The Green Bay Packers were expected to come in and beat the stuffing out of the Carolina Panthers, but with the NFC's No. 1 seed currently trailing the upstart NFC South foe 7-6 at halftime, fans have to wonder just how this team has been unable to assert themselves.
To add to what has already been a very weird day for the Green Bay faithful, one of Carolina's drives deep into Green Bay territory was briefly paused for something that happened because of some fans goofing around in the stands. This might be the only such delay fans will see in the 2025 season.
A beach ball that bounced down from the stands managed to find its way onto the field, forcing a delay as the officials got the ball off the field. Fairly harmless, but this was certainly an odd moment coming in the middle of a game that feels like it arrived on this planet from Bizzaro World.
Packers-Panthers delayed due to beach ball on the field
Packers fans may have been grateful for that little bit of levity, as the offense has given them such little to cheer about. While the defense held Carolina to seven first-half points and picked off Bryce Young in the red zone, the offense has been an unusually brutal watch.
The Packers only had three drives in the first half, one of which was an unusually short two-minute drive. Jordan Love and the passing game have looked alright, but a Savion Williams fumble and an inability to take advantage of Carolina's run defense left Green Bay fans wanting more.
Green Bay's habit of playing down to their competition, which caused them to hand a victory to the Cleveland Browns in Week 3, and it has them trailing at home to a Panthers team that is playing with a below-average quarterback.
If the Packers end up coming from behind to win this game, the beach ball may have ended up somehow reversing their fourtunes. If nothing else, it provided a little moment of humor in a game where Packers fans are really stretching to find anything worth writing home about.