The Green Bay Packers travel to Philadelphia to challenge the Eagles on Sunday, and a berth in the Divisional Round of the NFC playoffs is on the line.
This game marks only the fourth all-time playoff game between the two squads, and all three previous matchups have taken place in Philadelphia. In their most recent tilt, the Packers beat the Eagles in the 2010 Wild Card round, 21-16. That victory propelled Green Bay to their last championship which culminated in a triumph in Super Bowl XLV.
The first two decisions went to the Eagles, first in the 1960 NFL Championship Game, which was Vince Lombardi’s first and only playoff loss, and then in 2004 when the infamous “4th and 26” occurred. In that gut-wrenching defeat, the Eagles, down by three, faced a fourth down and 26 yards to go with just over a minute left. They converted and went on to hand Green Bay a heartbreaking 20-17 defeat.
The newest installment to this postseason series, which oddsmakers have deemed to claim Philadelphia as five-point favorites, could just boil down to two stories within the game, and how those play out may decide who advances and who cleans out their lockers on Monday.
Eagles fans held their collective breaths this week when waiting to hear about their star quarterback Jalen Hurts‘ progress through concussion protocol. The Eagles quarterback hasn’t played since he suffered a concussion and left a Dec. 22 game early against Washington. Hurts returned to practice this week, a sure sign he was healthy enough to make the postseason start, and on Friday he was deemed healthy enough to play against the Packers.
Hurts missed the final two games — where backups Kenny Pickett and Tanner McKee led the Eagles to victories — but led the Eagles on a 10-game winning streak before he was injured in a loss to the Commanders.
Head coach Nick Sirianni knows that the fortunes of his team ride on his QB1. “You always feel better when Jalen Hurts is on the field,” Sirianni said Friday.
The question is: Will the version of Hurts who led Philadelphia on that incredible win streak surface on Sunday, or will there be rust to knock off that slows down the Eagles’ high-powered offense?
It’s no secret: the Packers must be able to contain the Eagles’ multi-faceted offense and stay away from the big chunk plays. One way that Green Bay must do that is through their defensive ends, notably Rashan Gary, to set the edge and put pressure on Hurts, who is just coming back from his concussion.
Although he finished the 2024 regular season with 7.5 sacks, Gary has been inconsistent with the way he controls his edge this year. He had zero multi-sack games, and after he registered a sack in the season-opener against the Eagles in Brazil, Gary went five full games before getting another one in Game 7 on October 20 against Houston.
The presence of Saquon Barkley, the NFL’s leading rusher this year, sparks an additional daunting challenge. If Gary can set his edge and force Barkley to run between the tackles instead of unmolested outside, the Packers’ linebacking corps of Edgerrin Cooper and Quay Walker have a better chance of limiting the star running back’s effectiveness.
Will Gary be able to put pressure on Hurts, thereby speeding up the quarterback’s internal clock and disrupting the timing of getting the ball to his receivers? If so, Green Bay could spoil the Eagles’ Super Bowl plans.
Other factors that will determine the outcome of the Packers/Eagles game certainly exist. For instance, can Dontayvion Wicks, the Packers’ second-year wide receiver, fill the shoes of injured Christian Watson and pose a deep threat to Philadelphia’s defensive secondary? Can the Eagles’ defense stop Josh Jacobs enough to make the Packers one-dimensional?
All of these questions will certainly be answered by Sunday night.
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