After every Green Bay Packers game, we will talk about three points that defined the matchup.

The Green Bay Packers beat the Carolina Panthers 33-30, ending a two-game losing streak. It wasn’t a complete performance whatsoever, but the young offense again was able to carry the entire team — with a particularly impressive game from Jordan Love, throwing the ball to a group of unproven players, and with four of the best pass-catchers injured.

The defense and special teams, however, made the same mistakes they have been making for a long time, and the game was much more difficult than it should have been against the worst team in football.

Let’s analyze the three main points of the game.

Offensive versatility

The Packers don't have a dominant offensive weapon. And that might seem bad, but it's been a blessing for such a young team. They didn't have Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, and Luke Musgrave on Sunday, but they were still able to be efficient with everything else. And that's how the offense has been the entire season. There's always someone missing, but Matt LaFleur and Jordan Love find a way to get it done.

Against the Panthers, second-year receiver Bo Melton, a practice-squad elevation, was a revelation. Dontayvion Wicks also scored his touchdown before leaving the game as well with a chest injury. And the team leaned on the running game early on to be efficient.

The circumstances matter, obviously, but the Packers have been impressively effective to create a solid offense in spite of everything they can't control. You couldn't ask for more of this young group.

What's the defensive upside?

Joe Barry has been criticized for a long time, but his defense had some moments this season where the performance wouldn’t be great, but they at least would hold offenses to a slow score. They would show something, areas where they had success. This hasn’t happened anymore over the last month. It’s been awful, even against awful opponents. There’s no reason to keep things as they are.

The expectation for the defense is not high at this point, after a sequence of bad games. But they can't be effective even against the worst offenses in the NFL. The Panthers were averaging 14.7 points per game this season, and the Packers allowed 16 points in three quarters and 30 in the game. It was Young’s best game as an NFL player.

Bryce Young has surpassed 200 passing yards for the first time since week 8.

— Felipe Reis Aceti (@Aceti_Felipe) December 24, 2023

The Panthers are bad, to be clear. The receivers are slow, rookie quarterback Bryce Young seems overwhelmed sometimes, and the offensive line is mediocre at best. But even in these favorable circumstances, the defense can't dominate.

The defensive front couldn’t generate enough pressure and allowed big holes in the run game. The secondary was slightly better with Jaire Alexander, but even an All-Pro level player is undermined with this defensive system. Eric Stokes isn’t what he was before the injury, and you don’t see the development of young players throughout the season as it happens with the offensive group.

It's hard to find a positive from what they've shown. And even if Nick Mullens and Justin Fields are coming, it's far from a certainty that they will be able to put the offense in position to win.

Special teams penalties

The Packers entered the game with a league-worst 18 penalties for 163 yards on special teams. And it didn't change in Charlotte. In the first two special teams plays of the game, there were two bizarre penalties: a holding as a kicking team, and a roughing the punter from Lukas Van Ness to transform a 4th & 8 into an automatic first down.

Then, there was an offside on a Panthers field goal — gladly for the Packers, it wasn't enough for a first down, so Carolina declined it.

This is not a great outcome when the team has the highest-paid special teams coordinator in football.

To make things worse, Anders Carlson didn't kick it off to touchback, allowing a couple of big returns for the opponent. It’s an underwhelming unit, even though it’s not getting as much heat as it should because of how bad the defense is.

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