Panthers at Packers final score: Green Bay runs its way past Carolina's comeback attempt, stays atop NFC North

Everything you need to know about the Packers' big victory to improve to 8-2

Kyle Allen no longer has a rehabbing Cam Newton looking over his shoulder, but he had Aaron Rodgers to deal with at Lambeau Field, where the Green Bay Packers (8-2) edged the Carolina Panthers (5-4) with a strong ground game and late defensive stand, winning 24-16 to stay atop the NFC North. 

Blanked by the Chargers' pass rush at the end of a two-game road trip, the Pack were looking to extend their division lead in front of their home fans Sunday. The Panthers, meanwhile, have an MVP candidate in Christian McCaffrey and got a respectable performance from Allen, who was busy early in Sunday's affair, taking advantage of a holey Packers defense, before threatening a comeback late in the fourth.

Rodgers responded to an early Panthers lead in the second quarter, putting the Packers ahead thanks to big completions to Jimmy Graham and Davante Adams and some goal-line help from Aaron Jones. And while Carolina entered halftime with momentum thanks to a Gerald McCoy-led goal-line stand, Matt LaFleur's rushing attack helped Green Bay build a sizable advantage in the third.

Let's take a deeper dive into how the Packers ensured they'll stay atop the NFC North on Sunday:

Why the Packers won

Reason No. 1: They showcased a near-perfectly balanced offensive attack. We know Matt LaFleur likes to run the ball, but against Carolina, he had every reason to stick to the ground, with Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams combining for 156 yards and three scores against the Panthers' vulnerable interior. The strong rushing attack not only kept the ball in Green Bay's hands but wore Ron Rivera's defense down. Best of all, though, it wasn't the only thing that sustained the Packers' momentum. While Aaron Rodgers wasn't perfect and didn't need to be superhuman on Sunday, he still connected on enough big plays to keep the Panthers secondary guessing, with Davante Adams (118 yards) and Jimmy Graham (48-yard catch) stretching the field at different points in the game. While Mike Pettine's defense was hardly shutdown material, it also got a few big stops at crucial moments, with Tramon Williams snagging an end-zone pick and Kevin King logging a few timely deflections.

Why the Panthers lost

Some Panthers fans will be quick to point to the ticky-tack roughing-the-passer call on Gerald McCoy that extended a lifeless Packers drive at the end of the first half and, at the same time, kept the ball out of Carolina's hands. But that was far from the only reason, let alone a primary one, that Rivera's club couldn't get the job done on the road. For the most part, Kyle Allen (307 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) was actually very good, showing off his legs with some pocket escapes and play-extending roll-outs, all while feeding D.J. Moore (120 yards) and Greg Olsen (98 yards) against a holey Packers defense -- all the way until the final drive, where he showed some serious moxie in a tough situation. But his end-zone pick, with the Panthers threatening a deficit-cutting score in the second half, looked like a rookie mistake and really swung momentum. The even bigger issue: The Panthers simply cannot stop the run, and that was again the case here, where McCoy and Co. looked just fine on a goal-line stand and even got after Rodgers but just could never consistently contain the middle of the field.

Turning point

The Packers owned the edge for so long because of their methodical but deadly ground game, so Sunday's game wasn't exactly much of a nail-biter until well until the fourth. By that, we mean there wasn't necessarily a turning point that occurred when the game was on the line, because outside of early/midway through the first, when both sides were knotted up at 7-7, it was mostly Packers. That said, when Allen forced a red-zone shot a little over halfway through the third, Carolina essentially dug itself too deep a hole. When Allen's ill-advised pass got picked, the Panthers had been knocking at the door, threatening to put six on the board and cut Green Bay's lead to four. Instead, the Packers took over, marched down the field, ate up more clock and went up 24-10, taking a lead that ultimately proved a little too sizable to be overtaken.

Play of the game

Rodgers wasn't the biggest star of the Packers' performance, but he threw an absolute dime to Adams to set up Green Bay's second TD of the game. Trailing by three points at the time, No. 12 couldn't have placed the ball any better on this 37-yarder:

Quotable

"Kyle Allen slinging it in the Lambeau snow with a chance to tie. This kid is very impressive."

Those remarks, tweeted by NFL Network's Rich Eisen during Carolina's comeback attempt, probably put the most positive spin on the Panthers' loss. And that's not to take away from them. The Packers were the better team Sunday, and they were out in front for most of the day. But Carolina should be genuinely encouraged by what it got from a second-year signal-caller in Allen. The kid legitimately had them at the doorstep of a potential come-from-behind victory, and he looked confident all afternoon -- even if his team's defense couldn't do much against the Packers' rushing attack.

What's next

The Packers (8-2) will get a well-earned rest during their bye in Week 11, and they'll probably need it considering who's on tap for the following Sunday -- the San Francisco 49ers (8-0), who are looking to stay unbeaten this Monday night and will play host to Green Bay on Nov. 24. The Panthers (5-4), meanwhile, will be back home in Week 11 for a Nov. 10 matchup with their rival Atlanta Falcons (2-7), who are fresh off an upset of the New Orleans Saints.

Relive all the action from Sunday's NFC showdown right here:

[Nov 10, 2019 at 7:44 pm ET · Cody Benjamin]

And that's it. The Packers win. Green Bay improves to 8-2. Carolina falls to 5-4. Thanks, everyone, for joining us!

[Nov 10, 2019 at 7:43 pm ET · Cody Benjamin]

Booth review underway.

[Nov 10, 2019 at 7:43 pm ET · Cody Benjamin]

The unfortunate thing for Carolina is that there's little the refs are going to see here that would make them reverse this.

[Nov 10, 2019 at 7:42 pm ET · Cody Benjamin]

Second-and-goal: The Panthers hand it to McCaffrey up the middle, he leans toward the goal line, but he's ruled short! The Packers win! What a heatbreaker for Carolina, but again, they would've also needed a two-pointer. Panthers thought they scored, but replay looks just, just, just short.

[Nov 10, 2019 at 7:41 pm ET · Cody Benjamin]

Allen's first-and-goal pass to McCaffrey out in the flat falls short. Four seconds left.

[Nov 10, 2019 at 7:40 pm ET · Cody Benjamin]

:08 left. First-and-goal. Panthers need eight points here.

[Nov 10, 2019 at 7:40 pm ET · Cody Benjamin]

Wow. Allen fakes it to McCaffrey, moves around in the pocket, fires incomplete over the middle. But the Packers were offsides! The five-yard penalty gives Carolina new life with eight seconds to go.

[Nov 10, 2019 at 7:39 pm ET · Cody Benjamin]

:13 left. Fourth-and-1. Here we go.

[Nov 10, 2019 at 7:39 pm ET · Cody Benjamin]

No timeouts left. Ball inside the five. Allen is pressured and has to throw it out of the back of the end zone on third-and-1. So it's fourth down. Again, game on the line.

[Nov 10, 2019 at 7:38 pm ET · Cody Benjamin]

Wow. Packers get flagged for a neutral zone infraction. Can't do that in this spot. Still third down, though.

[Nov 10, 2019 at 7:36 pm ET · Cody Benjamin]

Clock running, Panthers in the red zone, Allen throws it away. :28 left.

[Nov 10, 2019 at 7:36 pm ET · Cody Benjamin]

With McCaffrey to his left, Allen drops back, floats it up, and it's caught by D.J. Moore. Crazy. First down.

[Nov 10, 2019 at 7:35 pm ET · Cody Benjamin]

And now the Packers take a timeout.

[Nov 10, 2019 at 7:34 pm ET · Cody Benjamin]

Carolina uses its second-to-last timeout. Fifty-six seconds left. It's fourth-and-10 Panthers.

[Nov 10, 2019 at 7:33 pm ET · Cody Benjamin]

Allen forced out of the pocket, has to throw it away on third. It's fourth-and-10. Game on the line.

[Nov 10, 2019 at 7:32 pm ET · Cody Benjamin]

Allen tries for the end zone with a deep heave, but Kevin King knocks the ball away from D.J. Moore. Ball wasn't particularly close to being complete.

[Nov 10, 2019 at 7:30 pm ET · Cody Benjamin]

1:14 left to play. Panthers down to two timeouts.

[Nov 10, 2019 at 7:30 pm ET · Cody Benjamin]

They're getting closer and closer to that TD, though. Allen to Olsen again, over the middle.

[Nov 10, 2019 at 7:29 pm ET · Cody Benjamin]

Boy oh boy is it going to get interesting if the Panthers can actually get in the end zone. Need a two-point conversion, remember.

[Nov 10, 2019 at 7:28 pm ET · Cody Benjamin]

Panthers now inside Packer territory.

[Nov 10, 2019 at 7:28 pm ET · Cody Benjamin]

Clock ticking under 1:30 now, and Kyle Allen finds Greg Olsen on a beautiful sideline pass. He's really been on the money outside of that red-zone pick earlier.