The NFL playoffs and road to the Super Bowl took a reasonably predictable turn as the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Green Bay Packers 22-10 in Philadelphia. Our Packers vs Eagles Wild Card recap looks at the tough, grinding slog in which Philly finally pulled away late.
Washington’s 23-20 win over Tampa Bay means Philadelphia will host the winner of Monday night’s final Wild Card game between Minnesota and the Los Angeles Rams. The Eagles entered the game favored by around 5.5 points and covered the spread.
Green Bay Couldn’t Get Its Offense in Gear
Quarterback Jordan Love’s stat line tells all. He completed 20 of 33 passes for 212 yards but threw three interceptions. Philly’s defensive coordinator Vic Fangio seemed to formulate a game plan to force Love to beat them by clamping down on running back Josh Jacobs.
Jacobs’ numbers ended respectably with 81 yards on 18 carries and 40 yards on three catches, but for the most part, he was nullified. To make matters worse for Green Bay, they held the Eagles’ offense — especially Saquon Barkley — in check throughout the first half.
Trailing 10-0 with five minutes left before halftime, Green Bay reached the red zone, was forced to try a field goal, and Brandon McManus missed it. Philly’s secondary limited Green Bay’s wide receivers and forced Love to rely on tight end Tucker Kraft. Kraft caught five balls. Love lost Romeo Doubs in the third quarter when the receiver, who had already missed time earlier in the season with a concussion and wears a guardian cap, fell on his head in the end zone.
Green Bay was never viewed on the same level as Detroit or Philly, so this comes as no surprise. Still, Matt LaFleur is about two years of playoff futility away from getting categorized as former Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis who was in charge for 16 years, made the playoffs seven times, and never won a playoff game. LaFleur has been with Green Bay for six years, had Aaron Rodgers while he was still winning MVPs, and is 3-5 in the postseason.
Philly Has Concerns To Address
Make no mistake, if the Eagles eventually meet Detroit, they’ll be down 24-10 at the half, at least. Green Bay held Jalen Hurts to 13 completions in 21 attempts for 131 yards. The main difference between the two quarterbacks was Hurts not turning the ball over.
Barkley had a likely touchdown run with just over a minute remaining. He slid instead of scoring. Notably, Tom Brady on the Fox broadcast said, paraphrasing, “I’d have scored” which pretty much explains the competitiveness that led Brady to achieving all he did.
Barkley scoring would not have been rubbing Green Bay’s face in it. Throwing a bomb to score for its own sake would have been.
Linebacker Nakobe Dean, an understated part of their defense as a key tackler, might have suffered a severe knee injury and is likely lost for the playoffs. And there was the familiar Philly drama with A.J. Brown reading on the sideline during the game.
But the Eagles won. They are 9-point favorites over Washington. As our Packers vs Eagles Wild Card recap shows, if they end up playing Detroit in the NFC Championship Game, they can certainly make it to Super Bowl LIX, but not if they play as they did against Green Bay.
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