Football is a complicated game with many moving parts, but every now and then one stat can sum up an entire contest and tell the story of the winner and loser.
Performance in the red zone provided such a stat for the Green Bay Packers and Carolina Panthers on Saturday night.
The Packers prevailed, 24-16, largely due to an overwhelming advantage inside the 20-yard line.
The Packers were 3-for-3 scoring touchdowns in the “Gold Zone,” as they call it, creating 21 points on three trips. Meanwhile, the Panthers were 1-for-5, with three field goals and a turnover. The five trips created just 16 points.
The game-defining play came in the red zone in the second quarter. With the Panthers down 14-3 but threatening at the Packers’ 1-yard line, quarterback Teddy Bridgewater attempted to leap over the pile and extend the ball over the goal line for a score. Packers linebacker Krys Barnes had other ideas, punching the ball out before it crossed the plane, creating a fumble that cornerback Kevin King recovered and returned past midfield. Seven plays later, the Packers scored a third touchdown and took a commanding 21-3 lead.
Bridgewater’s fumble inside the red zone cost the Panthers at least three points and as many as seven points.
Twice, the Panthers engineered drives of eight or more plays but had to settle for field goals inside the 20-yard line. Late in the game, coach Matt Rhule decided to kick a field goal from the 15-yard line to cut the lead to eight points before the two-minute warning.
Any trip inside the red zone is a chance for seven points and any trip that doesn’t end in a touchdown must be viewed as a missed opportunity. The Packers made three trips and scored three touchdowns, creating a full 21 points. The Panthers made five trips but scored only 16 points, meaning Carolina lost as many as 19 additional points with failures inside the 20-yard line.
Otherwise, this was a relatively even contest. Both teams had 20 first downs. The Panthers outgained the Packers by 73 yards and averaged nearly a yard more per play. The two teams had nearly identical number of plays and time of possession.
The Packers won the football game because they were better in the red zone, both in terms of scoring touchdowns and preventing them. Sometimes, describing an outcome is just that simple.