PACKERS NEWS: 3 Key Reasons the Packers Could Fall to the Eagles in the Wild-Card Playoff

Three Reasons Why Packers Will Lose to Eagles in Wild-Card Playoff Game

 

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts will lead a loaded offense into Sunday’s playoff game against the Packers. Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Three Reasons Why Packers Will Lose to Eagles in Wild-Card Playoff Game

Originally posted on Green Bay Packers on SI

By Bill Huber | Last updated Jan 11, 2025 5:36 PM ET

The Green Bay Packers lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 1. Having gone 0-5 against the NFC’s three top teams this season, there’s little reason to believe that breakthrough victory will come in Sunday’s NFC wild-card game at Philadelphia.

Here are three reasons why the Packers will lose to the Eagles.

1. Eagles Have Too Many Weapons

The Eagles are loaded.

Quarterback Jalen Hurts finished fifth in the NFL in passer rating and rushing touchdowns. He threw four interceptions in the first three games, including two against Green Bay in the opener, but just one in his final 12 starts.

Running back Saquon Barkley led the NFL in rushing yards and total yards, was second among running backs in yards per carry and seventh overall in total touchdowns.

Receiver A.J. Brown, a menacing 226-pounder with breakaway speed, finished third in yards per catch as well as yards per game. Brown and DeVonta Smith, who also has breakaway speed, is one of three tandems in which both players had 60-plus catches for 825-plus yards and seven-plus touchdowns.

All five offensive linemen received All-Pro votes, led by bookend tackles Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata getting second-team honors.

The Eagles finished seventh in points, eighth in total offense, fifth in yards per rushing play, ninth in passing per play and 10th on third down.

Remarkably, Brown, Smith and tight end Dallas Goedert played in only three games together. One of them was in Brazil, when they combined for 16 receptions for 234 yards against the Packers.

“Obviously, they are all three really, really good players,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni told reporters in Philadelphia on Friday. “Any time you can have them all on the field at the same time, it’s a good thing. Definitely, those guys are really good players. We are excited about the opportunity that they’ll have together.”

Barkley rushed for 2,005 yards this season and scored three touchdowns in Week 1. Not unlike vintage Adrian Peterson, Barkley is a threat to go the distance on every play. That means every player must be in the right spot on every play or else disaster could strike.

Green Bay’s defensive success will depend on at least slowing down Barkley,

“It’s the discipline to play as a team,” defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said. “This game is not going to come down to, ‘Does the D-line play well? Do the linebackers play well?’ This is, ‘Can our 11 guys on the field, however many we dress, stay more disciplined every single play than they are and finish the game?’

“Because that’s how you have to beat them. Because, all of a sudden, then No. 11 (Brown) is spread out there, and the slot’s out here and the quarterback’s running around. It’s going to take every single guy doing their job, and I believe our guys have confidence in it and they’re really excited for that challenge.”

2. Packers Don’t Have Enough Weapons

Green Bay’s offense seemingly ran out of gas down the stretch.

After scoring 30-plus points in five consecutive games, the offense misfired in the second half against the Saints in Week 16, the first three quarters against the Vikings in Week 17 and practically wire-to-wire against the Bears in Week 18.

The strength of Green Bay’s receiver corps is in the numbers. The Packers will be short on numbers, though, just like in last week’s shocking loss. With Doubs inactive due to illness against Chicago, Christian Watson suffered a torn ACL.

Doubs will be back to face the Eagles, meaning the Packers will have their most reliable option on third down, but they won’t have anyone who can stretch the field like Watson, who averaged a career-high 21.4 yards per catch and had a career-low two drops.

In what could be a shootout, do the Packers have enough firepower on the perimeter to keep up with the Eagles?

“Big-time role for us, for sure,” Love said. “That’s a huge loss. One of those ones that it sucks. You hurt for Christian, especially at this time of the year, but definitely other guys are going to have to step up. We’ve got a deep receiver room, guys have kind of done that all year. We’ve battled through different injuries, guys missing games, things like that. Just another situation that guys will step up and make plays, and we’re confident in that group.”

It won’t be easy.

Remember, the Eagles finished No. 1 in pass defense and No. 3 in opponent passer rating. In Week 1, Love completed just 50.0 percent of his passes.

The Eagles secondary he faced four months ago is better now.

First-round cornerback Quinyon Mitchell started 16 games, broke up 12 passes and allowed only two touchdowns. Second-round cornerback Cooper DeJean, who mans the slot, played just six defensive snaps in the opener but has become a key cog. He didn’t allow any touchdowns and ranks among the league leaders with 0.94 yards allowed per slot-coverage snap, according to Pro Football Focus.

Packers coach Matt LaFleur mentioned that the Eagles’ defensive backs like to “grab.” Will he talk to the officials about it in advance?

“I feel like every time I bring that up, we end up getting called for something,” LaFleur said. “So, it is what it is. You got to be physical through contact. You’ve got to have a release plan and be great with your fundamentals and just fight. You got to fight.”

3. Jordan Love’s Struggles

During the second half of last season, Jordan Love was one of the hottest quarterbacks in the NFL. In fact, during the final three games, the must-win matchups against Carolina, Minnesota and Chicago, Love was second with a 123.5 passer rating, fourth with a completion rate of 73.1 percent, seventh with 8.5 yards per attempt and had the most touchdowns (seven) without an interception.

During the final three games of this season, Love is barely lukewarm. Of 31 quarterbacks with at least 50 passing attempts, Love was 20th in passer rating (87.6), 25th in completion percentage (60.0), 24th in yards per attempt (6.2) and had two touchdowns without an interception.

It’s not just Love, as coach Matt LaFleur would be quick to point out. It starts with the protection and ends with the receivers. That second group needs to be much better. Of 32 quarterbacks who’ve dropped back to pass 300 times, Love has been victimized by the fourth-highest drop rate, according to Pro Football Focus.

As a unit, Green Bay’s passing game must have its best game of the season – no different than last year’s playoff win at Dallas.

“We’ve just got to go out there and execute,” Love said of the passing-game struggles. “At the end of the day, we’ve got to get in a rhythm early. I think that’s really important.

“When you start a game, to just feel like you’re in that rhythm, feel like things are hitting and, obviously, make plays early on. So, I think if we get back in that rhythm and are executing at a high level I think it makes it easier to go out there and play confident and play free. So, we’ve just got to go out there and make plays at the end of the day.”

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