The 2024 NFL season started with a Packers vs. Eagles
game, and for one of these two teams, it will come full circle in ending with
this game. Green Bay has had a great
season winning 11 games which in most divisions would probably win you the division
title and give you a home game in the playoffs.
However, not in the NFC North, the Packers unfortunately must compete
with the Minnesota Vikings and the Detroit Lions who both won over 13 games
this season. Philadelphia ended the
regular season 14-3 and beat the Green Bay Packers in week one in Sao Paolo,
Brazil. Green Bay leads the all-time
series between these franchises 28-19, while the Eagles have won 3 of the last
4 matchups of the series.
The Packers' head coach Matt LaFleur
has been with Green Bay since 2019. Since
LaFleur’s arrival, he has coached against the Eagles four times, only
successfully beating them once. Under
LaFleur, the Packers have a 3-4 record in the postseason, 1-2 on the road, and
have lost their only game in Philadelphia since LaFleur has been there. Quarterback Jordan Love comes into this game
banged up with an elbow injury along with now relief from numbness in his
throwing hand. Love is a full go for
tomorrow afternoon, however, his top threat on the outside Christian Watson is
out. Jordan has played the Eagles twice,
one of which was in Philadelphia, and has yet to come away triumphant. During his two games against the Birds, he’s played
very well, throwing for 373 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT, and has a QBR of 96.4. Packers’ leading rusher Josh Jacobs was one
of the best runners in the league this season, rushing for over 1,300 yards (6th
among all running backs) and just shy of 1,700 total yards from scrimmage
(5th most league-wide).
Jacobs scored a total of 15 touchdowns (4th), was second in
broken tackles (35), and is second-best to only Derrick Henry in yards after
contact (737 yards) this year.
Green Bay is one of the premier organizations
in all of football with a prestigious history.
This franchise has won the most Championships in the NFL and boasts a
37-26 all-time playoff record. Packer Nation
is no stranger to matching up against Philly in their playoff history as they’ve
met 3 times with Green Bay winning the last one in the City of Brotherly Love
(2010, Packers 21 @ Eagles 16). I’ve
said a lot about the offense, but you know the old saying, “Defense wins
championships” and Jeff Hafley, the defensive coordinator for the Pack has his
unit as the 6th best scoring defense. They are ceding 19.9 pts per game this season,
allowing the 5th least yards per game, and rank as the 6th
best defense against the run. Green Bay’s
pass-rush-win-rate (35% - 26th) may not have the greatest matchup against
Philly’s pass-block-win-rate (67%- 6th), though they do possess the
8th ranked defensive unit in sacks (45).
PACKERS
OFFENSE:
POINTS
PER GAME- 27.1 (8TH)
TOTAL
YARDS P/G- 370.5 (5TH)
RUSH
YARDS P/G- 146.8 (5TH)
PASS
YARDS P/G- 223.6 (12TH)
SACKS
ALLOWED- 22 (2ND)
PACKERS
DEFENS
POINTS
PER GAME- 19.9 (6TH)
TOTAL
YARDS P/G- 314.5 (5TH)
RUSH
YARDS P/G- 99.4 (7TH)
PASS
YARDS P/G- 215.2 (13TH)
TOTAL
SACKS- 45 (8TH)
Philadelphia comes into this game riding
high as winners of their last seven at home.
The Birds scored an average of 26.3 points per game during that streak. Jalen Hurts just cleared the concussion protocol
this past Wednesday after missing the past two weeks of all football activity. Those who think Hurts may be rusty from
missing so much time could wind up looking silly on Sunday afternoon. Hurts is one of the best versatile
quarterbacks the league has to offer and is the engine that makes this Eagles
offense work. During his NFL career, the
QB has competed against the Packers three times, winning two of those matchups. In his games against them, he has totaled 540
passing yards, 5 touchdowns, 3 interceptions, and has a 84.3 QBR. When these teams last met in September Jalen
threw for 278 yards, 2 TDs, and had 2 INTs along with a fumble. Their week one game proved to be the Eagles'
worst this season in turnovers as they gave the ball away three times.
The Eagles have plenty of weapons at
their quarterback's disposal such as one of the top wideout combos in the
league led by A.J. Brown, plus a godsend running back in Saquon Barkley. The latter, Saquon Barkley just had one of
the best seasons of any player in league history. Barkley became only the fourth rusher in NFL
history to total 2,000 or more scrimmage yards in a season with multiple teams after
accumulating 2,283 yards in his first year with Philadelphia. (Eric Dickerson, Marshall
Faulk, and Christian McCaffrey also accomplished this) He also owns a 3-1
record over the Packers in his career and has piled up 348 yards, 6 touchdowns,
and 11 catches for 106 receiving yards when going against them. During Nick Sirianni’s tenure as Philly’s
coach, they are 2-3 in the postseason but on the bright side, the Eagles are
also 2-0 when hosting playoff games.
EAGLES
OFFENSE:
TOTAL
POINTS P/G- 27.2 (7TH)
TOTAL
YARDS P/G- 367.2 (8TH)
RUSH
YARDS P/G- 179.3 (2ND)
PASS
YARDS P/G- 187.2 (29TH)
SACKS
ALLOWED- 45 (20TH)
EAGLES
DEFENSE:
TOTAL
POINTS P/G- 17.8 (2ND)
TOTAL
YARDS P/G- 278.4 (1ST)
RUSH
YARDS P/G- 104.2 (10TH)
PASS
YARDS P/G- 174.2 (1ST)
TOTAL
SACKS- 41 (T-13TH)
In conclusion, this is a rematch of the
week one international game in which the Eagles won 34-29. A.J. Brown had a huge day gathering 5
receptions for 119 and a TD in addition to Saquon Barkley’s 3 TDs. Sirianni owns a 2-0 record against Matt LaFleur
which boasts well for Philly, but on the other hand as a franchise, they hold
an all-time playoff record of 25-26. Packers’
passer Jordan Love didn’t have a bad game in week one before his injury as he threw
2 TDs on 260 yards with 1 INT, while his backfield mate Josh Jacobs accounted
for over 100 total yards. Winning on the
road in the opening round of the playoffs is nothing new to the Packers, they took
down the Dallas Cowboys as the 7th seed last year before falling
victim to a better San Fransico 49ers team in the divisional round. My expectation for this matchup is that the more
productive team in the ground game should come away with the win. When attacking the Eagles in the passing
game, the Packers must target tight end Tucker Kraft, especially without top wideout
Christian Watson. Fangio’s defense is
the best against the pass with one of the most talented groups of defensive
backs in the league. Green Bay is +4.5
underdogs though I would take my chances laying the points with the strong
defense along with the prowess of the Eagles running game.
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