Cheesehead
Well-known member
- Mar 19, 2019
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GREEN BAY – Four seconds left. Two yards to go. One play to settle everything.
With snow swirling around Lambeau Field and suspense building after back-to-back timeouts, the Packers’ defense stepped to the line of scrimmage needing to make one stop to put away the Carolina Panthers and ensure an 8-2 record heading into next week’s bye.
Clinging to a 24-16 lead, defensive coordinator Mike Pettine chose to leave his dime personnel on the field with a single defensive lineman (Kenny Clark) partnered with outside linebackers Kyler Fackrell, Preston and Za'Darius Smith, and inside linebacker Blake Martinez lurking behind.
The Panthers, as they have all season, put the ball in the hands of MVP candidate Christian McCaffrey on a draw play. With Fackrell darting through the A-gap, McCaffrey was delayed enough for Preston Smith to wrap up the third-year running back at the legs and stop him shy of the end zone to seal the victory.
“I think everybody was locked in,” Preston Smith said. “(It) motivated us to finish the game off, get some stops and secure the win. That’s what we came here for, man – for big moments like that, to go out and play in those big moments and execute and get a win for our team.”
While an automatic booth review inside two minutes delayed the celebration, there was no doubt in the minds of Smith or the rest of Green Bay’s defense that they’d stopped McCaffrey.
After the Panthers didn’t connect on a pass the play before, Green Bay’s defense felt fairly confident they would give the ball to McCaffrey, who has 1,385 total yards and 14 touchdowns through only nine games this year.