The Rest of the NFC Should be Afraid of the Packers

It's been an interesting season so far for the Green Bay Packers. We started this knowing that we'd be without Micah Parsons for a good bit. It was quite shaky at first. A tough loss in Minnesota, followed by a very ugly win against the Jets, and then whatever the hell that was in our home opener against Atlanta. People stuck the fork in us even at just 1-2. Never mind the fact that there were worse teams, yet they were still given more of a chance. I swear, the bias against the Packers could fill up so many stadiums.

After that, the Packers won three straight games, a close one against the Buccaneers, blowing out the Bears (business as usual), and a big win against the Cowboys on SNF. And then there was Sunday in Detroit. A close, back-and-forth game, but thanks to crooked refs and Trey Smack missing six points, we lost that one. So as a result, the Packers are 4-3 and in the bottom of the North, 2.5 games behind the unbeaten Vikings.

Next up for us, a home Thursday meeting with the Carolina Panthers, who have also had an interesting season. Though, the NFC South is always interesting. The Panthers are proving that their run to winning the division isn't a fluke, but at the same time, they have been way too up and down for their liking. Their season opener saw them give up 59 points to the Bears, but they blasted their division rivals, the Atlanta Falcons, in Week 2. After that, a loss to the Browns, but back-to-back wins against the Lions and the Eagles. Their last game, a home game against the Buccaneers, was a total disaster. A 43-13 drubbing, meaning that they've given up 128 total points at home! Despite this, the Panthers entered this game in first place at 3-3 because the NFC South is, well, the NFC South.

Regarding this game, the Panthers won the toss, they deferred, but we fumbled the kickoff. Panthers' ball in FG range five seconds in. Thankfully, we held them to three. Our official first drive ended on a three and out; same happened with the Panthers. However, the Packers did manage to go all the way later on! Tucker Kraft, 12-yard TD catch. As for the PAT, well, Trey Smack missed it. 6-3 Packers, and that was the score after the first quarter.

Prior to the 2nd quarter starting, as I figured, they showed the World Champions, the Milwaukee Brewers, graced Lambeau with their presence, which was another reason why I was looking forward to this game. The second quarter started with the completion of a TD drive for the Panthers; Chuba Hubbard getting in, and they actually made the extra point. 10-6 Panthers. Christian Watson had to leave the game in an ambulance (as a precaution), and what started out as a promising drive for the Packers ended with a Matthew Golden fumble. Panthers ball, but they did nothing with it. Ball punted to the Packers' 10, but we went 90 yards all the way to regain the lead. This time, Smack made the extra point! 13-10 Packers, and after that, we intercepted Bryce Young. Golden drops one in the end zone (which seems to be a theme lately, but he catches the next one and gets in. Smack with another PAT; 20-10 Packers, and that's the halftime score!

Panthers started the second half with the ball, but they ended up turning it over on downs. Packers take advantage of the short field and go all the way again! 27-10 Packers. Panthers' next possession only sees them held to three, because our defense continues to do enough things right. 27-13 now, and that's the score entering the fourth quarter. In said quarter, Jordan Love throws a pick, because he (again) tried to throw into double coverage. So that's three takeaways for Carolina, but they get nothing. As for Watson, he's back, and got a huge pop when he returned. Packers ended up punting, and this time, the Panthers do score; Jalen Coker finds the end zone, and for some reason, Carolina decided to go for two. They were down 14, they get six, but instead of a PAT that would put them down seven, they go for two. The pass gets deflected and heads out of bounds.

The Packers end up punting after barely over a minute, so Carolina gets one more real chance. they end up turning over the ball on downs, allowing the Packers to kill a lot of the clock on our last drive. By the time we punted, there was 22 seconds left, and all the Panthers could so was try to lateral their way to something; of course, it fell short.

Packers won it, 27-19, and with that win, we're 5-3. Here's why that's important and why the Packers are the most feared team in the NFC right now: we are 5-3 without Parsons. Parsons was supposed to return in that game against Dallas, but that didn't happen. Even so, we still beat the Cowboys without him. We've won four of five since the 1-2 start. We are getting our shit together. Jordan Love entered this week in a very close second in passing yards, and now he's the first to reach 2000 this year. Watson and Golden are doing magical things. Tucker Kraft is healthy. The defense is doing enough things even with Parsons out. In this game, six sacks, an interception, and a fumble recovery against a team who made the playoffs last year. The only problem is the running game, but that will get figured out. Again, we're 5-3 without Parsons. He's set to return, according to stories, next week. Imagine how dangerous the Packers will be with him.

Regarding the rest of the NFC North in Week 8, the Vikings and Lions face each other (thankfully at Ford Field), and the Bears will be in Seattle on Monday. If things work out perfectly, and by that, I mean the Lions and Hawks winning, then the Packers will be in third place via tiebreaker, and a game and a half behind the Vikings, who still have to head to Lambeau in two weeks.

As for the Panthers, even with this loss, they're still in first place... at 3-4. At the moment, it's via tiebreaker (H2H over ATL). Also, Carolina's loss guarantees that no one in the NFC South will have a winning record after Week 8. If the Bucs beat the Falcons this week, everyone in the South will have losing records after eight weeks, with the Panthers still on top. But if the Falcons win it, they'll take the division lead. The plot, unlike the NFC South's win percentages, thickens.

As a Packers fan, I'm elated by this statement win. Four wins in five weeks after a very terrible 1-2 start, and we could make noise in the NFC North. We haven't had our bye yet, that comes on Week 11, but before that, we go to Foxboro (Week 9) and then we host the Vikings (Week 10). 7-3 entering the bye sounds very delicious, and if it's true that Micah Parsons will be back for the Foxboro trip, well, it seems like that 7-3 record entering the bye will be inevitable.