The Green Bay Packers lost the ball early in the game, led 10-0 at halftime, lost points on both goals and were ultimately defeated by the Philadelphia Eagles 22-10 in Sunday’s NFC Wild Card round.
The 2024 season is now over for the Packers, who finished the season 11-6, third in the NFC North and the No. 7 seed in the NFC. Matt LaFleur’s team lost 6-0 to the Eagles, Vikings and Lions, ending the year with a three-game losing streak.
Here are the good, the bad and the ugly from the Packers’ loss to the Eagles:
Good
Defense: Where would this game have gone if the Packers defense had not held their own in several crucial moments? The Eagles only scored 22 points, and seven of them were gift-wrapped after Keisean Nixon’s miscue. The Packers allowed only two-thirds of the conversions and gained 290 total yards, and Jalen Hurts completed only 13 passes. The Eagles averaged just 5.1 yards per play, well below their season average, and scored just one red zone touchdown in four outings. The Packers defense took a few huge penalties delayed, but otherwise played well enough to win. At least the defense kept Matt LaFleur’s team in the game. The remaining two phases ended in failure.
Bad
Jordan Love and the passing game: Love’s first pass was almost intercepted when he airmailed Dontayvion Wicks over the middle. It was a sign of things to come for the Packers passing game. Love struggled to score on the field, throwing three interceptions, missing a touchdown pass and taking two sacks, including one on third down. Nearly all of the play – with the exception of Wicks’ 29-yard catch versus a blitz – came on low passes under the Eagles’ zone. In Love’s first pick, he narrowly beat Wicks on the go-ball against Darius Slay. In his second over, he never saw Zack Baun and bowled a bad ball up the middle. In the second half, Malik Heath stumbled coming out of halftime, missed a touchdown catch and then failed to get two feet out of bounds on fourth down. Very little went right in the passing game that played out throughout the 2024 season. The Packers needed a much better performance from Love and everyone else in the passing game to go on the road in Philadelphia and win.
Ugly
Beginning: It would be complex to create a worse start. Keisean Nixon fumbled early in the game, Jalen Hurts threw a touchdown pass on the Eagles’ third drive, and the Packers responded with a quick three-and-out. Add to that a crippling injury to Elgton Jenkins and a heated streak during which the Eagles quickly passed Saquon Barkley and Jalen Hurts and the Packers were injured and took a 10-0 lead at halftime. Giving up two points has been a recurring theme for the Packers in crucial games in 2024.
Injuries: The Packers were without Christian Watson and Jaire Alexander after season-ending injuries. Then Devonte Wyatt went down early. And then Elgton Jenkins, Romeo Doubs. Jayden Reed and Josh Myers. Even Josh Jacobs struggled delayed with an injury. The Packers finished with Dontayvion Wicks, Malik Heath and Bo Melton at receiver. Jenkins’ injury was stern because Travis Glover and Kadeem Telfort were NOT ready for the huge stage – they committed four penalties and struggled from start to finish.
