GREEN BAY — It’s not as if the members of the Green Bay Packers defense didn’t know what to expect on Sunday. They just didn’t know why it worked so well. 

With quarterback Bryce Young coming off an ankle injury that forced him to miss last week’s game and with the former No. 1 overall pick having been up-and-down this season, the Carolina Panthers arrived at Lambeau Field with a simple offensive game plan:

Run the ball, no matter how good the Packers defense had been statistically against it.

“We already knew their mindset was to come in and run the ball. All of their wins come off the run game being pretty good,” Packers middle linebacker Quay Walker said. “We just couldn’t stop the run for some reason.”

No, no they could not. And as a result, the Panthers rode their running game — and halfback Rico Dowdle — to a 16-13 victory at Lambeau Field.

“We understood how they wanted to attack us. We’ve just got to be better at getting off the field,” Packers defensive end Rashan Gary said. “That’s one thing that frustrated me.

“Games like this, if you want to be great, you’ve got to find ways to win — especially as a defense. We got greatness in our unit. We’ve just got to find a way to get off the field and that’s just being consistent on top of everything, understanding how they wanted to manage the game. When plays come our way, just got to make them.”

The Packers came into Sunday’s game as one of the NFL’s top run defenses, ranked third in the 32-team NFL in yards allowed per game (78.9) and fourth in yards per attempt (3.73).

Dowdle wound up carrying 25 times for 130 yards and two touchdowns on the day, and it was his 19-yard run that set up kicker Ryan Fitzgerald’s game-winning 49-yard field goal as time expired.

“From carry [No.] 1, it was attitude, it was aggression and violence at the end of it,” Panthers coach Dave Canales said of Dowdle’s performance. “It really does affect the group. It affects the whole sideline when they see that kind of energy and that kind of violence. It gives them confidence and it’s who we want to be. I just really loved what he was able to do.”

The Panthers finished the game with 163 total rushing yards, easily the most yards given up by the Packers this season. The only team the Packers had allowed to crack the 100-yard barrier before the Panthers was the Dallas Cowboys with 117 rushing yards in their 40-40 tie on Sept. 28.

“They played the game they had to play in order to beat us — run the football consistently throughout the course of the game, and just make us dink and dunk the ball down the field [on offense],” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said.

“You’ve got to be able to tackle, you’ve got to be able to stop the run — just base football principles. And if you don’t do them well, you’re susceptible to getting beat. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing.

It didn’t help the Packers run defense to lose nose tackle Colby Wooden to a first-half shoulder injury, but even when the Packers loaded the box with extra defenders, the Panthers still managed to gain yards — especially on Dowdle’s 19-yard run before the field goal.

“We’ve just got to be better, being more disciplined in doing our jobs, honestly,” linebacker Isaiah McDuffie said. “We talked about it all week and it was an emphasis all week and they [still] did a good job.”

Musgrave is ‘next man up’ | With tight end Tucker Kraft feared to have suffered a season-ending torn ACL in his right knee Sunday, the Packers will turn to Luke Musgrave, whom they picked one round earlier in the same 2023 NFL Draft that got them Kraft.

But while Kraft became an ascending star over the past two years, Musgrave has struggled with injuries and inconsistent contributions since Kraft’s emergence. Now, it’ll be up to him to fill the void.

“Luke’s played a ton of ball for us, and he’s going to get more of an opportunity,” LaFleur said.

Musgrave caught all three passes thrown his way Sunday, finishing with 34 yards. For the season, he has nine catches for 88 yards.

“I’m just going to focus on doing my job. I’m just going to do my job,” Musgrave replied when asked what he has to do to make up for the loss of Kraft. “I’d say it’s as simple as that.”

Love on INT: ‘Just a bad decision’ | For as well as Packers quarterback Jordan Love had played during the team’s three-game losing streak, his up-for-grabs third-quarter interception felt like a play he was better than.

Although he’d hit Christian Watson for a 51-yard gain earlier in the game, his deep ball for Watson on the INT was thrown with three defenders surrounding Watson and was easy pickings for Panthers safety Tre’von Moehrig.

Moehrig’s 36-yard return set up Dowdle’s second touchdown run of the game for a 13-6 Panthers lead.

“We had a play dialed up. I wanted to throw one past them and the back-side safety was playing cloud [coverage] and I didn’t see him,” admitted Love, who now has thrown three interceptions on the season. “[Moehrig] was able to push over. We didn’t have anyone holding him back side, so he was able to push over, and it was pretty much like a punt return. Just a bad decision.”

McManus’ struggles continue | Veteran kicker Brandon McManus, who missed two games with a quadriceps injury to his right (kicking) leg, missed another kick Sunday, meaning he’s now missed three field-goal attempts in his two games since returning from the injury.

After missing a 57-yarder and a 44-yarder in Pittsburgh last week, McManus missed a 43-yard field-goal attempt on the opening possession of the third quarter on Sunday, denying the Packers points coming out of halftime. The kick would have given the Packers a 9-7 lead at the time.

“Last week, I kicked like [expletive]. Played terrible last week and pretty much again today,” McManus told PackersNews.com after the game. “I can’t miss kicks that are well within my range. Played terrible.”

Lucas Havrisik, who went 10-for-10 (six extra points, four field goals, including a franchise-record 61-yarder at Arizona) in McManus’ absence, remains on the roster but was inactive. LaFleur didn’t want to discuss any potential change in the kicking game afterward.

“He just missed a kick. Obviously, he’s battling through some issues, but he missed a kick. And that happens,” LaFleur said. Asked if he’s considering a change, LaFleur replied, “I’m not. [But] we’ve got to evaluate everything that we’re doing right now.”

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