steve Smith with Tramon Williams blanketed on him and Smith made a highlight-film 36 yard catch for a first down to the one yard line.
Tramon Williams, nor 10 other guys, couldn't guard that.
D. Williams gets the score...another tie ball game, folks.
2:28 p.m. 13:43 Packers' 1st Drive (continued from 3rd quarter)
Green Bay 28, Carolina 21
Rodgers-Jennings 21 yd TD pass
GREG JENNINGS ON THE POST! Thank you, Ken Lucas, for getting burn marks on your back as Greg Jennings just torched you!
3rd Quarter
2:24 p.m. 0:00 Packers' 3rd Drive
Big 3rd and 15 - Jordy Nelson had his shovel to dig Green Bay out of a hole - 22 yard catch on a beautiful comeback route!
Great job by Donald Lee to do the same thing to cross Packers territory.
2:19 p.m. 3:02 Panthers' 2nd Drive
2nd down: Aaron Kampman coming up HUGE again! Delhomme shuffling around and Kampman finally getting loose. That's just as much a coverage sack. Delhomme nearly lost the football, as Kampman had his hand on it before Jake secured it.
The crowd is going nutso...as a slip and fall produces a loss of five.
Oh no! A John Kuhn block in the back that was softer than a feather - Kuhn was trying to avoid the block and the ref still called it.
2:13 p.m. 5:17 Packers' 2nd Drive
Green Bay 21, Carolina 21
Rodgers-Lee 5 yd TD pass (2-pt play: Rodgers to Jennings conversion)
Start at the five yard line...and next play starts at the 50 thanks to a highlight-film catch by Driver! Folks, catch the video somewhere on the news tonight and you'll be wowed!!
Haha! Rodgers shimmies his way for 16 yards on a run! He must have read this blog earlier, because he put his head down to get the first down!
Again, Rodgers to Jennings this time for a big first down! Hmm...perhaps some halftime adjustments in the locker room with the passing game?
Ah, Marshall with an interception on a Rodgers pass tipped? That was a Favre-like "WHAT ARE YOU DOING" throw that actually had the pass go off a Panthers' helmet, then go into Marshall's hands for Carolina - but it was called incomplete.
Driver with a MONSTER first down near the 10 yard line, but the next play - a Jennings fumble?
Nope, the ruling on the field says Jennings caught and held on. The replay is incredibly inconclusive, but John Fox will challenge.
Oops, John, don't challenge based on necessity. Challenge on facts. You weren't going to get this call.
Oh what a play action fake to get Donald Lee wide open for a five-yard touchdown!!!!
2 pt play: going four wide, ARod nails Jennings on a similar type of play...oh what brains by McCarthy and company!
1:57 p.m. 9:51 Panthers' 1st Drive
OK, got a score boys...now, a defensive stop would help stem the Panthers' tide.
But another 3rd and short doesn't help...and the one yard Williams got is all he needed.
The Panthers offensive line is pounding Green Bay's undersized line into submission with off-tackle plays. Carolina at this point - 6.2 yards per rush.
Oh my goodness....Charles Woodson just tried to decapitate the tight end on a screen pass while the ball was in the air. Thankfully, no foul thanks to an uncatchable ball.
Oh my goodness....Nick Collins! You had six points on your torso and dropped it on 2nd down. Gotta get your hands up.
3rd and 10, though, and Delhomme....hits Steve Smith but Collins atoned for his earlier mistake with a HUGE open field tackle.
4th and 2 and the Panthers try, but fail, to get Green Bay offisdes. Oopsie...you can't fool a Bob Sanders defense that way.
1:47 p.m. 13:57 Packers' 1st Drive
Carolina 21, Green Bay 13
Mason Crosby 44 yd FG
It's said that the first five minutes of a second half are the most important of any football game in deciding what will happen. This is critically true today for the Packers, in my opinion.
And Brandon Jackson makes the first minute of it pretty good with a 32 yard run. He's given Green Bay the kind of threat that the team hasn't had with Ryan Grant in...how long?
Aw, Driver! That pass was there! A 30-yard rocket along the sideline to the three yard line where Driver was the only guy who could catch it, and he just plain let it go off his hands.
Crosby - money!
2nd Quarter
1:29 p.m. :02 Packers' 5th Drive
Donald Lee with a drop in the middle of the field on a 2nd and 10...not good, but at the same time, it might have been better to actually drop it and save the plays.
The Packers had the ball for seven more minutes and got outgained. Weird half of football ends with a chorus of boos.
1:23 p.m. 0:34 Panthers' 4th Drive
Packers having to make a stop inside their own red zone...nope. Williams with a, as Wayne put it, "way too easy" touchdown.
1:17 p.m. 2:29 Packers' 4th Drive
So much for that idea, thanks to Scott Wells snapping the ball like Wilt Chamberlain or Manute Bol was the quarterback. Wells is on the bench talking about a shoulder problem. Jason Spitz and Josh Sitton working on exchanges with Rodgers.
On the previous punt return, Will Blackmon took in a head injury and is questionable.
1:17 p.m. 2:38 Panthers' 3rd Drive
Ryan Pickett just ate Williams for lunch in the middle of the line on 1st down We need some sort of burger deal for Ryan, much like Gilbert Brown. Any ideas?
The punt puts Green Bay 30 yards from long field goal range. Hmmm....14-13 sounds OK at the half. 17-14 Packers sounds better.
1:12 p.m. 3:15 Packers' 2nd Drive
Carolina 14, Green Bay 10
Rodgers-Driver 6 yd TD pass
Atari Bigby going to the locker room for shoulder x-rays...and soon, you or I might be trying out for safety with the health problems at that position.
Donald Driver now with 107 consecutive games with a reception, and a great first down on a clutch catch into Panthers territory. Rodgers isn't doing much, except moving chains when needed.
GREAT run by Brandon Jackson to the outside, but he just stepped out of bounds at the five yard line. He actually switched off a block and shimmied his way past to the opening along the sideline.
Grant's getting help from Dr. Mackenzie on the sideline.
And it hurt on 2nd and goal with Jackson being eaten up by free linebackers.
3rd-goal: RODGERS TO DRIVER! And the ladies are screaming in the end zone by Driver where he Lambeau leaped!
12:57 p.m. 9:43 Panthers' 1st Drive
Carolina 14, Green Bay 3
Delhomme 1 yd TD run
The Panthers can NOT get this kind of field position - the Panthers' 45 to start a drive! This is pathetic! And it's a trend, with a 34 yd kickoff return average allowed last week by Green Bay.
3rd and real short - at the GB 45...and Carolina bursts through with Jonathan Stewart....to the hou....FUMBLE! But the Panthers recover at the 3 yard line. Unga bunga - we cannot lose opportunities like this in a must win game.
If Nick Collins tries to just fall on it instead of run with it, the Packers might own the football instead.
2nd and goal - WHA???? A pass interference flag on Tramon Williams vs. Steve Smith in the end zone? Both guys were pushing off and grabbing...Williams gets both a face mask AND pass interference?
Delhomme on 1st and goal just waltzes in to the end zone on the left side using a pass-run option play.
12:50 p.m. 12:45 Packers' 1st Drive
Carolina 7, Green Bay 3
Mason Crosby 32 FG
Just a bunch of dink and dump plays following the end of the quarter. Rodgers is getting his groove on a little bit.
1st Quarter
12:42 p.m. 0:00 Packers' 4th Drive
Rodgers with a great step-up in the pocket to help create the first semi-long pass for Green Bay all day - 17 yards to Jennings on the sidelines.
Another key first down - Rodgers to Jones with an up-the-middle crossing route. Rodgers dancing around just enough to get free. We like Rodgers' feet.
12:38 p.m. 3:13 Panthers' 4th Drive
Power running again leads to a 3rd and 3...AT LAST! A SACK! Yeah, the only guy that can sack a quarterback for Green Bay this century, seemingly - Aaron Kampman with, as Larry puts it, "constant hustle." Always., Aaron.
12:34 p.m. 4:45 Packers' 3rd Drive
I can't think of a more critical first-quarter drive all year than this one. And John Kuhn doesn't help after dropping the perfect Rodgers 1st down pass.
3rd and 3 - and bringing back Donald Lee into the backfield to go max protect worked well so Rodgers had time to deliver to Jennings for the first down.
Rodgers on the next third down has to scramble out of bounds and not get the first down. C'mon, Aaron, lay your head down, man up and pound the...wait, you're a quarterback.
Wayne on Frost: "lemon of a kick."
12:26 p.m. 8:33 Panthers' 3rd Drive
Carolina 7, Green Bay 0
DeAngelo Williams 1 yd TD run
DeAngelo Williams is a tank when the Panthers go with power running. The Packers must gang tackle on that situation.
Oh, Muhammad is hurt. Flat on his back. Waiting for word...he's walking around on his own power in the end. For him, phew.
3rd and short, keep them out of field goal range? Great open field tackle by Hawk to hold Williams to four yards on a swing pass, but it was 3rd and 3. Useless to stop moving the chains.
Oh boy....the Packers moved Aaron Kampman to the O-line's left side, and the Panthers ran the bread-and-butter power left and Williams boomed right past him for 27 yards. Now Collins is hurt! And with Rouse out., there's a REAL problem.
Even bigger problem when Atari Bigby has to meet Williams at the one yard line and try to stop him while being run over by the Sherman Tank.
\12:13 p.m. 11:14 Packers' 2nd Drive
What's a 97-yard drive among friends? Well, they don't happen when Grant gets two yards and two yards on his first two carries.
The wind screwed up a Rodgers pass on 3rd down. Please, Derrick, boom this punt. Jones at the 45 - so that's about 48 yards, but the play ended at the Carolina 41. Defense backed up.
12:11 p.m. 12:33 Panthers' 2nd Drive
Three and out time? The Packers' crowd giving Delhomme problems on 3rd down, and Muhammad had Harris burned, but Delhomme over pop-flied the throw.
The Baker punt goes to the GB 3. Ugh
12:06 p.m. 13:50 Packers' 1st Drive
Things start off with Green Bay with a third and six: and Jordy Nelson, though he's six-five, doesn't have a 400" vertical leap to catch Rodgers' errant throw.
Frost - can you punt today? Please? Not this time, as it ends up at the Carolina 48.
12:04 p.m. 14:41 Panthers' 1st Drive
The defense starts with a chance to assert itself - and the Panthers start with a flea flicker complete to Muhammad, but thanks to Mushin's butterfingers, it turns into a punt with Woodson recovering. Awesome job Tramon Williams to force the fumble.
12:02 p.m.
The Panthers start the game with the football after wining the coin toss.