Packers Make NFL History in 27-19 Win Over Panthers

A win that rewrote the record book

The Green Bay Packers did not win pretty on Thursday night. They won historically.

Green Bay beat the Carolina Panthers 27-19 at Lambeau Field to open NFL Week 8, improving to 5-3 with a fourth win in five games. The victory came despite a running game that barely moved and three turnovers, including a fumble on the opening kickoff return. It also made history: per the Prime Video broadcast and Pro Football Reference, the Packers became the first team in NFL history to hold a winning record despite rushing for fewer than 500 yards in their first eight games.

Green Bay rushed for only 66 yards against Carolina, taking its season total to 485 yards. The Packers entered the game with the NFL's least productive rushing attack, and Thursday night did not change that. Yet they kept winning, because Jordan Love and the passing game carried the load and a relentless defense made Bryce Young uncomfortable all night.

Love, Watson and a passing game that carried Green Bay

Love completed 30 of 41 passes for 288 yards, three touchdowns and one interception, for a passer rating of 106.6 despite the late turnover. He was at his best in the first three quarters, completing 26 of 33 passes for 262 yards and all three touchdowns. He attacked the middle of the field fearlessly from clean pockets, and the Packers were not sacked at all.

Christian Watson was his biggest weapon, catching eight of 10 targets for 113 yards, including a 53-yard bomb that sparked a scoring drive. His night was dramatic: he took a scary fall coming down with the deep ball, left for precautionary tests at a local hospital, and still returned to make an impact in the second half. Late in the fourth quarter, Watson moved the chains on third down and allowed Green Bay to kill most of the remaining clock.

Tucker Kraft caught all six targets for 53 yards, including a touchdown, while Josh Jacobs scored twice despite a night to forget as a runner. Jacobs rushed 21 times for only 39 yards, but scored once on the ground and once as a receiver. Of Love's 30 completions, 27 went to Watson, Matthew Golden, Kraft and Jacobs.

The Packers were 9-for-16 on third down and scored on all three red-zone trips. That efficiency mattered, because the mistakes could easily have cost them the game.

Three turnovers, three points conceded

Green Bay turned the ball over three times: the fumble on the opening kickoff return, a Watson fumble, and Love's fourth-quarter interception on a poor throw forced downfield to Golden. Carolina turned those three takeaways into only three points.

That is a credit to a defense that played well in adversity situations all night. Green Bay sacked Young six times, with six different players recording a sack: Lukas Van Ness, Dani Dennis-Sutton, Barryn Sorrell, Brenton Cox Jr., Ty'Ron Hopper and Devonte Wyatt. The pressure was constant without being reckless: Green Bay pressured Young on 48.9% of his dropbacks while blitzing under 30% of the time. Young completed 23 of 41 passes for about 210 yards.

Hopper added two quarterback hits and three passes defensed, including an interception of a deflected pass. It was a collective performance rather than a one-man show.

A historically bad run game — and a winning team anyway

The history is what makes this win linger. Dating back to 1935, only 13 teams had rushed for fewer than 500 yards in their first eight games, going a combined 18-86, five of them winless. The closest to a winning record was the 2005 Philadelphia Eagles, 4-4 at this stage and 6-10 at the finish. Green Bay, at 5-3, has already passed them.

Jacobs became the first player in the NFL since 2023, and the first Packer since 2012, to rush at least 20 times and gain fewer than 40 yards in a game. The Packers still have not had a rusher gain more than 42 yards in a game this season. Head coach Matt LaFleur called the run game "not good enough" and an area that has to improve because it puts so much pressure on the passing game.

He is right, and the concern is real: a one-dimensional offense eventually meets a defense that takes the pass away. But for now, Green Bay is proving that a historically weak ground game does not have to mean a lost season — provided the quarterback plays like Love did, the receivers make plays like Watson's, and the defense turns turnovers against into almost nothing.

What comes next

Carolina fell to 3-4, and its night ended with a worrying injury: rookie cornerback Will Lee III suffered a hamstring injury and was carted off.

Green Bay gets the mini-bye that comes with Thursday night football: extra rest before visiting the New England Patriots next Sunday. That break could not come at a better time for Watson after his hospital trip.

The question LaFleur posed — whether the Packers can overcome a historically bad run game and make a playoff run — remains open. Thursday night did not answer it. What it did was keep the season moving in the right direction and set a record nobody had set before.