November 4, 2025 • 19 mins
This week on Sideline Pass, Kristen and Sharon react to the Panthers 16-13 win over the Packers in Lambeau, preview this weekend's matchup against the Saints, and so much more!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Wow, Jeus, Kristin Balboni and Sharon Thor's Love It with
Your Sideline Pass.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Welcome to another episode of Sideline Pass with Your Sideline
reporters Sharon and Kristen and Sharon, breaking news from our side,
our producer Matt and his wife Darby have welcomed their
beautiful baby girl. So I just want to we just
want to say a big congratulations to them. And Matt
is already superman and he is back to recording with us.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
It's so exciting and a big congratulations to them. Y'all
are going to have an absolute blast. So it's going
to be a little sleepless nights here early on, I'm sure,
but so exciting to have your first little one.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Absolutely all right.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Now, we got some other news to cover as well,
not as important as that, but we do want to
talk about this huge Panthers when over the packers at Lambeau,
And of course what we try to do here is
to provide you not just analysis of everything going on
and everything looking ahead, but also just insight into what
it's like on the field. That's why it's called Sideline Pass.
And Sharon, you had the front road to everything going on,
(01:07):
but you also said that this was your first game
reporting at Lambo, so tell me all about it.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
I've never been.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Oh my gosh, it was just the coolest thing ever.
I had been to Lamba before. Three years ago. I
took my boys up for a Monday night football game
in December, which was just everything you could possibly expect
and imagine from, you know, a December game in Lambeau,
and loved it. But this was the first time, like
you said that, I had ever actually worked a game
up here, because the Panthers don't come up that often,
and it's been a long time, and I didn't start
(01:35):
road games still a couple of years ago. So it
is just like the guys all week had talked about
the guys who had been there before, like Mike Jackson,
several of the guys that had actually played there before,
Ashawn Robinson. They said, they kept saying, you can feel
the history, and they are not kidding.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
I mean I could feel it as soon as we
got there first.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
You just pull up and you see all the fans
and they're nothing like the Eagle or Jets Spans where
they're shooting you the bird. These guys and they're waving
welcome they're so polite and pleasant and there Wisconsin, and
everybody in the stadium is just so nice. But you
come into the bowels of the stadium. Whenever you arrive,
you always park your buses right down, like down underneath
in the stadium and you go and you know, go
(02:16):
through the security to get in and stuff and start
winding around. Lambeau was built in nineteen fifty seven, the
original stadium, and it is all still there.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
And then they added this whole outer ring around the perimeter.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
Of the stadium with all the new stuff, you know,
the new luxury suites, the more suites, the scoreboard, the
press box, all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
So it's literally just this maze.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
And to get up to the press box, you go
through this whole outdoor area and have to walk about
a mile. It seems like you go upstairs, but it's wild.
But then when you're in the locker room, there's only
two ways onto that field. Do you either come out
of the panther's locker room or you come out of
the packers locker room. You know, the visiting team and
the home team. And so you go winding through the
bowels of the stadium in this little skinny, skinny tunnel
(02:59):
with like low ceilings, and it's so skinny, it's like
three feet wide. You can't like fit two players side
by side in it, with green carpet all the way,
and you're like, where am I going? But when you
just walk down that you just think, oh my gosh,
think about all the players that have come through that stadium.
And then you walk out onto the field and there
you are on historic Lamba and the field is so
pristine and so gorgeous the grass that I thought it
(03:22):
was fake turf at first, and I'm like, well, deu,
of course it's not as Lambeau, but it looks like
fake turf. It is just so beautiful and pristine. But
just all the names up on the inside, ringing a
Reggie White and Curly Lambeau and Vince Lombardi and it's
just so so cool. It was just the neatest experience.
I just absolutely loved every minute of it.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
That is so cool.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
It's something that not a lot of people can say,
is that they've worked a game in Lambeau. Sharon, I'll
tell you what when we were doing when I was
doing road games the last time, I believe that we
played the Packers in Lambeau was during COVID, so I
want to say maybe the twenty twenty one season. So
I called the game against the Packers, but we did
it from a suite at Bank of America because we
(04:06):
could not travel, and I remember thinking, oh so close.
But of course we had to, you know, monitor protocols
and respect everything, so I would technically call the road game.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
You've called a game just from Afar. But and that
was a great game too. That was a great game.
And I think it snowed that game, so it would
have been a great was That was my only complaint.
It's like I wanted to have like the full deal
with the freezing cold and snowed just because I'm not
really cold, but it was cold and windy, but not
no snow.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Well, let's talk about Let's talk about the wind because again,
as sideline reporters, that is one of our big jobs
is to note the conditions to be able to relay
to the fans in the broadcast booth exactly what's going
on down there, especially if it's going to affect the game.
And this is something that really was a big concern
throughout the game, and it really started with this, I
(04:55):
would say a gutsy decision, certainly an unconventional decision. When
the Panthers won the coin toss to elect to receive
almost I would say ninety percent of the time. You see,
teams are obviously want to get the ball in the
second half, so they defer, and certainly you give a
team like the Packers an extra chance to possess the
ball at the half, but they did it because then
(05:15):
they get to pick the side of the field that
they want to be on and that would translate in
this case to the second half as well. So Sharon,
can you kind of walk us through why this was
such a great decision in what it was like down there?
Speaker 3 (05:29):
Yeah, well it was chilly out it was in the forties,
but the wind was the big thing. And they had
forecasts thirty to thirty five on our wins and wind guts,
which was a lot, and it was doing exactly that.
The flags were just whipping all around the stadium all
day long, and Tracy Smith, a special teams coordinator, had
the wherewithal to think, right off the bat, Okay, we've
(05:50):
got wind that we're working with.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Which direction is the wind going to be coming from?
Speaker 3 (05:54):
If it comes down to a situation where we're kicking
in the second half to try to get a game
winning field goal on extra port of whatever it may be,
where do we want to be in terms of the wind.
So he made that decision with coach Canalis right away
to say, all right, we need to get the ball first,
so we can choose the side I field we want
to be on so we can be going this direction
in the second half in case that happens. And I
(06:16):
tell you, it was tough for me to even like
figure out where the wind was coming from because the
way it swirls, and that is what Lambeau is certainly
known for. If you looked up on the perimeter of
the stadium, all the flags were going basically east to west,
and the Panthers when they were coming down the second half,
they were going west to east, so it looked like
they were going directly into the wind. But the stadium,
(06:36):
the way they built it, all this whole new section
on the west side of the stadium. It's this basically
solid wall of scoreboard and suites and things like that,
and it's high, so it's almost like the wind was
hitting that. And then it was like ricocheting and going
back to the other direction and swirling back around. So
it was almost like the wind was at their back
(06:57):
in the second half. But I don't think Ryan Fitzgerald
needed that extra wind boot anyway. He booted that ball
so hard in the for the game winning field goal.
But that was the thought process there from Tracy Smith
and the Panthers when they elected to take the ball,
when they won the kickoff and won the coin toss
and were able to go the direction they wanted to go,
(07:18):
and set that up for what ended up being the
you know, the game winning field goal.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
So they they look brilliant from doing that. I'll tell
you what. Yeah, they did.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
And you know, Sharon, that when you were talking about
swirling when the other stadium that I've experienced that has
this problem, or I guess you could call it an
advantage if you're the home team is the Ravens Stadium,
and I remember doing a game there and the wind
was whipping and swirling. They have almost like a funnel
because of the way that this big display monitor is
set and then there's open like windows almost that come
(07:47):
down and the wind swirls to the point where John
Harball has a weather guy that is updating him every
few minutes while he's there all the conditions. Yeah, so
I wonder if Matt Lafleur has has anyone like that.
But I don't think the Panthers need it because they've
got Tracy Smith. I mean, he is just so and
he's so assertive and he's really kind of I want
to say, no nonsense, but he's got a great sense
(08:08):
of humor off off of the field, but he can
say stuff with such conviction. And then for Dave Canalis
to have that trust, you know, in in the specialists
and in Tracy Smith, because you're, you know, the packers
possessed the ball going into the half and then you
give them the ball back. And that's certainly when teams
certainly like that can can do a lot of damage.
So it just worked out so perfectly. And I always
(08:31):
love kind of hearing sideline reporter to sideline reporter what
it was like down there and the swirling is uh
is intense. I you know, I think about our hair,
I think about our notebooks.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
You know everything.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
So yes, I yeah it was cold, so I wear
the hat for the cold, but it was definitely blowing
and things that you know, if you were watching the
game on TV or see the ball kept blowing off
the tee every time you were trying to kick off.
It was just so winded. They'd use a holder on kickoffs.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Yeah, and that's what that's when you know it's bad.
So talk to me about this actual game and what
were the sidelines like. Was it was it tension? Were
they excited?
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Because this is I.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Felt the tension in my body the entire game. I
couldn't sit down listening and watching it.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
You know, it was it was crazy because there was
absolutely no tension on the side and they were so
relaxed from the get go. It's like they went up
there and like I know, everybody was like, oh my gosh,
the Panthers are going to get killed.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
The Packers are so great.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
They're the best team in the NFC, you know, best record,
and they had this great offense and Michael Parsons on
defense and everybody's like, oh my gosh. But the Panthers,
I mean, they just looked at it as a business trip,
as another opportunity to go out and play Panther football.
After that loss to the Bills, which was rough, they
just shut the door on that moved on to the
next thing and just were out there having fun.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
I mean they really were.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
I think they were all really thinking, oh my gosh,
this is so cool to be in lambo and appreciate
the moment of it too. But at the same time,
they saw it as an opportunity and to show what
they could do. And when they went out early on
and went ahead and scored, I mean, they they just
it just they just kept having like excitement and it
was not a pretty game. It was funny because Austin
(10:09):
Corbett was going on the sidelines right before halftime telling
the guy, you know, because it was literally sort of
ugly ball at that point. He was like, it's gonna
be ugly. It's gonna be ugly all day long, you know,
just embrace it, embrace the ugly.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
And so it was.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
But I just never saw any like stress or tension,
even you know, on the interception. It was just they
just were confident. That's what I saw. Was really confident,
and they were just having a lot of fun with
each other, just really pumping each other up. Between Austin
and Bryce on the offense, we're doing that and over
on defense. Nick Gorton was so excited. He just couldn't
(10:44):
contain himself. When the defense would get to stop and
come off, he was just jumping up and down, going crazy.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
So it was it was.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
A really neat vibe on the sideline that I to
be honest with you hadn't seen this season yet, so
it was really cool.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
That is that is great to hear and like you said,
business trip professional also that's funny about and we've had
him on this podcast and I just what a what
a great guy. I mean, and you just root for
his success in the big plays that he's had.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
And you know, it really feels like this Panther's Packers game,
this was the game the Panthers wanted to play. I
mean you said, as you said, there was there's some penalties,
there was the interception, and but like Austin Corbett said,
embraced the ugly if you can get you know, Micah
Parsons zero pressures, Jordan Love. I mean, this defense held
the Packers to this prolific offense to thirteen points and
(11:31):
like you said, they were they pushed them out of
the red zone. The Packers were only one for five
in the red zone. I mean, you can't ask for
a better game, a better way to muck it up
for the Panthers, Like you said, ugly win if you
want to call it. That's certainly not the best offensive game,
if that's what you like. But it really felt like
(11:51):
the Panthers controlled the pace and they controlled the way
this game was played the entire.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
Time absolutely, And what really impressed me the most about
our defense was forcing the Packers into turnovers. They only
had three turnovers the entire season. They had lost one
fumble and had two interceptions, and they got one of
each in the same game, which the Packers just have
not been doing this season. So they were able to
really make him uncomfortable and force those turnovers. But probably
(12:20):
the star, I mean, are the stars of this game
in my opinion, the offensive line, I mean, to be
able to First of all, they were already playing with
backup guys in there because of all the injuries from
last week, but then have more injuries when chandlers have
all went down right away, they had just basically piecemeal
offensive line with guys playing out of position and having
to just step up, and they just neutralized Michael Parsons.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
I mean, it was unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
What they were able to do against that unbelievable Packers front.
I mean, ray Seon, Gary and Parsons had combined for
fourteen sacks on the season and they were just non factors,
which I was just so impressed with the way that
offensive line was able to get the job done.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Ike, he made some incredible plays against Micah Parsons. As
you said, the whole offensive line was And I was
talking to Dave Kanalison, he said Jake Kerhan was really
the star of the show there because you know, he
came in and played left guard and right guard during
that game, and just you know, it just follows in
that tradition of these offensive linemen being just being so
versatile and really not missing a beat when they come in.
(13:23):
And of course that led to not just being able
to stop Michael Parsons and protecting Bryce playing a really
clean game there, but also leading the way for Rico Dowdell,
who got the start and had a great game.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
Sharing Oh he did.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
And you know they both him and Cuba Hubbard all
week were saying, we don't carry his starts. We don't
care how anything goes, We just want to win. And
Rico had said on Thursdays. So you guys are making
way too much out of this and so and Cuba
was laughing and talking with us too, So, I mean,
I know everybody, they're competitive, they all want to get
their downs, but they want to be on the field.
(13:56):
But the way that Rico, i mean, he's just hot
right now and you just can't bottle him up. So
he was able to go out and have another phenomenal
game with the two touchdowns and just kept that offense
roll and took all the pressure off Brice right didn't
have to do much in this game, so it was
it was a grind, grinded out kind of game, and
Rico did a phenomenal job. And I'm you know, but
it's great to have Tuba there to be able to
(14:18):
come in and spell him or you know, mix things up.
So he's definitely still obviously a huge part of this
team in this offense. But Rico is the guy with
the hot hand right now, and I'm glad that they
were able to ride him to a victory, a huge
victory on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Yeah, that was a lot of fun, all right. In
just a moment, Sharon is going to give us her
world famous scouting report on the Saints. But first I
want to let you know that sideline Pass is brought
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Speaker 1 (14:47):
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it is one of the times that I look forward
to the most. I learned so much. I'm sure everyone
listening does as well. Sharing this Saints team only one
(15:09):
win on the season, but that doesn't really tell the
whole story. Although they have been struggling as of late.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
Yeah they've They've had a rough season, no doubt about it,
and the quarterback play has really been the root of
their issues. They went with you know, they let Derek
Carr retire, walk away from the game after last year,
and decided they're going to roll with uh Spencer Rattler,
former game Cock stand out of course, a second year player,
but he has just struggled this season. There's just no
(15:37):
getting around it. Only eight touchdowns through eight games, five interceptions,
sacked eighteen times. So they decided to make the switch
to yet another rookie, Tyler Schuck and his last name
it looks like Shower Show or it's Sah.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
I know, I had to look that one up.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Yes, graduation, and so he took over.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
Was okay last week, didn't do anything particularly outstanding, you know,
one touchdown, one interception, but so this offense just has
not been able to get going, and which is crazy
when you consider the weapons they have on this team.
They've got Brandon Cooks at receiver, Chris o'lave Raheem Shaheed's
back tighten, Juan Johnson, and then of course you've got
Alvin Kamara, who has been amazing, but they have not
(16:18):
been able to get that run game going. Offensive line
has struggled. Camara's only got he has less than four
hundred rushing yards, just one rushing touchdown, which is unheard
of for this Saints team. And then defensively, they're you know,
near the bottom of the barrel too. But they've got
some studs on defense. Carl Granderson defensive end. He's got
four and a half sacks, Amaria Davis back there in
(16:39):
the middle linebacker spot. Their secondary, they've had some up
and down playing in the second They've got young guys,
my favorite one with the name of kool Aid McKinstry,
the kool Aid, you know, second year guy out of Alabama.
So they've got another really young guy, Quincy Riley, who's
moved up in the secondary spot. So they've been really
erratic defensively, just can't seem to catch to break, but
(17:00):
it's mostly the offensive struggles. They just can't generate any offense.
They're twenty ninth in the league in total offense. They
were just terrible last week, only had two hundred and
twenty four yards of total offense against the Rams. So
they just haven't been able to get stuff gone. But
they've been in plenty of games. It's just that they
just can't seem to close the door. But they've got weapons.
This Panthers team is more than familiar with that. This
(17:23):
is a great rivalry when the NFC South, so you
certainly can't overlook them. And people might say the Packers
did that last week with this Panthers team, so nobody's
going to be just assuming this is going to be
an easy victory. Because this is a division rival loaded
with talent on both sides of the ball, and they're
going to have to have their a game to be
able to win this one, even though it is a
(17:44):
one in eight Saints team.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Yeah, you're exactly right now. I was talking to Dave
Canalis yesterday and that's what he said to me. He said, Look,
especially this defense has a lot of studs on it,
and some of them are playing well individually. The guys
that you just mentioned were exactly who he mentioned to me.
And like you said, I mean, things get weird and
division games, and so certainly the Panthers cannot afford to
overlook them. I don't think that they will. But you know,
(18:05):
this is when teams get a little dangerous. We saw
that with the Jets, and you just you know, you
don't want to be the team where the Saints team
shocks everyone. And so I know that this Panthers team
will be prepping. It'll be great to be back home
for this game. Certainly. I think the bank is going
to be loud and proud. It's going to be a
lot of fun for this one.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
Oh my gosh, I can't wait for it, because I mean,
this team I mean, my gosh, I don't think a
lot of people expected them to be five and four
at this point in this season.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Can I say this, I don't think people are giving
this team respect nationally, you know. I mean the Packers
and the Panthers have the same number of wins.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
Yeah, which is crazy, Which is crazy. So I think
that they're starting to jeet a little.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
More attention nationally now.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
You know, I've seen a couple of guys say, oh,
this is a good Panthers team. It's like, well, yeah,
but you know, and I get it. It's been a
rough couple of seasons for this team, and you know,
hit some rough. The beginning of this season didn't start
out exactly how we wanted it too. But they have
been so resilient and they're, like I said, the thing
that still impresses me the most about this team is
the offensive line, but the way they've been able to
(19:15):
just get the job done and bounce back from adversity,
and they're just so resilient and win a game in
every former fashion, and then to be able to go
into historic Lambeau and take on that kind of a
team and come back with a victory. I think people
are going to start paying a whole lot more attention
to this Panthers team right now.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
I completely agree. Well, this was a lot of fun,
certainly fun after talking about the big win, and I
always love getting your insight reporter to reporter on what
it was like down there from the front lines. So Sharon,
thank you so much. As always, we hope to see
everyone there at the game or listening to our radio
broadcast and Sharon will do this again next week.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Sounds great. Thanks Kristin
Wow, Jeus, Kristin Balboni and Sharon Thor's Love It with
Your Sideline Pass.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Welcome to another episode of Sideline Pass with Your Sideline
reporters Sharon and Kristen and Sharon, breaking news from our side,
our producer Matt and his wife Darby have welcomed their
beautiful baby girl. So I just want to we just
want to say a big congratulations to them. And Matt
is already superman and he is back to recording with us.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
It's so exciting and a big congratulations to them. Y'all
are going to have an absolute blast. So it's going
to be a little sleepless nights here early on, I'm sure,
but so exciting to have your first little one.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Absolutely all right.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Now, we got some other news to cover as well,
not as important as that, but we do want to
talk about this huge Panthers when over the packers at Lambeau,
And of course what we try to do here is
to provide you not just analysis of everything going on
and everything looking ahead, but also just insight into what
it's like on the field. That's why it's called Sideline Pass.
And Sharon, you had the front road to everything going on,
(01:07):
but you also said that this was your first game
reporting at Lambo, so tell me all about it.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
I've never been.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Oh my gosh, it was just the coolest thing ever.
I had been to Lamba before. Three years ago. I
took my boys up for a Monday night football game
in December, which was just everything you could possibly expect
and imagine from, you know, a December game in Lambeau,
and loved it. But this was the first time, like
you said that, I had ever actually worked a game
up here, because the Panthers don't come up that often,
and it's been a long time, and I didn't start
(01:35):
road games still a couple of years ago. So it
is just like the guys all week had talked about
the guys who had been there before, like Mike Jackson,
several of the guys that had actually played there before,
Ashawn Robinson. They said, they kept saying, you can feel
the history, and they are not kidding.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
I mean I could feel it as soon as we
got there first.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
You just pull up and you see all the fans
and they're nothing like the Eagle or Jets Spans where
they're shooting you the bird. These guys and they're waving
welcome they're so polite and pleasant and there Wisconsin, and
everybody in the stadium is just so nice. But you
come into the bowels of the stadium. Whenever you arrive,
you always park your buses right down, like down underneath
in the stadium and you go and you know, go
(02:16):
through the security to get in and stuff and start
winding around. Lambeau was built in nineteen fifty seven, the
original stadium, and it is all still there.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
And then they added this whole outer ring around the perimeter.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
Of the stadium with all the new stuff, you know,
the new luxury suites, the more suites, the scoreboard, the
press box, all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
So it's literally just this maze.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
And to get up to the press box, you go
through this whole outdoor area and have to walk about
a mile. It seems like you go upstairs, but it's wild.
But then when you're in the locker room, there's only
two ways onto that field. Do you either come out
of the panther's locker room or you come out of
the packers locker room. You know, the visiting team and
the home team. And so you go winding through the
bowels of the stadium in this little skinny, skinny tunnel
(02:59):
with like low ceilings, and it's so skinny, it's like
three feet wide. You can't like fit two players side
by side in it, with green carpet all the way,
and you're like, where am I going? But when you
just walk down that you just think, oh my gosh,
think about all the players that have come through that stadium.
And then you walk out onto the field and there
you are on historic Lamba and the field is so
pristine and so gorgeous the grass that I thought it
(03:22):
was fake turf at first, and I'm like, well, deu,
of course it's not as Lambeau, but it looks like
fake turf. It is just so beautiful and pristine. But
just all the names up on the inside, ringing a
Reggie White and Curly Lambeau and Vince Lombardi and it's
just so so cool. It was just the neatest experience.
I just absolutely loved every minute of it.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
That is so cool.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
It's something that not a lot of people can say,
is that they've worked a game in Lambeau. Sharon, I'll
tell you what when we were doing when I was
doing road games the last time, I believe that we
played the Packers in Lambeau was during COVID, so I
want to say maybe the twenty twenty one season. So
I called the game against the Packers, but we did
it from a suite at Bank of America because we
(04:06):
could not travel, and I remember thinking, oh so close.
But of course we had to, you know, monitor protocols
and respect everything, so I would technically call the road game.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
You've called a game just from Afar. But and that
was a great game too. That was a great game.
And I think it snowed that game, so it would
have been a great was That was my only complaint.
It's like I wanted to have like the full deal
with the freezing cold and snowed just because I'm not
really cold, but it was cold and windy, but not
no snow.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Well, let's talk about Let's talk about the wind because again,
as sideline reporters, that is one of our big jobs
is to note the conditions to be able to relay
to the fans in the broadcast booth exactly what's going
on down there, especially if it's going to affect the game.
And this is something that really was a big concern
throughout the game, and it really started with this, I
(04:55):
would say a gutsy decision, certainly an unconventional decision. When
the Panthers won the coin toss to elect to receive
almost I would say ninety percent of the time. You see,
teams are obviously want to get the ball in the
second half, so they defer, and certainly you give a
team like the Packers an extra chance to possess the
ball at the half, but they did it because then
(05:15):
they get to pick the side of the field that
they want to be on and that would translate in
this case to the second half as well. So Sharon,
can you kind of walk us through why this was
such a great decision in what it was like down there?
Speaker 3 (05:29):
Yeah, well it was chilly out it was in the forties,
but the wind was the big thing. And they had
forecasts thirty to thirty five on our wins and wind guts,
which was a lot, and it was doing exactly that.
The flags were just whipping all around the stadium all
day long, and Tracy Smith, a special teams coordinator, had
the wherewithal to think, right off the bat, Okay, we've
(05:50):
got wind that we're working with.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Which direction is the wind going to be coming from?
Speaker 3 (05:54):
If it comes down to a situation where we're kicking
in the second half to try to get a game
winning field goal on extra port of whatever it may be,
where do we want to be in terms of the wind.
So he made that decision with coach Canalis right away
to say, all right, we need to get the ball first,
so we can choose the side I field we want
to be on so we can be going this direction
in the second half in case that happens. And I
(06:16):
tell you, it was tough for me to even like
figure out where the wind was coming from because the
way it swirls, and that is what Lambeau is certainly
known for. If you looked up on the perimeter of
the stadium, all the flags were going basically east to west,
and the Panthers when they were coming down the second half,
they were going west to east, so it looked like
they were going directly into the wind. But the stadium,
(06:36):
the way they built it, all this whole new section
on the west side of the stadium. It's this basically
solid wall of scoreboard and suites and things like that,
and it's high, so it's almost like the wind was
hitting that. And then it was like ricocheting and going
back to the other direction and swirling back around. So
it was almost like the wind was at their back
(06:57):
in the second half. But I don't think Ryan Fitzgerald
needed that extra wind boot anyway. He booted that ball
so hard in the for the game winning field goal.
But that was the thought process there from Tracy Smith
and the Panthers when they elected to take the ball,
when they won the kickoff and won the coin toss
and were able to go the direction they wanted to go,
(07:18):
and set that up for what ended up being the
you know, the game winning field goal.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
So they they look brilliant from doing that. I'll tell
you what. Yeah, they did.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
And you know, Sharon, that when you were talking about
swirling when the other stadium that I've experienced that has
this problem, or I guess you could call it an
advantage if you're the home team is the Ravens Stadium,
and I remember doing a game there and the wind
was whipping and swirling. They have almost like a funnel
because of the way that this big display monitor is
set and then there's open like windows almost that come
(07:47):
down and the wind swirls to the point where John
Harball has a weather guy that is updating him every
few minutes while he's there all the conditions. Yeah, so
I wonder if Matt Lafleur has has anyone like that.
But I don't think the Panthers need it because they've
got Tracy Smith. I mean, he is just so and
he's so assertive and he's really kind of I want
to say, no nonsense, but he's got a great sense
(08:08):
of humor off off of the field, but he can
say stuff with such conviction. And then for Dave Canalis
to have that trust, you know, in in the specialists
and in Tracy Smith, because you're, you know, the packers
possessed the ball going into the half and then you
give them the ball back. And that's certainly when teams
certainly like that can can do a lot of damage.
So it just worked out so perfectly. And I always
(08:31):
love kind of hearing sideline reporter to sideline reporter what
it was like down there and the swirling is uh
is intense. I you know, I think about our hair,
I think about our notebooks.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
You know everything.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
So yes, I yeah it was cold, so I wear
the hat for the cold, but it was definitely blowing
and things that you know, if you were watching the
game on TV or see the ball kept blowing off
the tee every time you were trying to kick off.
It was just so winded. They'd use a holder on kickoffs.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Yeah, and that's what that's when you know it's bad.
So talk to me about this actual game and what
were the sidelines like. Was it was it tension? Were
they excited?
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Because this is I.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Felt the tension in my body the entire game. I
couldn't sit down listening and watching it.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
You know, it was it was crazy because there was
absolutely no tension on the side and they were so
relaxed from the get go. It's like they went up
there and like I know, everybody was like, oh my gosh,
the Panthers are going to get killed.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
The Packers are so great.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
They're the best team in the NFC, you know, best record,
and they had this great offense and Michael Parsons on
defense and everybody's like, oh my gosh. But the Panthers,
I mean, they just looked at it as a business trip,
as another opportunity to go out and play Panther football.
After that loss to the Bills, which was rough, they
just shut the door on that moved on to the
next thing and just were out there having fun.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
I mean they really were.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
I think they were all really thinking, oh my gosh,
this is so cool to be in lambo and appreciate
the moment of it too. But at the same time,
they saw it as an opportunity and to show what
they could do. And when they went out early on
and went ahead and scored, I mean, they they just
it just they just kept having like excitement and it
was not a pretty game. It was funny because Austin
(10:09):
Corbett was going on the sidelines right before halftime telling
the guy, you know, because it was literally sort of
ugly ball at that point. He was like, it's gonna
be ugly. It's gonna be ugly all day long, you know,
just embrace it, embrace the ugly.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
And so it was.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
But I just never saw any like stress or tension,
even you know, on the interception. It was just they
just were confident. That's what I saw. Was really confident,
and they were just having a lot of fun with
each other, just really pumping each other up. Between Austin
and Bryce on the offense, we're doing that and over
on defense. Nick Gorton was so excited. He just couldn't
(10:44):
contain himself. When the defense would get to stop and
come off, he was just jumping up and down, going crazy.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
So it was it was.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
A really neat vibe on the sideline that I to
be honest with you hadn't seen this season yet, so
it was really cool.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
That is that is great to hear and like you said,
business trip professional also that's funny about and we've had
him on this podcast and I just what a what
a great guy. I mean, and you just root for
his success in the big plays that he's had.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
And you know, it really feels like this Panther's Packers game,
this was the game the Panthers wanted to play. I
mean you said, as you said, there was there's some penalties,
there was the interception, and but like Austin Corbett said,
embraced the ugly if you can get you know, Micah
Parsons zero pressures, Jordan Love. I mean, this defense held
the Packers to this prolific offense to thirteen points and
(11:31):
like you said, they were they pushed them out of
the red zone. The Packers were only one for five
in the red zone. I mean, you can't ask for
a better game, a better way to muck it up
for the Panthers, Like you said, ugly win if you
want to call it. That's certainly not the best offensive game,
if that's what you like. But it really felt like
(11:51):
the Panthers controlled the pace and they controlled the way
this game was played the entire.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
Time absolutely, And what really impressed me the most about
our defense was forcing the Packers into turnovers. They only
had three turnovers the entire season. They had lost one
fumble and had two interceptions, and they got one of
each in the same game, which the Packers just have
not been doing this season. So they were able to
really make him uncomfortable and force those turnovers. But probably
(12:20):
the star, I mean, are the stars of this game
in my opinion, the offensive line, I mean, to be
able to First of all, they were already playing with
backup guys in there because of all the injuries from
last week, but then have more injuries when chandlers have
all went down right away, they had just basically piecemeal
offensive line with guys playing out of position and having
to just step up, and they just neutralized Michael Parsons.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
I mean, it was unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
What they were able to do against that unbelievable Packers front.
I mean, ray Seon, Gary and Parsons had combined for
fourteen sacks on the season and they were just non factors,
which I was just so impressed with the way that
offensive line was able to get the job done.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Ike, he made some incredible plays against Micah Parsons. As
you said, the whole offensive line was And I was
talking to Dave Kanalison, he said Jake Kerhan was really
the star of the show there because you know, he
came in and played left guard and right guard during
that game, and just you know, it just follows in
that tradition of these offensive linemen being just being so
versatile and really not missing a beat when they come in.
(13:23):
And of course that led to not just being able
to stop Michael Parsons and protecting Bryce playing a really
clean game there, but also leading the way for Rico Dowdell,
who got the start and had a great game.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
Sharing Oh he did.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
And you know they both him and Cuba Hubbard all
week were saying, we don't carry his starts. We don't
care how anything goes, We just want to win. And
Rico had said on Thursdays. So you guys are making
way too much out of this and so and Cuba
was laughing and talking with us too, So, I mean,
I know everybody, they're competitive, they all want to get
their downs, but they want to be on the field.
(13:56):
But the way that Rico, i mean, he's just hot
right now and you just can't bottle him up. So
he was able to go out and have another phenomenal
game with the two touchdowns and just kept that offense
roll and took all the pressure off Brice right didn't
have to do much in this game, so it was
it was a grind, grinded out kind of game, and
Rico did a phenomenal job. And I'm you know, but
it's great to have Tuba there to be able to
(14:18):
come in and spell him or you know, mix things up.
So he's definitely still obviously a huge part of this
team in this offense. But Rico is the guy with
the hot hand right now, and I'm glad that they
were able to ride him to a victory, a huge
victory on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Yeah, that was a lot of fun, all right. In
just a moment, Sharon is going to give us her
world famous scouting report on the Saints. But first I
want to let you know that sideline Pass is brought
to you by Barefoot Wine. Wine and football aren't that different.
Sure they're complex, but enjoying them should be easy.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
You don't need to.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Worry about complex formations or flavor profiles, or which wine
pairs with what. All that matters is together. Barefoot Wine
and Panthers are easy to enjoy, So let's enjoy ourselves.
Barefoot the official wine spots of the NFL. All right,
it is one of the times that I look forward
to the most. I learned so much. I'm sure everyone
listening does as well. Sharing this Saints team only one
(15:09):
win on the season, but that doesn't really tell the
whole story. Although they have been struggling as of late.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
Yeah they've They've had a rough season, no doubt about it,
and the quarterback play has really been the root of
their issues. They went with you know, they let Derek
Carr retire, walk away from the game after last year,
and decided they're going to roll with uh Spencer Rattler,
former game Cock stand out of course, a second year player,
but he has just struggled this season. There's just no
(15:37):
getting around it. Only eight touchdowns through eight games, five interceptions,
sacked eighteen times. So they decided to make the switch
to yet another rookie, Tyler Schuck and his last name
it looks like Shower Show or it's Sah.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
I know, I had to look that one up.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Yes, graduation, and so he took over.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
Was okay last week, didn't do anything particularly outstanding, you know,
one touchdown, one interception, but so this offense just has
not been able to get going, and which is crazy
when you consider the weapons they have on this team.
They've got Brandon Cooks at receiver, Chris o'lave Raheem Shaheed's
back tighten, Juan Johnson, and then of course you've got
Alvin Kamara, who has been amazing, but they have not
(16:18):
been able to get that run game going. Offensive line
has struggled. Camara's only got he has less than four
hundred rushing yards, just one rushing touchdown, which is unheard
of for this Saints team. And then defensively, they're you know,
near the bottom of the barrel too. But they've got
some studs on defense. Carl Granderson defensive end. He's got
four and a half sacks, Amaria Davis back there in
(16:39):
the middle linebacker spot. Their secondary, they've had some up
and down playing in the second They've got young guys,
my favorite one with the name of kool Aid McKinstry,
the kool Aid, you know, second year guy out of Alabama.
So they've got another really young guy, Quincy Riley, who's
moved up in the secondary spot. So they've been really
erratic defensively, just can't seem to catch to break, but
(17:00):
it's mostly the offensive struggles. They just can't generate any offense.
They're twenty ninth in the league in total offense. They
were just terrible last week, only had two hundred and
twenty four yards of total offense against the Rams. So
they just haven't been able to get stuff gone. But
they've been in plenty of games. It's just that they
just can't seem to close the door. But they've got weapons.
This Panthers team is more than familiar with that. This
(17:23):
is a great rivalry when the NFC South, so you
certainly can't overlook them. And people might say the Packers
did that last week with this Panthers team, so nobody's
going to be just assuming this is going to be
an easy victory. Because this is a division rival loaded
with talent on both sides of the ball, and they're
going to have to have their a game to be
able to win this one, even though it is a
(17:44):
one in eight Saints team.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Yeah, you're exactly right now. I was talking to Dave
Canalis yesterday and that's what he said to me. He said, Look,
especially this defense has a lot of studs on it,
and some of them are playing well individually. The guys
that you just mentioned were exactly who he mentioned to me.
And like you said, I mean, things get weird and
division games, and so certainly the Panthers cannot afford to
overlook them. I don't think that they will. But you know,
(18:05):
this is when teams get a little dangerous. We saw
that with the Jets, and you just you know, you
don't want to be the team where the Saints team
shocks everyone. And so I know that this Panthers team
will be prepping. It'll be great to be back home
for this game. Certainly. I think the bank is going
to be loud and proud. It's going to be a
lot of fun for this one.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
Oh my gosh, I can't wait for it, because I mean,
this team I mean, my gosh, I don't think a
lot of people expected them to be five and four
at this point in this season.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Can I say this, I don't think people are giving
this team respect nationally, you know. I mean the Packers
and the Panthers have the same number of wins.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
Yeah, which is crazy, Which is crazy. So I think
that they're starting to jeet a little.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
More attention nationally now.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
You know, I've seen a couple of guys say, oh,
this is a good Panthers team. It's like, well, yeah,
but you know, and I get it. It's been a
rough couple of seasons for this team, and you know,
hit some rough. The beginning of this season didn't start
out exactly how we wanted it too. But they have
been so resilient and they're, like I said, the thing
that still impresses me the most about this team is
the offensive line, but the way they've been able to
(19:15):
just get the job done and bounce back from adversity,
and they're just so resilient and win a game in
every former fashion, and then to be able to go
into historic Lambeau and take on that kind of a
team and come back with a victory. I think people
are going to start paying a whole lot more attention
to this Panthers team right now.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
I completely agree. Well, this was a lot of fun,
certainly fun after talking about the big win, and I
always love getting your insight reporter to reporter on what
it was like down there from the front lines. So Sharon,
thank you so much. As always, we hope to see
everyone there at the game or listening to our radio
broadcast and Sharon will do this again next week.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Sounds great. Thanks Kristin
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