GREEN BAY, Wis. — Every week, it seems, the offensive line spins the wheel and chooses five new contestants. Or sometimes all eight.

And most weeks, it seems, they get the job done.

The Panthers rolled another patchwork offensive line out Sunday, made a couple of changes in midstream, and still paved the way for another dramatic win.

The Panthers beat the Packers 16-13 at Lambeau Field on Ryan Fitzgerald 49-yard field goal with a second left, but they also won it by running for 163 yards, allowing only one sack of Bryce Young, and making Packers star pass-rusher Micah Parsons a non-factor (no sacks, no pressures, three tackles).

It's not glamorous work. But they're definitely doing work.

"It's the griminess, just the dirtiness, the love of the struggle of football," center Austin Corbett said when asked what a win like this means for the team. "It's just that. It's not going to happen in one play, and it's just that — embrace the physicality, embrace the challenge, the opportunity, the moment. One play at a time, and that's just what this team is doing, and we're going to continue to do that, and we're going to enjoy this now, but everybody's mentality now is like we've got a big division game coming up, and we've got to take it and enjoy it, and then we're on to them tomorrow."

That's perhaps the most offensive lineman answer ever, but this is an offensive line-forward effort.

They started their seventh grouping of starters in nine weeks. One of their eight active linemen (right tackle Taylor Moton) was up for emergency purposes, and didn't start on offense (so Yosh Nijman Left guard Damien Lewis had to leave for a moment with a shoulder issue, and Jake Curhan subbed in for him. Lewis returned, but then right guard Chandler Zavala suffered an elbow injury later in the first quarter and did not return.

So Curhan, a veteran with experience with head coach Dave Canales from their days with the Seahawks, played both guard spots in the same quarter, and became the latest mid-game fill-in to help the Panthers assert themselves.

"That was new," Curhan said with a laugh.

He's primarily been a right tackle in the past, and was signed off the Cardinals' practice squad in October, coincidentally when Zavala went on IR with a knee injury.

"Jake and I were together in Seattle, so he's got a lot of familiarity with our run game, our pass protections, philosophy, and how we handle things," Canales said. "He's a very sharp guy and he's got a lot of versatility. I've seen him play all but center, really, I think in the time that I've been around him. And to be able to pick him up from Arizona's practice squad a couple of weeks ago was huge for me because it gives us another veteran player that allows us to have the continuity for when things happen, and he did a great job going in there and executing with the guys."

Like the rest of the linemen, the first step when asked how they're able to do this is to credit run game coordinator Harold Goodwin, offensive line coach Joe Gilbert, and offensive quality control coach Dean Petzing.

"I'm going to be honest with you, we've got three great coaches in the offense and man, they put us through it every week," Lewis said.

They're often referred to as "Goody, Joe, and Dean" as if they're a singular unit, and their coaching has allowed the Panthers to play like one, regardless of the combinations.

"I think it's just a testament to what Goody and Joe and Dean have going on in that room," Curhan said. "You know it's a familiar offense for me, but it's new line coaches, and every time you have that, it's learning new techniques and different ways that they like things done. I'm still learning that, but I've played a lot of football, so it's just stepping in and really doing what you know how to do. And I think. The coaches and the guys who've been playing here for a couple of years make it really easy to do that."

They say things like that casually, but to do it is really hard. The Panthers have seen what happens when a lot of flux on the offensive line isn't handled well (65 sacks and a 2-15 record in 2023), but what they're doing this year is amazing, because they're doing it without Pro Bowl guard Rob, who was lost to a torn biceps after Week 2.

So it's not just replacing guys, it's replacing really good players on a weekly basis and not having a drop-off, so for Curhan, this was the expectation.

"That's kind of the standard," Corbett said with a shrug. "The expectation is physical and dirty, rough, and things are going to happen. It's that next-man-up mentality that there cannot be a drop-off. There has to be a continuance into our standard, and that's just what he did today. Jake did a phenomenal job of getting in there; he's paying attention, he's locked in.

"He's immediately in the huddle when Chandler was down, and he's ready, and it's just a phenomenal job of his ability to come here on short notice and the playbook and let it fly."

Curhan's also been on teams that are more used to winning, and he knows what this can mean for a still-young team.

"I think it means a lot for both, like the guys having the belief and understanding that we can compete with teams like that, and we belong on fields with teams like that," he said. "And I think we know that, but it was the first time I feel like, since I've been here, that we really went out there and competed with a team that's considered to be one of the better teams, especially within our own conference, so I think it means a lot.

"But at the same time, it's back to work. There were a ton of things to do better. I know I did fine for coming in there and playing, but I can play much better games than what I did today."

And as they've embraced the struggle and that quest to keep the standard high, they're starting to see the rewards of it.

They're over .500 in November, and they just beat the best team in the NFC in one of the toughest places to play in the NFL.

Throughout the locker room, there's also a confidence that this is becoming the standard, and a new normal for a team that is beginning to find its identity — an identity that begins up front.

"It's big; every game, it's a Super Bowl game in my eyes," Lewis said. "And then what we've been trying to preach through the locker room is a Super Bowl game every week. We go out there every week and we've just got to keep staying focused, keep staying positive, and just motivate each other.

"And this is a great game. We did win against a playoff team, so guys are fired up. So we've got to keep that and then stay humble and go in every game like a Super Bowl game."

Of course, it's not the Super Bowl. They still have eight regular-season games left, beginning next Sunday at home against the Saints, for their second division game of the year. And that's the one they're focused on now.

"We're going to celebrate today, and we're going to go back home, we're going to enjoy it," Lewis said. "Come Monday, this game is done. We're on to the Saints and we're going to treat the Saints like a Super Bowl."

And who they're going to go in that game with? They never know, until they spin the wheel and see who's next.