GREEN BAY, Wis. — Jordan Love passed for three touchdowns and the Green Bay Packers turned back a fourth-quarter rally for a 27-19 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Thursday night.
Carolina, which trailed 27-10 in the third quarter, rallied within 27-19 with 5:37 remaining in the game when Bryce Young hit Jalen Coker with a 26-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-3. The two-point conversion pass was incomplete.
The Panthers (3-4) got the ball back at their own 45 after a punt with 4:35 left, but Young’s fourth-down pass was incomplete. Carolina got a final possession starting at its own 20 with 22 seconds left, but Young was sacked once and Green Bay picked off a lateral on the final play.
Love completed 30 of 41 passes for 288 yards with one interception. Packers receiver Christian Watson, who left the stadium in an ambulance for testing after sustaining a first-half chest injury, returned to action in the third quarter and finished with eight catches for 113 yards.
Green Bay (5-3), which entered last in the NFL in rushing at 59.9 yards per game, managed just 66 yards on the ground. Josh Jacobs, in his second game since coming off the commissioner exempt list following an offseason incident, had 39 yards on 21 attempts (1.9 yards per carry).
According to the Amazon Prime broadcast, the Packers are the first team in NFL history to own a winning record through eight games while having less than 500 rushing yards on the season.
Young connected on 23 of 41 passes for 209 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Chuba Hubbard ran for 81 yards and a score on 22 carries.
Love had two touchdown passes in the first half to offset a pair of lost fumbles by Green Bay, helping the Packers take a 20-10 lead into the break.
Hubbard was stopped short on fourth-and-2 at midfield on the first possession of the second half, and the Packers marched 50 yards, going in front 27-10 on Love’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Jacobs.
Ryan Fitzgerald countered with a 50-yard field goal to make it 27-13.
Carolina recovered the opening kickoff fumble at the Green Bay 29 but had to settle for Fitzgerald’s 39-yard field goal.
Later in the opening quarter, Green Bay produced an eight-play, 56-yard drive, capped by Love’s 12-yard touchdown pass to tight end Tucker Kraft. But Trey Smack, who missed two field-goal attempts last week in the Packers’ 20-17 loss at Detroit, missed the extra point.
Carolina regained the lead on the ensuing possession when Hubbard scored on a 1-yard run on the opening play of the second quarter to finish a 65-yard drive, putting the Panthers up 10-6.
Love hit Watson with a 53-yard pass to key a 90-yard scoring drive. Jacobs’ 1-yard touchdown run put the Packers back in front 13-10 with 6:33 remaining in the half.
Love connected with Matthew Golden on a 24-yard scoring toss late in the half to extend the gap to 20-10.
