Somewhat lost in the snow and last-play dramatics Sunday at Lambeau Field was this: Greg Olsen looks ready to contribute heavily to this team's final seven games.
Olsen had 98 yards on eight catches in Carolina's loss to Green Bay, which was the most receptions he's had since Carolina's playoff loss to New Orleans in 2017. His level of comfort with Carolina's new quarterback Kyle Allen continues to increase. And he's relatively healthy _ not a given for any NFL player this time of year, and certainly not for a 34-year-old tight end playing his 13th season.
This has been a relatively quiet year for Olsen, the Panthers' oldest player. In some ways, that's a good thing. He doesn't want to create the kind of headlines he did in 2017 and 2018, when he missed 16 of 32 games due to breaking his right foot twice. But he also hasn't been as productive as he was in 2014-2016, when he became the first NFL tight end ever to post three consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons.
Sunday, though, was vintage Olsen _ and the Panthers (5-4) will need a lot more of that during a stretch run where they likely need to go 5-2 to make the playoffs.
The other four biggest contributors to Carolina's passing game are Kyle Allen (age 23), Christian McCaffrey (23), Curtis Samuel (23) and DJ Moore (22, and the team's leader in receptions). Olsen, along with third wideout Jarius Wright, are the vets who have seen it all and must explain it to the youngsters in real-time situations.
Olsen caught three passes for 32 yards on Carolina's final drive of the game, moving the chains twice for first downs. He also would have been the primary target had Allen decided to throw the pass on the run-pass option the quarterback had on the game's last play, from the Green Bay 2.
Olsen praised Allen to the hilt after the game, calling the young quarterback's performance "pretty incredible" and "as impressive a quarterback display (as) I've ever seen."
"When you're down 14 and you lead two fourth-quarter touchdown drives in the snow, against the Green Bay Packers on the road, I think that speaks volumes," he continued.
