The Good, Bad And Ugly From The Packers’ Season-Ending Loss To The Eagles

The story of the Green Bay Packers’ 2024 season will read like this:

When the Packers faced mediocre teams across the league — foes from the AFC South or the NFC West — they continually took care of business.

When Green Bay played the top teams in the NFC, they failed to deliver — time and time again.

The seventh-seeded Packers had their season end Sunday when second-seeded Philadelphia rolled to a 22-10 win in an NFC wild card game. The Eagles won the turnover battle, 4-0, never trailed and handed Green Bay its third straight loss.

The Packers finished the year 11-7, but went a dreadful 0-6 against the NFC’s top three teams — Detroit, Minnesota and Philadelphia. The Eagles improved to 15-3 and will host a divisional playoff game next week.

Packers head coach Matt LaFleur recently tried telling the world that games against the Jaguars or Colts were every bit as large as facing the Lions or Eagles.

“Every game is a big game,” LaFleur insisted. “Obviously we’ve lost to three of the best teams in the league … and that that is frustrating, because I think we’ve had opportunities in every one of those games to win the game, and we haven’t done that. So that’s why I have to answer, you know, these types of questions that are bothersome.”

What should be more bothersome to Packer Nation is how LaFleur’s team performed against the NFC’s elite.

Sunday contest was simply the latest example of a team that was ill-prepared, was crushed in the turnover department and played with almost no composure. The end result was Green Bay — which finished the 2023 season trending upward — didn’t take the step in 2024 that many believed it would.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly from the Eagles’ win over the Packers:

THE GOOD

DEFENSE BATTLES: As Green Bay’s offense and special teams were melting down in the first half, the Packers’ defense kept them in the game.

Green Bay allowed just 125 total yards and 39 passing yards in the first half. The Eagles also had just seven first downs.

Philadelphia’s lone touchdown drive was only 28 yards, following a fumbled kickoff by Keisean Nixon. Had the Packers’ defense not shined, their halftime deficit would have been much worse than 10-0.

MAN ON A MISSION: Josh Jacobs had perhaps his finest run as a Packer, ripping off a 31-yard run on the final play of the third quarter.

Jacobs ran through an arm tackle by Oren Burks at the 20, broke two tackles at the 10 and carried two Eagles to the ½-yard line. Jacobs then scored on the opening play of the fourth quarter pulling Green Bay within 16-10.

TUSH PUSH: Green Bay had a third-and-1 from the Eagles’ 36 early in the second quarter. Tight end Tucker Kraft went under center for a “tush push” and was initially stuffed in the hole.

But Kraft bounced off right guard, got help from his offensive line, and plowed ahead for eight yards.

Kraft picked up another fourth-and-1 play on that same drive with a 2-yard gain.

THE BAD

POSTERIZED: Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert had a 24-yard touchdown reception late in the third quarter in which he ran over and through a tackle attempt by cornerback Carrington Valentine.

Goedert caught a ball in the left flat and ran right over Valentine at the 20-yard line. Goedert issued a nasty stiff arm to Valentine at the 12 and another one at the 3 on his way to the endzone, giving the Eagles a 16-3 lead.

NO COMPOSURE: Green Bay cornerback Keisean Nixon and defensive tackle T.J. Slaton were both called for unnecessary roughness penalties in the fourth quarter.

The first penalty on Nixon helped the Eagles drive for a field goal and take a 19-10 lead. The second one on Slaton helped set up a field goal that gave Philadelphia a 22-10 advantage.

In both instances, Green Bay needed to preserve clock and get the ball back. Instead, each penalty gave the Eagles first downs that allowed Philadelphia to burn more clock and eventually kick field goals.

ODD PLAY CALLS: Green Bay trailed, 19-10 with 6 minutes left when it had a third-and-3 on its own 41-yard line. Instead of throwing the ball and preserving the clock, Packers coach Matt LaFleur called a run play to Emanuel Wilson that gained nothing.

On fourth-and-3, Jordan Love threw an out route to Malik Heath on the left sideline. The pass was too far towards the sideline, though, Heath did a poor job adjusting, then the wideout couldn’t get his feet down.

Philadelphia took over with 5 minutes left and a two score lead, and Green Bay never challenged again.

THIS AND THAT: Packers center Josh Myers left on a cart late in the game with an apparent knee injury. … Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur fell to 3-5 in the postseason. … Packers reserve tight end John FitzPatrick was called for holding during the kickoff on Green Bay’s second possession. That forced the Packers to start at their own 13-yard line. … Dontayvion Wicks made a feeble attempt on Jordan Love’s first interception. Love’s deep ball for Wicks was underthrown, but instead of adjusting and at least playing defense, Wicks fell harmlessly to the turf and Eagles cornerback Darius Slay intercepted Love’s errant throw. … Packers kicker Brandon McManus missed a 38-yard field goal in the second quarter. McManus entered the game 20-of-21 on field goals this season (95.3%).

THE UGLY

KILLER START: Green Bay’s Keisean Nixon fumbled away the opening kickoff when he was leveled by ex-Packer Oren Burks. Philadelphia’s Jeremiah Trotter Jr. then recovered at Green Bay’s 28.

Three plays later, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts had 6.8 seconds to throw and hit Jahan Dotson for an 11-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.

The Packers — a substantial road underdog — needed to start strong. Instead, everything went wrong — and for the most part, that never changed.

JORDAN LOVE: Love had a brutal day, throwing three interceptions, no touchdowns and finishing with a 41.5 passer rating.

The Packers lost wideouts Romeo Doubs (head) and Jayden Reed (stinger), which didn’t help. But Love wasn’t sharp from the start and had the worst playoff performance of his young career.

FIRST HALF FOIBLES: Green Bay managed just 101 yards of offense and six first downs in the first half. The Packers averaged just 3.4 yards per play and 3.2 yards per rushing attempt.

Quarterback Jordan Love was dreadful, throwing two terrible interceptions and finishing the half with a 31.9 passer rating.

Darius Slay intercepted an underthrown Love pass on the first play of the second quarter. While Love’s ball was far from ideal, wideout Dontayvion Wicks also didn’t fight for it, allowing Slay a free play on the ball.

Love’s second interception was even worse, as he threw a pass directly to linebacker Zack Baun. Tight end Tucker Kraft stumbled getting off the line of scrimmage, and Love appeared to throw to a spot he anticipated Kraft being. That never happened, though, and Baun had perhaps the easiest interception of his five-year career.

TRAVIS GLOVER: Green Bay’s rookie sixth round draft pick was forced into action after Elgton Jenkins left early with a stinger.

Glover, who played just 13 snaps during the regular season, wasn’t close to being ready.

In just 1 ½ quarters of work, Glover had three penalties — two holding calls and an illegal man downfield flag. Finally with 2 minutes left in the first half, the Packers had seen enough and replaced Glover with Kadeem Telfort.