CHARLOTTE — It's a short week for the Panthers, as they head to the Midwest for a Thursday night showdown with the Green Bay Packers. This marks the second straight year Carolina will play at historic Lambeau Field. Last season, they won on a walk-off field goal in a low-scoring, defensive affair.

This season? Two of the NFL's best offenses are set to meet.

Eight of the last nine games between these two clubs, including each of the last six, have been decided by single digits. Both teams are coming off emotional, divisional losses and dealing with a litany of injuries to starters on both the defensive side of the ball and the offensive line. So, what does that mean for Thursday?

"I try to avoid that kind of language; just, for us, this is the next game, this is the next championship opportunity, but I'm also fully aware there's a human element involved," admitted coach Dave Canales this week.

"For us, coming off of that loss in the fashion that we lost, (then) for the Packers, a really tough loss for them as well, there's something that burns inside of you as a competitor, in me, in our players, certainly in the Green Bay Packers' locker room too.

"We expect that these guys are going to respond the way that I know the Packers can respond. I expect the Panthers to respond the way we do, and that creates for a great matchup and that's exactly what we're looking for."

Regardless of the narratives and outside factors, both teams will line up Thursday night for a prime time matchup that could have late-season impacts on the NFC's playoff picture. From high-flying offenses to a small stat that could impact this game, here are five things to watch as the Panthers take on the Packers.

How does Bryce Young handle the exotic Gannon looks?

Bryce Young has been pressured on 44.3 percent of his dropbacks against four or fewer pass rushers this season, the highest rate among qualified passers, and has taken a league-high 15 of his 17 sacks on those plays. Almost a third came on Sunday, when Todd Bowles' defense kept Young under pressure and sacked him 5.0 times.

He almost does better when teams blitz. When teams send more than four, Young has been pressured on only 33.8 percent of dropbacks (third-lowest) and has fared well, averaging 0.17 yards over expected per dropback against the blitz, the fifth-highest in the league.

The Packers' defense has generated pressure on 38.5 percent of opponent dropbacks without blitzing this season, the fourth-highest rate in the NFL, and seven of their league-high nine interceptions have come without a blitz.

The Packers defense, coordinated by Jonathan Gannon, still likes to employ exotic looks. Without their top pass-rusher, Micah Parsons, they've leaned on Lukas Van Ness instead. Van Ness leads the Packers with 27 pressures, 12 quick pressures, and 3.5 sacks this season.

While the Packers had Parsons, one of the league's best rushers, during the Panthers' win in Green Bay last season, the plan this year remains much the same as last season, when the offense needed to negate Parsons.

"Just giving (Bryce) a quick availability in one way, shape, or form," explained Canales this week. "However you're building your formations, making sure somebody's looking at him, just knowing, and especially this week, Jonathan Gannon does a great job with different packages, show packages where they drop out, then they come looking to be aggressive and multiple and exotic.

"So, just making sure we build somebody in there that's got their eyes back at Bryce because he does a great job of getting the ball to guys in voids, and he's been having success with it.

"I think the last couple of weeks, it's been a little bit of a challenge to get those completions versus pressure, but it's something that he's excelled in, so I think it's kind of just building those things and giving him some quicker options, even when you do have an element that stretches the field. That's what we want: when the protection allows it, we can still take advantage of those shot plays, but let's give him an early option so that he has somewhere to go with it too."

Those short pass options could pay dividends against the Green Bay defense. Young has stretched the field particularly well with Tetairoa McMillan. But this week, he'll face a secondary that has recorded nine interceptions this season, the most in the NFL, including seven on downfield passes (10-plus air yards), tying the Seahawks for the most.

Green Bay has allowed a 45.1 passer rating (second-lowest) and two touchdowns (tied for the fewest) on downfield throws this season. Xavier McKinney has three interceptions on 13 targets in coverage this season, tied for the most among safeties.

Could this become a shootout?

If Young and the offense can negate Van Ness in the way they did Parsons and have other pass-rushers this season, this could turn into a shootout.

Even after only putting up 178 passing yards against Tampa Bay, the Panthers offense is still second in the league with 276 yards a game through the air. The Packers are fifth in the league, averaging 268.6 passing yards per game.

Young is second in the NFL, averaging 285.3 passing yards per game, and Jordan Love is fourth at 279.7 passing yards per game.

The Packers' offense has called a pass on 66.9 percennt of their offensive plays this season, the highest rate in the NFL. Despite Josh Jacobs' return, the Packers recorded their second-highest pass-rate game of the season in Week 7 (70.8 percent).

Christian Watson is sixth in the league in total receiving yards, and Matthew Golden is 10th.

"Extremely talented, better in real life than they are on paper," said safety Nick Scott. "High-powered offense. Everybody on that field is explosive and can make plays. So tackling is going to be huge. You got to do better there and then eliminate explosive plays down the field."

Scott is right.

Christian Watson is tied for fifth in the league in explosive plays, with 15 receptions so far, and the Packers WR2, Matthew Golden, is tied for ninth with 14. Golden hasn't practiced this week with a shoulder/foot injury, but Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur told reporters on Tuesday that they hope Golden will be available for Thursday, but "we're still kind of working through it."

The Panthers have an answer to that, though. McMillan is 11th in the NFL in total yards and yards per game (85.2), and he's tied for fifth with Watson in explosive plays, with 15 catches of 15 yards or more.

There is a counter to both. On the Packers side, Love and his receivers sometimes struggle to connect. Over seven games, Green Bay receivers have dropped 20 Love passes, the most among qualified passes, and eight more than the next-closest quarterback. Of those 20 drops, seven came on 10-plus air-yard passes, also the most in the league.

And the Panthers will face a defense that leads the NFL in interceptions. The Packers have nine INTs as a unit, including seven on downfield passes (10-plus air yards); a third of those (three) have been courtesy of safety Xavier McKinney. His three interceptions on 13 targets in coverage this season are tied for the most among safeties.

"Really intelligent player," Young said of McKinney. "Does a great job with his eyes, does a great job in disguise, breaking to the ball, great range, really good ball skills, going up there. A lot of competitive spirit, competitive toughness. It shows up on film, and that's not new.

"I have a lot of respect for him, and he's been doing that for a while. So, again, that's someone you have to know where they're at as a defense. They do a good job of getting after it."

A factor to consider that could spell the Carolina passing game; the Packers defense is firmly middle of the league in rushing defense, allowing an average of 115.0 yards per game on the ground. Chuba Hubbard is 10th in the league, picking up 76.5 yards a game, as he leads a Panthers unit that averages 105.3 yards a game.

How does the offensive line handle pressure with new look?

It stands to reason that a major factor in how Young plays could depend on the offensive line.

Both teams have dealt with their fair share of offensive line injuries and personnel groupings this season. On the Panthers side, rookie Monroe Freeling will step back into the starting role at right tackle on Thursday, now that Taylor Moton is out for the year with a broken fibula and ankle injury.

Freeling started the first four games of the season at right tackle while Moton recovered from blood clots, and he finished the game against the Bucs after Moton's injury. According to Next Gen Stats, Freeling has allowed three hits, 18 total pressures, and 3.0 sacks. All three sacks came in Weeks 1-3, with none in Week 4 or his Week 6 action.

"I think a lot of it is just the same things that I'm coached to do," Freeling said of the progress. "When a sack happens, unfortunately you can't really see it on the iPads on the sideline, but when you get back to the film and actually see it like, oh, I know what I could have done better.

"It's one thing getting beat, but it's another thing beating yourself. So I can get over getting beat, but when I beat myself, I'm like, OK, I've got to get better, there's something I've got to do to get better at my technique and all that."

Offensive lineman Damien Lewis (knee) did not participate in the two walk-throughs this week. Canales said two days of rest can help someone trying to recover before a game. But Lewis' availability for Thursday night will depend largely on Wednesday.

Can the run defense bounce back?

While two great passing offenses face off, the ground game is on the other end of the spectrum. The Panthers are 32nd in the NFL in rushing defense, allowing an average of 153.2 yards per game on the ground. Some of that comes from facing two of the league's top three rushing offenses in the first seven weeks.

But after the previous matchup, in which Carolina gave up over 200 yards on the ground (Week 1 against Chicago), the group bounced back, holding teams to under 100 yards from Week 2 through Week 6. And the Packers, it's worth noting, are the 32nd-ranked rushing offense in the NFL.

The group got Josh Jacobs back in Week 7. His first action this season only produced 36 rushing yards on 11 carries. He had more through the air: five catches for 55 yards and a score. The Packers' offensive line, which has been rebuilt a couple of times already this season, could be exacerbating some of those issues.

Green Bay has compensated for the lack of a run game thus far with their high-flying passing attack. But the Panthers also know this is a copycat league. Tampa Bay ran for 258 yards on this defense on Sunday. They know the Packers will test them on the ground.

"It's a copycat league, so the things that we didn't do good (Sunday), we know they could come back again," admitted defensive lineman Tershawn Wharton.

"I think that we definitely will see some gap schemes; of course, that's what was hitting us a lot. But I still think the things that they're good at, they're going to do, . . . (Josh is) a great running back, a downhill runner; he's got power to him. Mix it up a little bit so he definitely adds to the team."

To Wharton's point, while it's a copycat league and the Packers could mimic the Bucs plan, Canales and staff are also emphasizing this week that they can't just make a game plan for Green Bay based solely on Tampa Bay, . . . while also keeping in mind the Packers are going to see the tape from that Tampa Bay game.

"It always starts off with the run game, so we have to be, collectively as a group, we have to be locked into what they're going to try to do and how they're going to attack us. I'm sure they're watching the game, and they're seeing 250 yards of run game on the ground, and that's got to be appealing," admitted Canales.

"I expect them to try to run the ball, and we do expect Jordan to heave the ball down the field just like he does and challenge the back half of (our) defense, as well.

"It does come down to making sure we're fitting our blocks properly, making sure the support's showing up to force it when they do, and maintaining leverage. (Tampa) bounced a couple on us and got to the sideline. Our defense is designed for that not to happen, so we have to reduce that space, and that comes from taking all the information, and that's all of our responsibility, really.

Tampa Bay's Bucky Irving picked up the majority of his yards on Sunday on outside zone plays. Last season, Jacobs ran the ball inside most of the time. He ran outside zone plays only 42.7 percent of the time.

Added lineman Derrick Brown: "We take responsibility for the rush, for the rushing game, and that's on us in our room, and we're looking to get back out there on Thursday.

"They can look at it however they want, but, come Thursday, Thursday's Thursday."

Could penalties play a factor?

Teams don't like things out of their control. Penalties, in theory, are in their control and therefore all the more frustrating when they are committed and then impact the game in a way the game plan doesn't account for.

It's something that could be a factor on Thursday night.

The Packers are the NFL's most penalized team so far this season. They have been penalized 65 times and benefited from only 45 flags. Of those 65 penalties, 24 are pre-snap.

The Panthers rank 12th in the league in total penalties (52), but that is through six games after an early bye week, compared with the seven games most other teams have played. When averaged per game, Carolina is penalized at the fourth-highest rate in the league, 8.67 per game. Green Bay still averages the most per game, with 9.29.

Green Bay, however, is much less penalized at home. They've received 44 flags on the road and only 21 inside Lambeau. The Panthers average two more penalties per game on the road than at home. The officiating crew for Thursday's game has the highest average of calls per game this year and averages 5.4 more calls per game than the league average.