Two turnovers by the defense deep in Philadelphia territory in the first quarter and the offense settled for six total points. A touchdown pass to Jayden Reed nullified by the offense having 12 men on the field.
Ten penalties costing 71 yards. A Déjà vu field goal bouncing wide off the upright. Dropped passes. Kesian Nixon returning the final kick out of the end zone. So many errors combined to derail this very winnable opening game of the 2024-2025 season.
The penalty against Romeo Doubs in the first quarter on a quality touchdown throw by Love that was dropped by Watson were symptomatic of the chances the Packers continued to repeat during the contest.
Jordon Love Interception
In all, Jordan Love’s-interception hurt most. The pick had Déjà vu similarities to last year’s playoff loss. The quick touchdown response by Philly brought back the same bad memories of giving a game away in the second half. Both the SF playoff interception and the Philadelphia pick were in the second half of the third quarter.
Love’s first SF playoff interception occurred with 2:18 left in the third. The Philadelphia interception occurred with 6:08 remaining in the third quarter. Both throws were intended for tight ends. And both started turns in momentum followed by rushed inaccurate throws and dropped passes.
While this loss is a bitter pill to swallow, the defeat might pale in comparison to Love’s injury in the final seconds. Break out your rosary beads or your Tibetan prayer bracelets Packer fans. Time to finish the fish fry and head straight to your nearest house of worship. We need Love suited up and healthy this year.
Love’s play was not perfect, but he made mostly good decisions and gave the team chances to win the game. The offense responded with four scoring drives after Eagle scores put Philly ahead. It might have been five if rookie kicker Braden Narveson had not bounced his 44-yard attempt off the post.
While the defense began the game looking like the new defense every Green and Gold fan has been waiting for, slowly the Eagles found the holes they could exploit.
Two turnovers by the defense in the first quarter, the first by free agent acquisition, Xavier McKinney could have set the Packers up for an early route. But multiple penalties on the offense crippled their drives early. Five penalties on the offense in their first three possessions.
Through all the missteps and blown chances, the offense switched to Emanuel Wilson and Jayden Reed as running options and things started to click.
Green Bay’s first touchdown drive was 70 yards, all done on the ground, with Wilson picking up 37 yards on three runs and Reed exploding for 33 yards on a jet sweep for the first of his two touchdowns. Reed’s next explosive play was a 70-yard catch and run, where Reed juked an attempted tackle with ease and seemed to glide into the end zone.
The highlights then faded, replaced by two illegal shift penalties and a punt on the next drive, followed up by Love’s interception. The Eagles four play touchdown after the pick turned a Packer lead into a five-point deficit that continued after Narveson’s shank. The Packers had a couple of late chances.
Momentum Change: Packers vs Eagles
Jaire Alexander tried to make up for being roasted by A.J. Brown on a 67-yard touchdown pass that opened the third quarter by intercepting Jalen Hurts in the end zone. Love then led a ten-play drive that got to the Eagle 8, but no farther. The Packers settled for a 26-yard field goal by Narveson to get to within two points.
The Packer blown two-point conversion and Narveson’s near miss looming large with nearly eight minutes to play. The defense then picked a tough time to collapse. Kenny Clark was called for a holding penalty on third and long trying to thwart an attempted screen and Philadelphia took advantage all the way to the one-yard line.
They kicked a field goal to seal the win. But with just over 20 seconds left Love hit Reed again giving the Packers the ball on Packer 49-yard line. Then the unthinkable happened as Love was hit and lay writhing in pain on the field for a long time before being helped up and limping off the field.
The Packers showed similar strengths and weaknesses as last year’s team in the SF playoff loss. Their offensive line was often overpowered by the Eagles defensive front. Especially early in the game. The defense tried to blitz Hurts but only got to him twice. But Philadelphia torched the defense with big plays.
Fours Eagles had plays of over 20 yards. A.J. Brown had two catches of 20 or more and Saquon Barkley had an 18-yard TD reception to go along with his 34 yard longest run.
In this game, the risk vs. reward of defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley’s new scheme allowed too many big plays. The year is just beginning, and this Philadelphia team is good. Now the improvement must appear for the Packers in 8 days. Next up, Indianapolis.
2 Comments
The offensive line was awful and probably contributed to the Love injury. The Packers neglected tackles in the off season and it showed
There’s no shame in losing to Philadelphia. The Eagles are one of the top 3 or 4 teams in the NFC. We obviously did not play our best football and still the lead changed hands four or five times. It was a very competitive game despite the mistakes that a young team will make.
I’ll take the Packers performance over the turd that Aaron Rodgers and the Jets pinched off against the 49ers any day of the week. Can we just stop with the Jets are a SB team nonsense?
The good news in all this is Jordan Love’s injury is only a level one MCL sprain with a 1 to 3 week turnaround time. Not all is lost.