One minute he was being loaded into an ambulance, the next he was the best player on the field. Christian Watson’s extraordinary night summed up a chaotic Thursday Night Football clash at Lambeau Field, where the Green Bay Packers beat the Carolina Panthers 27-19 on 29 October, but only after nearly throwing away a 17-point lead.
The win lifts the Packers, the team of Wicklow-born punter Daniel Whelan, to 5-3. Carolina fall to 3-4.
From ambulance to 113 yards
Watson’s night started badly. He lost a fumble in the first half and then, with 9:11 left before the interval, suffered a chest injury and left the stadium in an ambulance, Pro Football Talk reported. Doctors examined him at a local hospital, cleared him, and he made it back to Lambeau Field in time to return in the third quarter.
He went on to finish with a game-high eight catches for 113 yards, according to NFL.com, and it was Watson who made the decisive play late on. With 2:33 remaining and the Packers facing third-and-two, his seven-yard catch moved the chains and allowed Green Bay to run down the clock.
Love’s three touchdowns, and a nervy finish
Jordan Love completed 30 of 41 passes for 288 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. Tucker Kraft caught a 12-yard score, Matthew Golden added a 24-yarder, and Josh Jacobs scored twice, once through the air from four yards and once on a one-yard run, Pro Football Talk reported.
Green Bay led 20-10 at half-time and 27-10 midway through the third quarter, and looked to be cruising. But the Packers turned the ball over three times, including a fumbled opening kickoff, and their running game managed just 2.5 yards per carry, NFL.com noted. Carolina outgained them 109 yards to 32 in the fourth quarter and closed to 27-19. Ryan Fitzgerald kicked field goals of 39 and 50 yards for Carolina, running back Chuba Hubbard scored a touchdown, and a missed extra point proved costly.
The Panthers’ last real chance ended when quarterback Bryce Young threw incomplete on fourth-and-five at midfield with 2:41 left. Young finished 23 of 41 for 209 yards, a touchdown and an interception, and was sacked six times. Dani Dennis-Sutton added the last of those sacks with four seconds remaining.
Love admitted afterwards that the Packers had not closed the game out the way they wanted, according to ESPN. Pro Football Talk pointed to poor special teams and a habit of letting big leads slip as reasons the game became so tight.
The Irish angle
Packers games have a growing following in Ireland thanks to Whelan, the punter from Enniskerry in Co Wicklow. RTÉ reported earlier this year that he signed a three-year, $7 million contract that keeps him at Green Bay until 2028, and that he became the first Irishman to play in the NFL since Neil O’Donoghue when he made his debut in 2023.
Whelan has also said that playing a Packers game at Croke Park would be “surreal”, RTÉ reported. The NFL has ruled out a Dublin game in 2026, but Croke Park officials said in February they were confident the league would return in 2027.
What happens next
Both teams now get a break before their next outings. The Packers travel to the New England Patriots on Sunday 8 November, while the Panthers host the Denver Broncos the same day, according to ESPN.
Green Bay will be relieved to have Watson available after his scare, but the coaching staff will want to tidy up the turnovers and special teams errors that nearly cost them. At 5-3 they go into the break with a winning record. For Carolina, a late surge offered encouragement, but six sacks conceded suggest pass protection needs work.
Sources
- NBC Sports / Pro Football Talk: Packers hold on for 27-19 win over Panthers (29 October 2026)
- NFL.com: What we learned from Green Bay’s 27-19 win (30 October 2026)
- ESPN: Packers 27-19 Panthers game recap (30 October 2026)
- RTÉ: Whelan says Packers game at Croke Park would be ‘surreal’ (18 February 2026)
- The Irish Times: Croke Park confident the NFL will return for a game in 2027 (12 February 2026)
Featured image: Lambeau Field 1 by Chad Davis, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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