Love throws 3 TD passes as the Packers beat the Panthers 27-19

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Jordan Love realizes the Green Bay Packers need to finish better.

They started out well enough Thursday night that their fourth-quarter struggles didn't really matter.

Love threw three touchdown passes, Josh Jacobs scored twice and the Packers withstood three turnovers and Carolina's late comeback attempt to beat the Panthers 27-19.

“Late in the game, it wasn't good enough," Love said. “We weren't able to finish the way we wanted. That's something we've got to improve on, clean up as an offense and be better there.”

Love went 30 of 41 for 288 yards with touchdown passes to Tucker Kraft, Matthew Golden and Jacobs plus an interception. Although Jacobs rushed for only 39 yards on 21 carries against the NFL’s lowest-ranked run defense, he scored on a 4-yard catch and 1-yard run.

That was more than enough for the Packers on a night when they sacked Bryce Young six times. Green Bay hasn't allowed any of its last five opponents to exceed 20 points.

“This defense is really special,” safety Javon Bullard said.

After trailing 27-10 in the third quarter, Carolina cut Green Bay’s lead to 27-19 on Young’s 26-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Coker on a fourth-and-3 play with 5:37 remaining. Young’s ensuing 2-point conversion pass was incomplete.

The Panthers (3-4) got the ball back at their own 45 before losing the ball on downs at midfield with 2:41 remaining. Carolina got one last chance from its own 20 with 22 seconds and no timeouts remaining, but Dani Dennis-Sutton's sack essentially ended any comeback hopes.

“Love the fight in the group,” Panthers coach Dave Canales said. “Didn’t expect anything less. The guys kept battling all the way through, gave us some opportunities at the end.”

Young went 23 of 41 for 209 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Carolina's Chuba Hubbard had 22 carries for 81 yards and a touchdown and seven catches for 38 yards.

Green Bay’s Christian Watson returned to the game after hurting his chest while making a 53-yard catch in the second quarter, causing him to get taken to the hospital. Carolina cornerback Will Lee hurt his hamstring while diving to make a tackle on the same play, and he got carted into the locker room.

Watson said he got clearance to return to the game after a CT scan didn't show any internal bleeding. Watson did say he broke a rib on the play.

“I felt like I was watching ‘WWE Smackdown vs. Raw’ or something, seeing the cameras on me when I was coming out of the ambulance,” said Watson, who caught eight passes for 113 yards. “That was a little crazy. It was a surreal experience, no doubt.”

Carolina already has three other cornerbacks on injured reserve: Akayleb Evans (triceps/knee), Mike Jackson (groin) and Jaycee Horn (quadriceps).

After fumbling the opening kickoff to set up a Carolina field goal and going three-and-out on their first series, the Packers (5-3) scored touchdowns on three of their next four possessions to take command.

Love threw a 12-yard touchdown pass across the middle to Kraft on a third-and-8 play to put Green Bay ahead 6-3, as struggling rookie Trey Smack’s extra-point attempt bounced off the left upright.

Watson’s 53-yard catch set up a Jacobs touchdown run that put Green Bay ahead for good, 13-10 early in the second quarter. One play after dropping a potential touchdown pass, Golden caught a 24-yarder in the left corner of the end zone on third-and-13 to make it 20-10.

Carolina got the ball to start the second half, but Chris McClellan and Evan Williams stopped Hubbard a yard short on fourth-and-2 from midfield. On Green Bay’s ensuing drive, Love found Jacobs to extend the lead to 27-10.

Green Bay led 27-13 and had the ball on Carolina’s 28 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter when Love threw a pass to Golden that Zakee Wheatley intercepted in the end zone.

That turnover sparked Carolina’s comeback attempt, but the Panthers ultimately couldn't break through against Green Bay's defense.

“I said at the beginning of the year, and I still feel this way: I think the sky is the limit for this defense,” Packers linebacker Isaiah McDuffie said.

Several members of the Milwaukee Brewers, including team captain Christian Yelich and Cy Young Award favorite Jacob Misiorowski, received a huge ovation as they arrived at Lambeau Field one night after winning the first World Series title in franchise history.

Brewers pitcher Brandon Woodruff held the Commissioner’s Trophy aloft as he emerged from the tunnel during a timeout before the second quarter. A few of them attempted a “Lambeau leap” into the crowd, with outfielder Sal Frelick having the most success.

Those Brewers players later were shown on the video board cheering as they wore cheeseheads that included the message, “2026 WS Champions.”

The Packers honored former president/CEO Bob Harlan during a halftime ceremony in which his name was unveiled on Lambeau Field’s northeast façade alongside that of former Packers general manager Ted Thompson. Harlan, who was the Packers’ president/CEO from 1989-2008, died March 5 at the age of 89.

Panthers: OG Corey Bullock hurt his quadriceps in the second half.

Packers: TE Josh Whyle was evaluated for a concussion in the first half.

Panthers: Host Denver on Nov. 8.

Packers: At New England on Nov. 8.

See AP’s full NFL coverage here

Milwaukee Brewers' Christian Yelich holds up the Commissioner's Trophy during the first half of an NFL football game between the Green Bay Packers and the Carolina Panthers in Green Bay, Wis., Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Ludtke)

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young, left, is hit by Green Bay Packers linebacker Ty'ron Hopper, right as he throws a pass during the first half of an NFL football game in Green Bay, Wis., Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Ludtke)

Carolina Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard (30) is tackled by Green Bay Packers linebacker Isaiah McDuffie (58) and defensive end Barryn Sorrell (99) during the first half of an NFL football game in Green Bay, Wis., Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)

Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs, left, celebrates after scoring a touchdown with wide receiver Matthew Golden, right, during the second half of an NFL football game in Green Bay, Wis., Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Matthew Golden leaps into the stands as he celebrates scoring a touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game against the Carolina Panthersin Green Bay, Wis., Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean adoptees from Western nations protested outside Seoul’s presidential office Friday, demanding full access to their records and better efforts to trace their biological families.

Those efforts are often derailed by inaccurate or falsified files, as their birth nation weighs an overhaul of its long-maligned post-adoption policies.

In a statement co-signed by nine adoptee organizations from Europe and the United States and human rights advocates based in South Korea, the groups called on Seoul to expand DNA testing and matching services and broaden access to administrative and residential records to improve family searches.

They also demanded new investigations into the manipulation of adoption records and child origins and wrongful child-parent separations that marred South Korea’s historic adoption program, along with clearer paths for reparations to adoptees and relatives affected by the widespread fraud and abuse.

The protest, which followed a gathering of hundreds of Korean adoptees in Seoul last week, comes as the liberal administration of President Lee Jae Myung considers major changes to the way the government handles adoptees’ requests for access to adoption records and birth-family searches.

The process is currently overseen by the National Center for the Rights of the Child, an agency under the Health and Welfare Ministry. But officials are considering giving a larger role to the Overseas Korean Agency, which falls under the Foreign Ministry and is seen as better positioned to streamline services for adoptees and coordinate with Western countries that received Korean children for adoption, though the changes could require new legislation.

Lawmakers are also debating multiple bills aimed at improving birth-family searches for adoptees, including by easing privacy restrictions so adoptees can obtain information about their birth parents unless the parents have explicitly requested that it remain confidential.

South Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded in 2025 that the government bears responsibility for facilitating an adoption program rife with fraud and abuse, driven by efforts to reduce welfare costs, findings that broadly aligned with earlier reporting by The Associated Press.

Acting on a recommendation by the commission, Lee apologized to adoptees and their families, saying in a Facebook post that he felt “heavy-hearted” over their suffering and urging officials to find better ways to support their efforts to locate their birth families.

Adoptee and activist groups said during Friday’s protest that officials had yet to take meaningful action a year after Lee’s apology, and that “truth-findings, remedies, and the restoration of rights can no longer be delayed.”

“They should do something to help us to find our families because time is running out and our parents (may have) passed away,” said Kee Soon Jager, who was adopted to Germany as a 4-year-old in 1976 and has been searching for her biological parents since 1991.

Angelika Lindgren, who was adopted to Sweden in 1974 and listed in papers as an abandoned child found on the streets, called for the creation of a larger DNA database to improve family searches as adoption documents are often unreliable.

“I understand it’s difficult for mothers and fathers who gave up their children and I know it wasn’t always their choice,” she said. “Maybe it was … an uncle who left the babies and maybe the parents didn’t even know.”

About 200,000 South Koreans were adopted to the United States, Europe, and Australia since the 1950s, creating what’s possibly the world’s largest diaspora of adoptees.

During the peak of adoptions in the 1970s and ’80s, thousands of South Korean children were falsely registered as abandoned to make them eligible for adoption under Western laws, even though records suggest most had known relatives.

Private adoption agencies paid hospitals and orphanages for newborns and other children, and, in some cases, switched children’s identities to keep adoptions on track when a child died, was too sick to travel or was reclaimed by birth relatives. Western governments, eager to meet domestic demand for adoptable children, overlooked widespread signs of fraud and sometimes pressured Seoul to keep children coming.

While South Korea has pursued reforms in recent years, including strengthening government and judicial oversight and declaring to end foreign adoptions by 2029, officials still have no clear plans for addressing decades of inaccurate or falsified records that fueled careless child-parent separations.

According to Health Ministry records, only 622 of the 11,300 family search requests submitted by adoptees between 2021 and September 2025 resulted in reunions. In more than 4,600 cases, officials were unable to locate the birth parents or determine whether they had consented to be connected with the adoptees.

Health Ministry officials have voiced reservations about lawmakers’ calls to guarantee adoptees access to birth-family information unless their biological parents explicitly object, warning such an approach could infringe on privacy rights.

Kee Soon Jager, center, who was adopted to Germany as a four-year-old in 1976, attends a joint press conference in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Kee Soon Jager, center, who was adopted to Germany as a four-year-old in 1976, speaks during a joint press conference in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)