The Green Bay Packers are headed to the offseason after suffering a 22-10 defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles during Sunday’s NFC Wild Card Round.
A betting underdog going in, the Packers needed a lot to go right to beat the 14-3 Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Instead, a lot went wrong — especially early and then again late — and the Eagles walked away with a mostly comfortable 12-point win.
A combination of a slow start, more crippling injuries, a struggling passing game, a lack of takeaways and a terrible finish was more than enough to end the Packers’ 2024 season.
Here are the five biggest reasons why the Packers lost in Philadelphia on Sunday:
Another slow start
In four previous losses against the Vikings and Lions, the Packers fell behind by at least two scores and couldn’t make up the deficit. On Sunday, the Packers crafted another nightmare start, with a fumble on the opening kickoff setting up a touchdown on the Eagles’ third play and two Jordan Love interceptions and a missed field goal helping create a 10-0 deficit that held deep into the third quarter. It’s so difficult to play from behind in big games, especially in the postseason on the road. The Packers needed a fast start to build some in-game momentum and confidence but did the exact opposite.
Elgton Jenkins injury
The Packers were already without Jaire Alexander and Christian Watson. And when Elgton Jenkins suffered a shoulder injury early in the first half, the house of cards started crumbling. Rookie Travis Glover committed three penalties before he was pulled. Kadeem Telfort fared little better. The Packers offensive line, a strength for so much of the 2024 season, had major issues against one of the NFL’s most talented fronts. Not only did the backups commit four total penalties, but the Eagles sacked Jordan Love twice and mostly bottled-up Josh Jacobs in the run game. Not having first-round pick Jordan Morgan (injured reserve) available as a backup plan by Jenkins was a killer. And the injuries didn’t stop — Devonte Wyatt, Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed, Quay Walker, Josh Jacobs and Josh Myers all left or were hobbled by injuries.
Putrid passing game
Jordan Love threw three interceptions, took two sacks and averaged only 6.4 yards per attempt. His 41.5 passer rating was befitting of the overall performance from the Packers passing game. Only once — on a 29-yard contested catch by Dontayvion Wicks against a blitz — did the Packers hit on a shot down the field. The rest was all underneath completions. Love undershot a go ball to Wicks on his first interception, and he didn’t see Zack Baun on his second. Malik Heath missed two opportunities for big plays — he stumbled coming out of his break and just missed a touchdown catch, and he failed to get two feet down inbounds on a late fourth down. Love wasn’t good enough individually and wasn’t the elevator his team needed him to be in a big spot. The Packers didn’t execute in the passing game, continuing a trend that had origins in the regular season, and it cost them dearly Sunday.
No takeaways
The defense kept the Packers in the game for long stretches, but the performance from Jeff Hafley’s group was missing one important characteristic: a takeaway. The Eagles punted five times but played turnover-free football. The Packers were struggling to sustain drives and needed a spark or a short field, and it never arrived. Green Bay forced 31 takeaways during the regular season but failed to get one in the postseason. Thanks to four giveaways — three by the offense and one by the special teams — the Packers lost the turnover battle 4-0. No one is winning in Philadelphia against a 14-win team losing the turnover battle by four.
The finish
Josh Jacobs’ 1-yard touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter cut the Eagles’ lead to 16-10. It was a six-point game with almost 15 minutes to play, providing a real opportunity for the Packers to overcome the early stumbles and steal the game. Four possessions in the fourth quarter — two by the Packers, two by the Eagles — decided the winner. After giving up the touchdown, the Eagles calmly drove the field, getting a fourth down conversion and a 15-yard penalty (Keisean Nixon) to set up a field goal. At 19-10, the Packers had to go score-stop-score to win. Instead, the Packers got stuffed on a third down run and then Malik Heath couldn’t get two feet down on fourth down. Turnover on downs. The Eagles were then on the receiving end of another 15-yard penalty (TJ Slaton) and kicked another field goal to extend the lead to 22-10 with just over three minutes to go. Love’s interception into the end zone (which should have been negated by defensive pass interference) ended any threat of a comeback. The Packers had their chance. The finish was a failure.