The Green Bay Packers (5-1-1) have won three straight games coming out of the bye and will now welcome the Carolina Panthers (4-4) to Lambeau Field on Sunday for the team’s first home game since Oct. 12. Matt LaFleur’s team is returning home after beating the Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers on the road in come-from-behind fashion over the last two weeks.

The Panthers had their own three-game winning streak snapped last week by the Buffalo Bills. The 40-9 defeat at home was the NFL’s biggest loss by margin during Week 8.

Can the Packers build on last week’s primetime win in Pittsburgh and run the winning streak to four games? All wins against NFC opponents will be important wins for a Packers team competing to be the conference’s No. 1 seed.

Five things to watch and a prediction for the Packers’ showdown with the Panthers in Week 9:

1. Love from clean pockets

Two important factors will converge on Sunday at Lambeau Field. Packers quarterback Jordan Love ranks first in the NFL in EPA per play from clean pockets, while the Panthers defense ranks dead last in pressure rate and dead last in pressure rate when only rushing four. The Packers are also healthy along the offensive line and slowly playing better and better in pass protection. Through eight games, Love is completing 86.1 percent of his passes and averaging 10.2 yards per attempt from clean pockets. Could this mean fireworks from Love and the passing game on Sunday?

2. Run game test

The Panthers are first in the NFL in rushing attempts this season, and there should be little doubt that Dave Canales is planning on using the run to control the tempo and shorten the game on Sunday, especially with injuries up front along the offensive line and Bryce Young returning from an injury. Can the Packers run defense step up to the challenge? Rico Dowdle has two games with over 230 total yards this season, and Chuba Hubbard had a 1,000-yard rushing season in 2024. The Packers might also be without linebacker Quay Walker, who popped up on the injury report with a calf injury. It’s tough to envision the Packers losing this game unless the Panthers can consistently run the football on Sunday.

3. Packers CBs vs. first-round pick

Panthers first-round pick Tetairoa McMillan has been targeted 63 times in eight games; no other player on the Panthers roster has more than 34 targets. While the Packers spread the ball around, the Panthers passing game goes through McMillan, who is 6-5 and plays primarily on the outside. He might be a rookie, but McMillan’s combination of talent and size creates a big challenge for the Packers’ up-and-down perimeter corners. Can Keisean Nixon, Carrington Valentine and Nate Hobbs handle McMillan’s physicality and ball-getting ability? Expect Bryce Young to feed him targets on Sunday.

4. Battered offensive line

The Packers know what life is like with a hobbled offensive line. Bryce Young and the Panthers are about to go through it on Sunday. Starting right guard Brady Christensen was placed on injured reserve, center Cade Mays is unlikely to play and both right tackle Taylor Moton (knee) and left guard Damien Lewis (oblique) are dealing with injuries. The situation up front is not ideal for a quarterback who is attempting to come back from an ankle injury and might be limited mobility-wise. One note: If Moton can’t go or leaves the game, former Packer Yosh Nijman is the backup right tackle.

5. Any possibility of a letdown?

The Packers are coming off an emotional win on the road in primetime last Sunday night, and a visit from the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles looms in Week 10. Can the Packers avoid feeling too good about last week’s win or looking ahead to next week’s showdown and get up to play their best football against a middling team during a Sunday noon kickoff? This is why coaches preach “1-0 every week.” The Packers cannot overlook a Panthers team that started October with three straight wins. The goal: keep building, keep improving, and bring your best every single week. Anything less and the Panthers will be right in it on Sunday.

Prediction: Packers 34, Panthers 16 (5-1-1)

There is obvious letdown potential here for Matt LaFleur’s team, and the Panthers have the run game capable of turning Sunday’s matchup into a slow, grind-it-out game with limited possessions. But just about every other tangible thing suggests the Packers are going to win comfortably. Jordan Love is playing terrific football, the Packers have a big edge along the line of scrimmage, and the Panthers will be starting a quarterback coming off an injury and have big injuries to deal with along the offensive line. If the Packers can contain the run and keep Tetairoa McMillan from making a few big plays in obvious passing situations, it’s difficult to imagine the Panthers scoring enough points to win on the road at Lambeau Field. And the biggest advantage in this game is Love playing from clean pockets behind an improving offensive line and against one of the NFL’s worst teams at creating pressure. Even if the Packers start slow during a noon kickoff, the guess here is they end up winning big.