NEW YORK, 15 September 2004 — Ahman Green scored three touchdowns and rushed for 119 yards as the Green Bay Packers opened their season with a convincing 24-14 win over the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte on Monday.
Green scored on runs of three and six yards and took a three-yard pass from Brett Favre for another major as the Packers took advantage of Carolina turnovers to win the first Monday Night Football game of the season.
The Packers ran the ball 47 times, the second most since Favre arrived in Green Bay, and smothered the Carolina offense when the Panthers had the ball.
The defending National Football Conference champion Panthers struggled offensively all night, with Green Bay scoring 14 unanswered points in the third quarter immediately after two scoring drives following Carolina turnovers. Green wound up with 33 carries for his 119 yards and Favre finished 15-for-22 for 143 yards and one touchdown. The Packers broke in front in the first quarter on a 41-yard field goal by Ryan Longwell for the only scoring of the opening period. Carolina took its only lead of the game 4 1/2 minutes into the second quarter on a one-yard touchdown pass from Jake Delhomme to Brad Hoover, completing a 10-play, 60-yard drive to make it 7-3.
However, Green scored the first of his touchdowns four minutes later on a six-yard run to put the Packers up 10-7 at halftime, a lead they would never relinquish.
Green scored on a three-yard run early in the third quarter and again on a pass from Favre to put Green Bay ahead 24-7 after three quarters.
Muhsin Muhammad scored the game’s final points on a 30-yard pass from Delhomme, but the Packers defense held the Panthers in check the rest of the quarter and were never threatened.
Delhomme went 23-for-39 for 284 yards, with many of those yards coming when the game was out of reach.
Carolina could manage just one first down rushing and 38 yards on the ground, although the Panthers did have 300 total yards to 279 for the Packers.
