Rico Dowdle's big day and Ryan
Fitzgerald's big kick give Panthers 16-13 win over Packers
[November 03, 2025]
By STEVE MEGARGEE
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Rico Dowdle made one big mistake on an
otherwise splendid afternoon.
Dowdle and Carolina Panthers kicker Ryan Fitzgerald made sure it
didn't prove costly.
Dowdle rushed for 130 yards and two touchdowns, and his big run in
the final minute set up Fitzgerald's last-second 49-yard field goal
as Carolina beat Green Bay 16-13 on Sunday to climb above .500 and
snap the Packers' three-game win streak.
It was the second time this season that Fitzgerald, a rookie from
Florida State, has made a winning field goal as time expired. He hit
a 33-yarder in the Panthers' 30-27 triumph over Dallas on Oct. 12.
“I think there is a sort of comfort level from the fact that I've
done it before,” Fitzgerald said. “I'm still learning new
experiences. Tough environment on the road this week, tough
conditions.”
The loss could prove costly for Green Bay (5-2-1). Packers star
tight end Tucker Kraft was carted off the field with a knee injury
in the third quarter.
“It doesn't look good," coach Matt LaFleur said. “It's going to be
tough, but it's football. Other guys are going to have to step up.”
Carolina (5-4), a two-touchdown underdog according to BetMGM
Sportsbook, bounced back from a 40-9 home loss to Buffalo.
Fitzgerald and Dowdle both had to redeem themselves from setbacks
earlier in the game.
Dowdle's second touchdown of the day gave the Panthers a 13-6 lead
late in the third quarter. He celebrated that score by thrusting his
hips twice, an homage to a “Key & Peele” sketch, and was called for
unsportsmanlike conduct.
“From my understanding and everything I’ve learned, we go over stuff
like this every week in the meeting room. I definitely think you’re
supposed to get two pumps," Dowdle said. "Hopefully, I don’t get a
fine.”
Fitzgerald’s ensuing 48-yard extra-point attempt into a swirling
wind was well short, keeping Carolina’s lead at 13-6. So when Green
Bay's Josh Jacobs scored from 1 yards out on third-and-goal with
2:32 left, the Packers didn't need to go for 2 and tied the game on
Brandon McManus’ extra point.
After Carolina got the ball back, Dowdle’s 19-yard carry on
second-and-10 from midfield set up Fitzgerald's kick.
“I just wanted to make up for it,” Dowdle said. “So I knew I had to
come out there and keep putting my best foot forward, because I
didn’t want that to end up biting us.”
Panthers coach Dave Canales said this past week that Dowdle would
get the bulk of the carries after splitting time with Chuba Hubbard.
Running behind an injury-riddled offensive line, Dowdle delivered
against a Green Bay team ranked third in the NFL in rushing defense.
“From carry one, it was attitude, it was aggression and violence at
the end of it,” Canales said. “It really does affect the group. It
affects the whole sideline when they see that kind of energy. That
kind of violence, it gives them confidence. It's who we want to be.”
That wasn't Canales' only pregame move that paid off.
The Panthers usually defer when they win the coin toss, but they
took the ball first. As a result, Fitzgerald's game-winning kick was
much easier than the jumbo-sized extra-point attempt he missed in
the third period.
[to top of second column] |
Carolina Panthers punter Sam Martin, second from right, celebrates
with placekicker Ryan Fitzgerald (10) after Fitzgerald's winning
field goal against the Green Bay Packers in an NFL football game
Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Matt Ludtke)
“I’ve got to give a lot of props to (special teams
coordinator) Tracy Smith," Canales said. “He and I were talking
before the game and he was like, ‘If we take the ball, we can set
ourselves up to have the ball with the wind to our backs to finish
the game to give us the opportunity.’ And it played out just like
that.”
Packers' missed opportunities
Green Bay had itself to blame for this loss.
Before Jacobs’ touchdown, the Packers had marched inside the
Carolina 35 on five of their first six possessions but had only two
field goals to show for it.
“It’s very frustrating," said Jordan Love, who went 26 of 37 for 273
yards with an interception on his 27th birthday. “I think everybody
was feeling that as an offense. First half, we were limited in
possessions. Those games, you have to maximize every time you’re on
the field. We didn’t do that.”
Green Bay entered the day with just three turnovers all season,
matching Philadelphia for the lowest total in the league. Savion
Williams had a red-zone fumble that thwarted a scoring opportunity,
and Carolina's Tre'von Moehrig picked off a pass by Love, leading to
a Panthers touchdown.
McManus converted from 49 and 27 yards out but also missed a
43-yarder that would have put Green Bay ahead in the third quarter.
Dowdle’s second touchdown came after Green Bay’s Keisean Nixon was
called for pass interference on a third-and-goal incompletion.
Green Bay also passed up a short field-goal attempt while trailing
13-6 in the fourth quarter and went for it on fourth-and-8 from the
Carolina 13. Love's desperation, across-the-field pass was dropped
by Carolina’s Mike Jackson in the end zone.
“Hindsight's 20-20,” LaFleur said. “I wish we would have taken the
points. Didn’t do that there. Bad decision.”
Injuries
Panthers: OG Chandler Zavala (elbow) departed in the first half. LB
Trevin Wallace left late in the fourth quarter.
Packers: Along with the injury to Kraft, WR Matthew Golden
(shoulder), OG Aaron Banks (stringer) and DL Colby Wooden (shoulder)
all left the game.
Up next
Panthers: Host New Orleans next Sunday.
Packers: Host Philadelphia on Monday, Nov. 10.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
