Eagles Open Playoffs With 22-10 Win Over Packers Behind Stout Defense

PHILADELPHIA – There weren’t seven lead changes this time the Eagles and Packers met like there were on Sept. 6 in Brazil. This time, there wasn’t a single one.

The Eagles led from start to finish, taking advantage of a huge special teams play by Oren Burks and Jeremiah Trotter on the opening kickoff, to dispatch the feisty, undermanned Green Bay Packers, 22-10, in a wildcard playoff game at Lincoln Financial Field.

Burks drilled Packers kick returner Keisean Nixon to force a fumble that Trotter had to win a wrestling match to recover in a big pile up to give the Eagles the ball at the 28-yard line.

On the third play from there, Jalen Hurts found Jahan Dotson for an 11-yard touchdown. Hurts had 6.75 seconds to throw the ball, per Next Gen Stats, which is the longest time a quarterback has had to throw a touchdown pass all season long.

With a 7-0 lead, the Eagles were off and running. Sort of. With Hurts playing his first full game since Dec. 15, the offense was stop-and-start. Mostly stop.

The quarterback did, however, throw a 24-yard touchdown to Dallas Goedert, who stiff-armed Carrington Valentine a couple of time to turn the relatively short throw into a touchdown and 16-3 lead. It wasn’t 17-3 because Jake Elliott missed the PAT.

Hurts completed his first six passes and finished 13-for-21 with 131 yards, two TDs, and a passer rating of 111.4.

Saquon Barkley became the first running back to rush for 100 yards against the Packers since Joe Mixon did it in Week 7. He had 119 yards.

Green Bay (11-7) made things interesting by getting a 1-yard TD run from Josh Jacobs to pull within 16-10 on the first play of the fourth quarter.

The Eagles pushed it to 19-10 with a 30-yard field goal from Elliott with 7:36 to go then the defense forced a turnover on down on Green Bay’s next series and Elliott added another field goal, this one from 32 yards with 3:12 to play. to go in front 22-10.

The win made the Eagles 15-3 this season and they will wait to see who they host in next week’s divisional round. If Tampa Bay beats the Commanders in the late Sunday night game, it will be the Bucs who visit South Philly. If Washington wins, the Eagles will host the winner of Monday night’s game between the Rams and Vikings.

It was the Eagles’ first wildcard home victory since 2006 with Jeff Garcia and Brian Westbrook. They had been 0-3 since then.

TURNING POINT

Opening kickoff fumble. Oren Burks belted Packers returner Keisean Nixon to force a fumble that was recovered by Jeremiah Trotter, who won a wrestling match for the ball in the pileup that ensured after Nixon coughed it up. The Eagles got it at the 28 and on the third play from there got a touchdown pass from Jalen Hurts Jahan Dotson for a 7-0 just 69 seconds into the game.

STUDS

Nolan Smith. The second-year player continues to improve. He had two sacks and was a force in the run game.

Jahan Dotson. So what if he only caught one pass. It was an 11-yard touchdown on the third play of the Eagles’ first possession.

Jake Elliott. So what if he missed a PAT, his 30-yard boot with 7:33 and a 32-yard shot with 3:12 to go was clutch enough to earn a stud rating.

Darius Slay. The cornerback had his first interception of the season. He went through the regular season without one, which was just the second time that has happened in his career. The only other time was his rookie year in 2013.

Quinyon Mitchell. It finally happened for the rookie. He made his first pick of his career, doing so in the end zone on a heave from Jordan Love in the final two minutes.

Dallas Goedert. The tight end had a 24-yard TD catch that he needed to work hard to get and ended with four catches for 47 yards.

Reed Blankenship. The safety made a game-high 22 tackles.

Jalen Carter — Jan 12, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) drops back to pass against the Philadelphia Eagles during the first half in an NFC wild card game at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

DUDS

First half-offense. You could go with a glass half-full approach and credit both team’s defense, so this glass half-empty approach. The two teams combined for 326 yards worth the Eagles having 125 and the Packers 101. It didn’t get much better in the second half.

Turnovers to points. The Eagles had three first half turnover but just seven points off of them. The Eagles finished with four turnovers.

Jordan Love. The QB was so bad, he deserves a spot here. He threw three interceptions

INJURIES

-Cornerback Darius Slay left game with an elbow injury midway through the second quarter. Isaiah Rodgers came in. Slay returned later in the first half.

-Linebacker Nakobe Dean was carted to the locker room with a knee injury with 5:32 to play in the second quarter and was ruled out for the game. The fear is the injury is serious. Oren Burks stepped in for him.

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