Buried in the middle of the Green Bay Packers' schedule, a Thursday night game in Week 8, is a home matchup with the Carolina Panthers. The Packers must seize the chance to redeem themselves for last season's debacle against the same opponent.
By point spread, their 16-13 home loss to Carolina in Week 9 last year tied for the worst upset in franchise history. The Packers entered the game favored by 14.5 points.
They won't be nearly as big of favorites this time around. The Panthers surprised their many skeptics by sneaking into the 2025 playoffs as winners of the NFC South. They should be in the mix again. Green Bay can't expect to sleepwalk through an entire football game and emerge victorious.
Packers must handle their business this season to reach the next level
Green Bay is favored by a touchdown in the rematch, though that number could fluctuate dramatically in the meantime. The early indication, though, is that the Panthers are expected to be a more competent team this season, not some double-digit underdog.
The Packers must prove that they are a different team as well. The 2025 group struggled to put away opponents in games Green Bay entered as heavy favorites. The mistakes that doomed them against the Panthers were a manifestation of the team's in-game inconsistency.
The defense held Carolina quarterback Bryce Young to 102 passing yards. The Packers ran nine more plays and out-gained the Panthers 369 yards to 265. A Josh Jacobs fumble, a Jordan Love interception, and a missed field goal were why Green Bay lost that game. Story of the season.
Redeeming themselves in 2026 means cutting down on careless errors and playing proper situational football. That interception came on a heave Love didn't need to make in a one-point game in the third quarter, throwing from deep in his own territory.
The Packers need to be more mature this season. They need to take care of business against inferior foes and close out leads when they have them. That means not blowing a 21-3 halftime lead and getting outscored 25-6 in the fourth quarter. Their Wild Card Round collapse in Chicago was a fitting end to the season.
Beating the teams they should will help the Packers avoid ending up as a wild card at all. Injuries were a big problem last season, but so were losses to Cleveland and Carolina during the first half of the schedule. Taking care of the Panthers this time around would wash away some of the sour taste that still lingers from that embarrassing defeat.
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