Packers self-inflicted wounds detrimental in loss to Panthers

GREEN BAY – The Green Bay (5-2-1) Packers saw a 16-13 loss to the Carolina Panthers (5-4) at Lambeau on Sunday, Nov. 2. 

According to running back Josh Jacobs, the elite level of the NFL makes it impossible to win when you have as many mistakes as they did on both sides of the ball. 

“It was one of those games where we needed a spark. It was one of those games where we were flat on offense and we needed something to help us out a little bit and get over the hump. Maybe going for it would get us over the hump,” said Jacobs when head coach Matt LaFleur made the decision to go for the touchdown instead of taking the field goal, leaving points on the board that ultimately cost them the game.

“It’s the NFL. If you don’t come out to play or you’re not ready to play, any team can beat you on any given night. That’s on us. A lot of us need to look ourselves in the mirror and get back to work and lock in this next week,” said Jacobs. “Never play down to your competition. Be who you are. I think that’s something we have to work on.”

According to Jacobs, one key area the Packers failed to find success in was playing complementary football. 

“We still can’t play a complete four quarters as a team. That’s something we strive for every day. Not being able to do it does feel weird. Overly relying on the defense at times or vice versa is something that we have to clean up, especially later in the season when these games start to mean a lot,” said Jacobs. 

Wide Receiver Christian Watson recently made his return to the field after an ACL tear that kept him away for several months.

According to Watson, the accountability on the team needs to be higher. 

“I think we were just constantly putting ourselves in bad situations that aren’t allowing us to do well,” said Watson. 

“It’s something that we know we have to clean up and we definitely know that we have to be self-critical. We understand what kind of team we are when everything is clicking — it’s just definitely getting to the point where we’ve got to start eliminating those because we can’t have those mistakes anymore, for sure.”

Watson also said that he felt the team was adequately prepared to face the Panthers, they just weren’t able to execute. 

“That’s what we expected from their end. It was really just us on our end, not finishing in the red zone and hurting ourselves on offense,” said Watson. 

Though the defense held the Panthers to 16 points, Parsons said that they still didn’t do a good enough job all around and that the game ultimately came down to the defense being able to hold them on the final drive and that three points for Carolina put them over the top. 

“We just didn’t do a good enough job overall. We still had a chance to win the game, and we just didn’t execute,” said Parsons. 

“It’s super disappointing because it’s not that we can’t do it, it’s just that we didn’t do it. We’re capable. Regardless of who is up and who is down, we should be stopping that run,” said Parsons. 

The Packers only other loss on the season came to the Cleveland Browns — also a three point loss with a final score of 13-10. 

“We played to their style and we let them stay in the game and that’s on us,” said Parsons. 

“I felt we were all focused and we all came into it focused but it’s hard to win games when we beat ourselves.”