The Philadelphia Eagles are 7-2 after beating the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Final score: 10 to 7.
The good news is that the Eagles won the game. Sitting atop the NFC playoff picture as the No. 1 seed, they still control their path to a first-round bye.
It’s also encouraging to see how well Philadelphia’s defense played in this one. Vic Fangio’s unit did the heavy-lifting by allowing just seven points and ultimately coming up with big stops when it mattered most. The newly acquired Jaelan Phillips had a big night in his Eagles debut with six total tackles, including a tackle for loss that created a fourth down stop on Green Bay’s penultimate drive.
The bad news, however, is that the offense really took a step back. Prior to the bye week, it looked like the Birds were starting to figure things out. Not really the case when you’re only able to score 10 points! For perspective, the Carolina Panthers just managed to score 16 points against the Packers in Week 9.
For a large portion of the game, it felt like the Eagles played way too conservatively. They continue to give up on third-and-long all too often, which isn’t just a Kevin Patullo play-calling thing. It’s also a philosophical approach set by Nick Sirianni.
But to say Sirianni was ONLY conservative wouldn’t be correct … because he got way too aggressive by opting to go for a kill shot on 4th-and-6 late in the game when a punt was the right call (as overwhelmingly favored by the analytics). Jalen Hurts’ deep incompletion to A.J. Brown gave the Packers a chance to take over at their own 36-yard line and drive for a game-tying field goal attempt. Their 64-yard kick ultimately didn’t have a shot. It’s been said here before that Sirianni’s decision-making process seems haphazard and this was just the latest example. The Eagles were fortunate that Sirianni’s blunder didn’t cost his team the win.
Next up for the Eagles: a home game against the Detroit Lions while on short rest. Won’t be an easy one.
Read on for a recap and stay tuned for BGN’s postgame coverage.
FIRST QUARTER
- The Eagles won the coin toss and elected to defer, resulting in them kicking off to Green Bay. The Packers began at their own 39-yard line. Adoree’ Jackson missed an open field tackle to allow a Packers first down on a dump off in the flat. Facing 3rd-and-3, Josh Jacobs got stopped just short of the marker. The Packers went Tush Push (!) and they clearly moved early but there was no flag for a false start. Jalyx Hunt got to Jordan Love for an 11-yard sack on a play where pressure from Jaelan Phillips prompted the Packers quarterback to move backwards. Facing 3rd-and-20, Love’s deep shot was overthrown and incomplete with Quinyon Mitchell having good coverage (probably should’ve been offensive pass interference).
- The Eagles took over at their own 9-yard line. The offense’s first play from scrimmage was an under center handoff to Saquon Barkley with Cameron Latu serving as a fullback. Facing 3rd-and-1, Landon Dickerson moved early on the tush push but there was no flag and Jalen Hurts actually picked up three yards by finding a hole in the defense. Barkley ripped off a 15-yard run to give the Eagles another first down. Facing 3rd-and-5, Jordan Mailata was called for a false start. Facing 3rd-and-10, Micah Parsons quickly got pressure up the middle but Hurts rolled right and hit Will Shipley (!) for a first down right around midfield. Facing 3rd-and-5 after two Barkley runs, Hurts hit DeVonta Smith over the middle for yet another first down. Facing 3rd-and-8, Hurts took running and picked up a first down but fumbled. Edgerrin Cooper punched the ball out with Hurts’ knee yet to hit the ground. Unfortunate end to a 16-play, 77-yard drive that lasted 8:46 and looked like it was going to produce some points.
- The Packers took over at their own 36-yard line. Love fumbled at the mesh point but the Packers were able to recover it. Then Jalen Carter knocked down a Love pass at the line of scrimmage. Facing 3rd-and-13, Love took off running but got tackled just short of the marker to end the first quarter.
SECOND QUARTER
- Facing 4th-and-inches from their own 45-yard line, the Packers got called for a false start with Green Bay’s left guard moving early. The refs missed two false starts earlier (one on the Packers, one on the Eagles) but they got this one right to force a Packers punt.
- The Eagles took over from their own 21-yard line after Xavier Gipson questionably returned a punt from the Eagles’ own 4-yard line. Bad process, good result. Mailata slipped to prompt Barkley to get tackled for a loss. Then Barkley lost his footing on a screen reception. Slippery field … just like when the Eagles and Packers played in Brazil Week 1 last year. Facing 3rd-and-14, the Eagles brought back the coward’s draw (yippee!) with Shipley picking up seven yards.
- The Packers took over at their own 22-yard line after Braden Mann’s 66-yard punt helped to flip the field. Facing 3rd-and-8 after moving to their own 40-yard line, Campbell allowed a catch in tight coverage and tackled Luke Musgrave short of the sticks to bring up fourth down. Facing 4th-and-2, Matt LaFleur kept his offense on the field for the bullshit “try to the draw the defense offsides” effort that rarely ever works. The Packers took the delay of game penalty and then punted into the end zone.
- The Eagles took over at their own 20-yard line. Hurts scrambled and threw across his body to hit Dallas Goedert for eight yards (could’ve been more if he didn’t start cutting back to run horiztionally instead of trying to move up the field). The throw sure looked risky. Facing 3rd-and-2 after another Hurts target to Goedert was knocked down, Hurts threw wide of Jahan Dotson to bring up three-and-out. Bad. Not a good drive by QB1. Then Mann shanked a punt that only went 30 yards. Bad again.
- The Packers took over at their own 41-yard line. Mitchell immediately knocked down a Love throw. Then new guy Jaelan Phillips did a great job of setting the edge to allow just two yards on a run. Facing 3rd-and-8, Love’s pass was batted down by Carter to bring up a Packers three-and-out. Credit to Moro Ojomo for good pressure on the play as well.
- The Eagles took over at their own 26-yard line after a solid 13-yard return by Gipson. Lane Johnson got injured with Fred Johnson replacing him at right tackle. Facing 3rd-and-2 after two Barkley runs, Hurts overthrew Goedert but the Packers were called for pass interference. The Eagles were fortunate that the flag stood because the ball wasn’t catchable. Nevertheless, a first down! Mailata got called for a second false start. Barkley’s best run of the night was wiped out by a holding penalty on Brett Toth. Facing 3rd-and-11 after picking up 14 yards, Hurts took off running and slid for just four yards. Three straight punts. Ringo committed a holding penalty that made Mann re-punt and ultimately created a difference of 25 yards. Bad. Ringo’s at least supposed to be good on special teams.
- The Packers took over at their own 32-yard line with 1:54 on the clock and three timeouts to work with. Love took off running for a first down on a play where the pocket collapsed but the Eagles couldn’t actually get to the quarterback. Love stepped up against pressure from Nakobe Dean into a Nolan Smith sack on a play where Packers starting center Elgton Jenkins got hurt. A blitzing Dean then got to Love in the pocket with the Packers quarterback losing control of the football and fumbling for an Eagles recovery! New guy Jaelan Phillips was able to hop on the ball! Huge stop to take Packers points off the board.
- The Eagles took over at their own 35-yard line with 0:23 on the clock and three timeouts to work with. Hurts ran for four yards, which took eight seconds off the clock. Then Hurts underthrew an open DeVonta Smith. Facing 3rd-and-6, the Eagles went with a coward’s draw to Shipley. The offensive approach really lacks ambition. Facing 4th-and-4, Hurts threw the ball away to end the first half. Why not a Hail Mary attempt? Really could’ve done a better job of trying to get a field goal attempt from that drive.
THIRD QUARTER
- The Eagles took over at their own 29-yard line to being the second half. Lane Johnson was in the bench area with his helmet on but Fred Johnson remained in the game at right tackle. The Eagles picked up a first down (hey!!!) with Hurts connecting with Goedert on a short completion after a Barkley run. Then Hurts hit Goedert again for a 22-yard gain. Oh, that’s allowed? Then Hurts had Grant Calcaterra running up the seam but the quarterback overthrew the tight end. Bad miss. Facing 3rd-and-3, the Eagles went back to the easy button play of Hurts hitting a motioning Goedert for a short gain. Facing 3rd-and-7 after Tank Bigsby got tackled for a loss, the offense had a delay of game. Facing 3rd-and-12, the Eagles actually tried to get the first down! Just kidding, they went coward’s draw with Will Shipley to bring in Jake Elliott for a 39-yard field goal. Such cowardice. EAGLES 3, PACKERS 0.
- The Packers started at their own 27-yard line. It took three plays to move past midfield. Facing 3rd-and-3, the play clock hit zero and it looked like delay of game should’ve been called … but no flag and Love’s pass was completed for a first down. Jalyx Hunt came up with a really big TFL to knock the Packers’ offense off schedule. Facing 3rd-and-9, Romeo Doubs dropped a first down catch that would’ve been a really good grab against tight coverage from Mitchell. Facing 4th-and-9, Love’s pass to Bo Melton (a former cornerback) for a first down was bobbled and incomplete with Reed Blankenship there to prevent a second effort at the catch. Big stop aided by some good fortune.
- The Eagles took over at their own 41-yard line. A short completion to Barkley and a short Barkley run resulted in a loss of five yards. Facing 3rd-and-15, Hurts dumped off to Shipley for a short gain. 3 plays, 1 yard, punt.
- The Packers took over at their own 20-yard line after Mann’s punt bounced into the end zone. The Packers needed just two plays to move into Eagles territory.
FOURTH QUARTER
- Facing 3rd-and-4, Love hit Dontayvion Wicks at the marker for a first down (or, just short, but ruled a first with no challenge). Love hit Christian Watson for a first down into the red zone but it was wiped out by an illegal formation penalty (on former Eagle Darian Kinnard!). Facing 3rd-and-11 after Mitchell had tight coverage on an incompletion, Love threw the ball away with pressure in his face. LaFleur decided to punt from the plus 40-yard line. The ball bounced with a chance for the Packers to down it at the 1-yard line but the Packers’ player clearly touched the ball after stepping into the end zone. Touchback. 20-yard net difference for the Packers with that punt.
- The Eagles took over at their own 20-yard line. Facing 3rd-and-7, Barkley dumped off to a WIDE OPEN Barkley in the flat and he made a defender miss for a 41-yard catch-and-run aided by good downfield blocking from A.J. Brown! Then the Eagles actually called a shot play (GASP) to DeVonta Smith, which resulted in a 36-yard touchdown grab! DeVonta went up and got it. Bang! Good things happen when you actually try to get the ball to your best players and don’t just give up! EAGLES 10, PACKERS 0.
- The Packers took over at their own 25-yard line. Facing 3rd-and-2, Jacobs easily picked up a first down and then some up the middle. The Packers moved past midfield. Facing 3rd-and-8, Adoree’ Jackson gave a huge cushion to Wicks for an easy first down completion. Jihaad Campbell got called for defensive pass interference from a trailing position to give the Packers a first down in the red zone. Two Jacobs runs then resulted in the Packers’ first touchdown of the night. Defense got soft as soon as the Eagles’ offense took a two-possession lead. 11 plays, 76 yards. EAGLES 10, PACKERS 7.
- The Eagles took over at their own 28-yard line with 5:45 on the clock. Lane Johnson returned at right tackle. A shotgun handoff to Barkley resulted in a loss. Then Goedert wasn’t ready for a short Hurts throw to him for an incompletion. Facing 3rd-and-12, Hurts hits DeVonta for a big first down. Oh, the Eagles are allowed to try to convert third-and-long?! Micah Parsons should’ve been flagged for a tripping penalty that prevented a potential long Barkley run but there was no call. Bad miss by the refs. Facing 3rd-and-2, the Eagles handed off to Barkley (no tush push!) on a fullback dive and he was able to pick up another important first down with the clock running. The Packers called their first timeout at 2:34. Hurts was pressured into an incompletion on second down to stop the clock. Facing 3rd-and-8, Hurts’ throw to DeVonta sailed high and out of bounds. Facing 4th-and-8, Nick Sirianni left the offense on the field … to take a delay of game penalty. And punt. Bad to not end it on your own terms.
- The Packers took over at their own 10-yard line with 2:18 on the clock and two timeouts to work with. Facing 3rd-and-10 after two Love incompletions (the second one forced by a stunting Nolan Smith pressure), Love hit Christian Watson for 25 yards and a first down to bring the game to the 2-minute warning. Facing 3rd-and-10, the Packers picked up nine. Facing 4th-and-1, new guy Jaelan Phillips got to Jacobs in the backfield for a loss on a play where the Packers were called for an illegal formation anyway! Jacobs also got stripped by Reed Blankenship for an Eagles recovery!
- The Eagles took over at the plus 39-yard line with 1:26 on the clock and the Packers armed with two timeouts. Barkley ran for two yards to force the Packers to call their second timeout. Barkley ran for one more yard to force the Packers to call their final timeout at 1:18. Facing 3rd-and-7, Barkley ran for one more yard. Facing 4th-and-6, the Eagles kept the offense on the field to pretend to go for it before Sirianni called a timeout at 0:33. Facing 4th-and-6 again, the offense remained on the field … and Hurts took a deep shot to A.J. Brown that was broken up. Wow.
- The Packers took over at their own 35-yard line with 0:27 remaining and zero timeouts to work with. The Packers picked up 19 yards against soft coverage and spiked the football with 0:05 on the clock. Brandon McManus came on for the game-tying 64-yard field goal attempt and Nick Sirianni called a timeout to try to ice him. McManus took a warmup kick that didn’t count and it was short. LaFleur then put the PAckers offense back on the field and Love threw a pass incomplete to the sideline. McManus came back on for a 64-yard field goal attempt … that was nowhere close to being good. What a weird way to win a football game. But a win nevertheless.
FINAL SCORE: EAGLES 10, PACKERS 7
EAGLES LINEUP NOTES
- Adoree’ Jackson and Kelee Ringo were seen splitting first-team cornerback reps in pregame warmups.
- Adoree’ Jackson started at cornerback.
- Nakobe Dean started at off-ball linebacker ahead of Jihaad Campbell. Campbell’s first snap came playing on the edge. Campbell was in for Dean in nickel on the Packers’ second drive.
- Nolan Smith and Jaelan Phillips started at edge rusher.
- Brandon Graham was on the field for the first snap of the Packers’ second drive.
EAGLES INJURY NEWS
- Quinyon Mitchell went down after the Packers took a deep shot on their first drive. He jogged off the field on his own power. Mitchell was evaluated in the medical tent. He was back in the game on the Packers’ next drive.
- Darius Cooper (shoulder) got banged up on the Eagles’ first drive. He was ruled questionable to return. He returned to the field on the Eagles’ third drive.
- Lane Johnson (ankle) visited the medical tent in the second quarter. He remained in the game. But then he got rolled up on and limped off the field. Fred Johnson, who had been playing as the sixth offensive lineman in six OL sets, took over at right tackle. Lane Johnson limped to the locker room with help from trainers. Lane Johnson was ruled questionable to return. Lane Johnson walked back to the field with his helmet on early in the third quarter but Fred Johnson remained in the game. Matt Pryor came on the field to be the sixth OL with Fred at right tackle. Lane Johnson returned in with 5:45 left in the fourth quarter.
- Patrick Johnson went down in the third quarter. He returned in the fourth quarter.
- Adoree’ Jackson got banged up in the fourth quarter. Kelee Ringo entered in place of him.