- The Green Bay Packers travel to Charlotte to take on the Carolina Panthers. It will be the third time the two teams have met in the last four seasons.
- The Packers are 9-5 overall against Carolina (including playoffs), with wins in six of the last nine.
- This is the first December game in Carolina for the Packers since 1997, a 31-10 win by Green Bay.
- Either Green Bay (2014, 2016) or Carolina (2015) has made it to the NFC Championship each of the last three seasons.
- The Packers have scored 29-plus points in each of the last six games against the Panthers.
- Three of the last four matchups between Green Bay and Carolina have been decided by eight points or less.
- The first time the two teams played was in the NFC Championship on Jan. 12, 1997 in Green Bay. The Packers beat a Carolina team, 31-13, that was led by current Green Bay defensive coordinator Dom Capers.
- It is the second game of a run of three road games in four weeks, the first time since 2009 that Green Bay will finish the regular season with three of the final four games taking place on the road.
- The Packers are above .500 after Week 14 for the ninth time in 12 seasons under Head Coach Mike McCarthy, including for the fourth consecutive season. Green Bay has not been below .500 at this point in the season since 2008.
- Next week, Green Bay returns to Lambeau Field for the final regular season home game. The Packers will host the Minnesota Vikings in primetime on Saturday, marking the first time Green Bay has played a Saturday game in back-to-back seasons since 1994-95.
WITH THE CALL
- FOX Sports, now in its 24th season as an NFL network television partner, will broadcast the game.
- Play-by-play man Joe Buck joins analyst Troy Aikman and sideline reporter Erin Andrews.
- Milwaukee's WTMJ (620 AM), airing Green Bay games since November 1929, heads up the Packers Radio Network that is made up of 50 stations in five states. Wayne Larrivee (play-by-play) and two-time Packers Pro Bowler Larry McCarren (analyst) call the action. McCarren first joined the team's broadcasts in 1995 and enters his 23rd season calling Packers games. After originally being paired together in 1999, McCarren and Larrivee enter their 19th season of broadcasts together.
- Westwood One Sports will air the game on radio across the country. Ryan Radtke (play-by-play) and Derek Rackley (analyst) will call the action, with Scott Graham hosting the pregame and halftime shows.
BREAKING DOWN THE ROSTER
- The Packers currently have a 53-man roster that is composed of 25 offensive players, 25 defensive players and three specialists.
- Of the 53 players on Green Bay's roster, 32 of them (60.4 percent) were draft picks of the Packers. Dating back to 2007, Green Bay has at least one member of each draft class still on the roster.
- Green Bay has 16 players on the roster that began their careers as undrafted free agents, with 11 of those originally signed by Green Bay.
- Over a third (41.5 percent) of the players (22 of 53) on Green Bay's roster entered the league as a sixth-round or seventh-round pick or as an undrafted player.
- The Packers have four players on the roster that played in the NFL prior to the 2009 season. Three of the four players were draft picks of the Packers (K Mason Crosby, WR Jordy Nelson and LB Clay Matthews) and two have made at least one Pro Bowl.
- Of the 53 players on the roster, 43 began their pro careers with the Packers (81.1 percent).
- Only 16 of the 53 players on the roster (30.2 percent) were selected in the first three rounds of the draft, with 14 being drafted by the Packers.
GREEN BAY'S ROSTER ...
BY AGE (as of Dec. 17)
- 21-24: 25 players
- 25-28: 21 players
- 29-32: 3 players
- 33-plus: 4 players
BY EXPERIENCE
- R-1: 15 players
- 2-3: 16 players
- 4-5: 10 players
- 6-9: 7 players
- 10-plus: 5 players
BY DRAFT ROUND
- 1st: 5 players
- 2nd/3rd: 11 players
- 4th/5th: 15 players
- 6th/7th: 6 players
- Undrafted: 16 players
THE DOPE ON THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT:
- Packers vs. Panthers
- All-time, Regular season: 8-5
- All-time, in Carolina:5-3
- Streaks: The teams have split the last four meetings.
- Last meeting, regular season:Nov. 8, 2015, at Bank of America Stadium; Panthers won, 37-29
COACHES CAPSULES
- Mike McCarthy: 131-75-1, .635 (incl. 10-8 postseason); 12th NFL season
- Ron Rivera: 65-49-1, .569, (incl. 3-3 postseason); 7th NFL season
- Head to Head:McCarthy 2-1
- vs. Opponent:McCarthy 3-2 vs. Panthers; Rivera 1-2 vs. Packers
MIKE McCARTHY…Is in his 12th year as the Packers' 14th head coach.
- Led the Packers to their eighth consecutive playoff appearance last season, tied for the third-longest streak in NFL history. Has also led the team to nine playoff appearances in the last 10 years (2007, 2009-16).
- Ranks second in franchise history in total victories, trailing only Curly Lambeau.
- Guided the Packers to top-10 finishes in scoring in eight straight seasons (2007-14), joining the Patriots as the only other team to accomplish the feat over that time; Packers finished first overall in scoring in 2014.
- Reached the 100-win plateau faster than any active NFL head coach, needing just 155 games.
- Joined Vince Lombardi and Mike Holmgren as the only coaches to guide the Packers to a Super Bowl title with a win over Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XLV.
RON RIVERA…Is in his seventh year as the Panthers' fourth head coach.
- A two-time winner of the NFL's Coach of the Year honor (2013, 2015).
- After inheritiing a 2-14 team in 2011, helped the Panthers to three consecutive division titles from 2013-15, winning the club's second NFC title in 2015.
- Including the playoffs, led Carolina to a 17-2 record in 2015, with an appearance in Super Bowl 50.
- Led Carolina to four consecutive wins to finish the 2014 season at 7-8-1, and captured his first career playoff victory vs. Arizona Cardinals.
- Helped his franchise become the first team in NFC South history to win back-to-back division titles (2013-14).
THE PACKERS-PANTHERS SERIES
- The first-ever meeting between the two teams came in the 1996 NFC Championship, when the Packers beat a Panthers team coached by current Green Bay defensive coordinator Dom Capers, 30-13, at Lambeau Field.
- This will be the 14th regular-season contest between the two teams, with the Packers holding an 8-5 advantage, with the teams splitting the past four meetings, each club having won once on the road.
- The series is tied at a game apiece in the month of December.
NOTABLE CONNECTIONS
Packers DC Dom Capers served as the first HC in Carolina franchise history from 1995-98, guiding the Panthers to the NFC Championship Game in just his second season…Packers DL coach Mike Trgovac coached on Carolina's staff for seven seasons (2002-08), the final six as DC…Packers TE Richard Rodgers' father, Richard Rodgers Sr., is the Panthers asst. DBs/safeties coach...Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey is the younger brother of Packers practice squad WR Max McCaffrey…Packers LB Joe Thomas played at South Carolina State and is from Blackville, S.C. ...Panthers DE Julius Peppers spent the previous three seasons with the Packers, tallying 25 sacks and eight forced fumbles while being named to the 2015 Pro Bowl…Carolina CB LaDarius Gunter originally entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with Green Bay and played parts of three seasons with the Packers…Packers CB Josh Hawkins is a native of Winston-Salem, N.C., and attended East Carolina University…Green Bay S Josh Jones started 32 games at North Carolina State over three years…Panthers C Greg Van Roten was on the Packers' roster from 2012-13…Panthers LS J.J. Jansen entered the NFL with the Packers as an UDFA in 2008 and spent that season on IR with Green Bay...Panthers defensive backs coach Curtis Fuller played safety for the Packers from 2003-04 and was Green Bay's special teams asst. in 2009 and coaching administrator in 2010...Fuller also coached for the Raiders in 2007 while Packers secondary-safeties coach Darren Perry was on staff...Carolina WRs coach Lance Taylor played for the Green Bay Blizzard of the af2 in 2005…Packers senior personnel executive Alonzo Highsmith and Panthers OC Mike Shula were high school teammates at Christopher Columbus High School in Miami, Fla. ...Packers associate HC/LBs Winston Moss and Shula were both 1987 draft picks by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers...In 2005, Packers HC Mike McCarthy was the OC for San Francisco while Panthers TEs coach Pete Hoener worked in the same role and QBs coach Ken Dorsey and S Mike Adams played for the 49ers...In 1998, Panthers head coach Ron Rivera coached for the Bears while Packers OC Edgar Bennett played for in Chicago...Capers coached on the same staff as Panthers RBs coach Jim Skipper at San Jose State in 1977, for the Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars in the USFL in 1984-85 and for the Saints from 1986-91...Panthers special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey coached in the same role with the 49ers while Packers LB Ahmad Brooks and DT Quinton Dial played in San Francisco…Brooks also teamed with Panthers S Colin Jones with the 49ers in 2011…Carolina assistant DBs/nickels Jeff Imamura was a defensive assistant coach with the Rams while Green Bay TE Lance Kendricks played in St. Louis and Los Angeles…Green Bay QBs coach Alex Van Pelt and Carolina OL coach Ray Brown were on the same Buffalo coaching staff from 2008-09…Packers special teams coordinator Ron Zook was a defensive back at Miami (Ohio) while Panthers running game coordinator John Matsko was a graduate assistant…Packers RBs coach Ben Sirmans held the same title at Boston College during Panthers LB Luke Kuechly's playing career…Taylor was the RBs coach at Stanford while Packers LB Blake Martinez played for the Cardinal…College teammates include: Green Bay FB Joe Kerridge, LB Jake Ryan and Carolina WR Devin Funchess (Michigan), Packers C Corey Linsley and G Andrew Norwell (Ohio State), Carolina T Daryl Williams and Green Bay FB Aaron Ripkowski (Oklahoma), Packers LB Clay Matthews and Panthers C Ryan Kalil (Southern California), Matthews and Packers LB Nick Perry also teamed with Panthers T Matt Kalil and DE Wes Horton at Southern California, and McCaffrey and Martinez (Stanford).
