Eagles Postgame Report: Eagles Top Packers In Wild Card

For the Eagles and the Packers, each of their seasons started off facing each other in a game in Brazil. For one, it would end against that same team, with this second match actually being played in Philadelphia (the Eagles were the “home” team in Brazil).

The Eagles started out with a splash and some benefit as a huge hit from Oren Burks on the opening kickoff forced a fumble and the refs called the ball for the Eagles. A replay review had the call stand, which has to be NFL terminology debate of “control” because it certainly appeared that the Packers return man got the ball back despite (though the ball was moving).

The offense kicked in immediately with two rushes by Barkley for 17 yards and then all the time in the world for Hurts to hit Jahan Dotson in the back of the end zone for a touchdown to put the Eagles on the board.

The defense clamped down and forced two straight punts before a Darius Slay interception right into the bread basket as he was running the receiver’s route. They allowed 37 yards, but a missed field goal kept the Packers off the board before Zack Baun came up with his own interception that totally blanked Green Bay in the first half. 

Despite the hot start, the Eagles offense stagnated. They had a punt and then settled for a field goal from the 13-yard line. After that, they never allowed Saquon Barkley to touch the ball twice on a drive and left the ball in Jalen Hurts’ hands, who hung onto the ball and then missed the guys he targeted.

After the half, the Eagles came out with a burst for a first down behind Barkley runs before the ball went back to Hurts and they punted once again. It was a fantastic punt to pin the Packers deep, but that didn’t matter too much. A 76-yard drive put them well in the red zone before Green Bay went to the air itself and had to settle for a field goal, bringing this back to a one-score game.

The offense needed to step up and get that lead extended again. They did so by finally using QUICK passes combined with a few Barkley runs. With the designs and throws being made quick, the Green Bay defense was on their heels and Dallas Goedert manhandled a defender for a stiff-arm that carried him around 15 yards for a touchdown. Jake Elliott missed the ensuing kick to leave the lead at just 13.

A 31-yard rush by Josh Jacobs wound up being the back-breaker that just three minutes later closed the lead because their kicker did not miss the extra point. The Eagles offense was responding again until Hurts took a cut to run backward on a QB draw. The incredibly stupid move not only lost yardage, but wound up causing a hold. Lane Johnson slipped two plays later and got another hold. Ultimately, the Eagles gained 22 yards on three plays but lost 20 on the two penalties and had to settle for a field goal from the 12-yard line. It was a long drive that burned half the quarter (7:23) and, while it would have been far better to have gotten the touchdown, it put the team back up two scores.

Jacobs got banged up and left the game at a time when the Packers, down two scores, opted to go for it on fourth and three. The Eagles defense should have been burned and the conversion pass was good, but the receiver didn’t have the awareness he needed and stepped out of bounds with his back leg to turn the ball over on their own half of the field.

As the Birds went to burn even more clock, the Packers had a stupid late hit personal foul to push them forward between obvious runs. Though it only burned 1:46 of clock time for the game, the drive saw Green Bay use two of their timeouts and the Eagles put up another field goal to extend their lead.

As the Packers entered desperation mode, Love heaved a ball up where Quinyon Mitchell got his first career pick in the end zone to seal his first playoff win. Saquon could have scored another touchdown with the clock running out, but slid to officially end the game.

For Green Bay, it turned out their season would end the same way it began – with a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Eagles could play anyone left in the playoffs aside from the Commanders next week depending on the outcome of the remaining two games.

Offensive MVP: Dallas Goedert

Though he wasn’t a standout stat leader, it was Goedert who had two of the biggest conversions in this game. In particular, the touchdown catch and run was a pivotal moment in this game that was almost all Goedert. The yardage came after the catch as Goedert not only stiff armed the defender, but ran around him to the outside while staying in bounds for the score that kept the Eagles well ahead at a time where it seemed the Packers had a real shot to get right back into the game.

Defensive MVP: Nolan Smith Jr.

Smith has really taken the next step this year and he was a force in the wild card game tonight. He was among the team leaders in tackles tonight while also forcing pressure on the QB regularly. He ended the game with eight tackles (tied for second-best in the game) and had two sacks.

Game Notes

• Jalen Hurts was pretty bad making reads in this game. Except for that first pass for a TD to Dotson, it seemed like any play where he held onto the ball without running it was a negative play and the reason that so many of their drives (the entire second quarter, in fact) ended so quickly.
• Hurts also had multiple instances in this game where he slid or ran for negative yardage and I’m just not sure why that is. Seems like such an easy adjustment to make to have him throw the ball away if he doesn’t make the line of scrimmage, so hopefully that was just a bit of rust causing that issue.
• It was, however, great to see Hurts seemingly trusting Jahan Dotson now and looking his way. If they can get Hurts playing at the top of his game again AND he has five targets he inherently trusts out there, a defense won’t have much room for error of any kind.
• The Birds pulled out a tush push option that was a deep pass to AJ Brown. It would have been successful had Hurts not airmailed the ball out of reach for Brown. The design worked, though, so it’s something to watch as they get deeper into the postseason and the team might pull out.
• It almost seems like this game was handed to the Eagles,  which isn’t great to see. The Packers certainly seemed like they could have won this game without a few crucial mistakes they made. Hopefully we see a more crisp Philadelphia team next week.
• How was AJ Brown reading a book translated to he’s angry? The world may never know.
• Three field goals from inside the 20. That’s not good, especially with a struggling kicker. Redzone offense will need to improve for a deep playoff run.
• The INT to Baun is a good stat-padder for him but it’s hard to say that was a great play by him – more of a bad play by Love. The Slay INT was a great play by him, though.
• CJGJ could have also had an INT, but wasn’t able to get his second hand on the ball.
• Barkley was just able to make a 100-yard game in this one. He had 98 before that final drive of just time killing and could have taken far more than the 17 he did on the breakaway there. That’s something we’ll want to see change next week – he should be utilized more in future games than he was tonight.

Injury Notes

• Darius Slay exited early in the second quarter but was able to return.
• Nakobe Dean had a concerning injury to his knee in the second quarter where he was helped off the field and then carted to the locker room.

Green Bay Packers @ Philadelphia Eagles – January 12, 2025