Packers-Eagles Matchups: Who Has Advantage in Tush Push Bowl?

When the NFL schedule came out in April, Monday’s game was likely one that was circled in everyone’s mind.

The Philadelphia Eagles are the defending Super Bowl champions and beat the Packers twice last season. Moreover, Eagles coach Nick Sirianni is 3-0 against Matt LaFleur.

This game looked like an opportunity for the Packers to prove how far they had come. Last year, of course, the Packers not only went 0-2 against the Eagles but 0-6 against the top teams in the NFC.

This year, so far at least, has been a different story. The Packers have beaten Detroit and Pittsburgh by multiple scores while struggling against inferior opponents.

The Eagles are not an inferior opponent. They sit atop the NFC standings, thanks to Green Bay’s loss last week in Carolina.

With last week’s trip-up, this week’s game became even more important.

Here is our weekly look at the matchups for when the Eagles come to Lambeau Field.

Eagles Pass Offense vs. Packers Pass Defense

Jalen Hurts is a bit of an enigma.

One week, his head coach is comparing him to Michael Jordan. Other weeks, his receivers are taking passive-aggressive shots at him on social media.

Wins and losses may not be a quarterback stat, but wins are what quarterbacks are paid to produce. Few have won more games than Jalen Hurts the last three years. The Eagles have played in two Super Bowls and won one. Hurts was the better quarterback in both of those games.

This year, Hurts has thrown 15 touchdowns to just one interception. His 114.4 passer rating ranks fourth in the league.

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) rushes the ball against the Green Bay Packers during their wild-card game. | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

The kicker here is that Hurts, despite the usual brilliance of his offensive line combined with his running ability, has been sacked 25 times.

Will the Packers try to rush him?

Last year, defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley largely employed a “mush rush,” which was oddly enough made famous by former Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson. The goal was to keep Hurts in the pocket and not allow him to hurt him with his legs.

How the Packers approach Hurts this time around remains to be seen.

Micah Parsons is coming off a game in which he was shut out. He had one pressure and zero sacks but was given a lot of extra attention in the rare instances when the Panthers tried to throw downfield. He’s played a lot of games against Philadelphia’s excellent tackle tandem of Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson. When he lines up against Johnson, it’s a matchup between two future Hall of Famers, and likely the best matchup of the night.

If Hurts is seeing the field and finding his receivers, the Eagles have a decided advantage at the skill positions.

Nate Hobbs is injured and will miss Monday’s game. That means it’ll be the trio of cornerbacks Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine and nickel Javon Bullard lining up across from the Eagles’ dynamic receiving duo of A.J. Brown and Devonta Smith. Tight end Dallas Goedert still has some gas left in his tank, as well.

If the Packers are going to slow down Philadelphia’s passing game, they’ll have to harass Hurts.

If the pressure wins, Green Bay should win. If it doesn’t, there could be some big plays coming for Philadelphia’s offense.

Advantage: Push

Eagles Rush Offense vs. Packers Run Defense

The biggest question of the week is whether Green Bay’s recent struggles against the run are a blip on the radar or the start of a dangerous trend.

If there’s a team that should be able to help emphatically answer that question one way or the other, it’s the bully on the block coming to Lambeau Field. The Eagles rode a dominant ground game to the Super Bowl last year, led by the sensational Saquon Barkley.

Barkley rushed for 2,005 yards in the regular season and had three 100-yard rushing games in the playoffs, including one against the Packers. He had 11 100-yard rushing games in the regular season, including 255 yards against the Rams.

Barkley’s performance earned him the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year honors.

This season, however, has been a different story.

Barkley only has one game of 100-plus rushing yards. However, that came in Barkley’s most recent game, when he ran for 150 yards, including a 65-yard touchdown on the first snap, against the Giants before the bye.

Green Bay’s defense was ranked atop the NFL against the run before traveling to Pittsburgh two weeks ago. A modest performance against the Steelers dropped them to third. Then they were beaten over the head by Rico Dowdle for 130 yards on 25 carries. Dowdle was the first running back to top the century mark against Green Bay.

The overall numbers still look good. Green Bay is ranked fifth with 89.4 rushing yards allowed per game and ninth with 3.95 yards allowed per carry. Philadelphia, almost inexplicably, is ranked 19th with 111.6 rushing yards per game and 21st with 4.10 yards per carry. It’s even more incredible when you consider the type of running threat that Jalen Hurts can be as a quarterback.

One other matchup of note is the Packers against the Eagles’ famed “Tush Push.”

Former Packers President Mark Murphy led the NFL’s charge in attempting to get the play banned this offseason, but to no avail. The Eagles, who mocked the Packers on social media immediately after the vote failed, are unlikely to have forgotten.

If anyone is petty enough to make that play a focal point of this game, it’s Eagles coach Nick Sirianni. The bet here is the Eagles will run that play on the first play from scrimmage if they get the ball first just to twist the knife.

“Sh**, if you ask the Eagles offensive players, they’ll probably say that’s the best thing we’re doing on offense right now,” Packers defensive end Micah Parsons said recently. “It’s the most consistent thing they’ve got. That might come [back] and bite me one day. But it is what it is. I hate that play.

“I don’t think you’ll find one defensive player in the league that’s like, ‘Oh, yeah, go tush push. We got to learn how to stop it.’ You can’t stop it if they leaving early. It’s impossible. It’s an unfair advantage. You got 320-pound momentum coming early on the play. Like, whatever, but gotta find a way.”

On traditional run plays, this matchup is a tough call, but the NFL is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately league. In addition, we’re almost betting on track records at this point.

The Eagles’ offensive line, Barkley and their rushing attack have a better track record than that of the Packers, who before last season were the worst team in the NFL defending the run during Matt LaFleur’s tenure.

Perhaps the Eagles will continue to be below average on the ground Monday night, but if we’re betting on track records, the Eagles hold the edge.

Advantage: Eagles

Eagles Pass Defense vs. Packers Passing Offense

Green Bay’s passing offense was able to help move the ball up and down the field against Carolina’s defense on Sunday. Jordan Love threw for more than 270 yards, and they were in the red zone on nearly every possession.

The issue was once they got into the red zone, they tripped over themselves with one touchdown in five possessions.

“Well, we thrive on some explosive plays, and when you’re not getting them, and when you’ve got to just move the ball down the field consistently,” Matt LaFleur said after the game.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) passes the ball against the Philadelphia Eagles during their wild-card game. | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

“We’ve had penalties, we obviously had a fumble on the first drive. We had three possessions in the first half, a nine-play drive, a nine-play drive, and a 10-play drive, and we had six points. So, it’s going to be tough if we can’t figure s*** out and score in the red area, it’s just going to be tough to win football games like that.”

One other thing the Packers need to figure out is how to mitigate the loss of Tucker Kraft.

Kraft was lost for the season with an ACL injury on Sunday, and the Packers’ offense will have to evolve without him.

With Kraft on the bench, their sets with multiple tight ends should lessen dramatically.

From our estimation, with the type of football played by Kraft’s likely replacement, Luke Musgrave, the Packers should be working to spread teams out and allow Jordan Love to dictate how Green Bay’s offense will play.

Josh Jacobs is a great player, but the ground game simply hasn’t gotten going with any consistency. Green Bay’s best bet at moving the ball is on the shoulders of its quarterback and a receiving corps that is still deep and could be getting Dontayvion Wicks back this week.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Eagles just made moves for some reinforcements.

They traded for outside linebacker Jaelen Phillips, cornerback Michael Carter II and former Packers All-Pro cornerback Jaire Alexander before the trade deadline.

It’s unclear how the Eagles are going to line up their new personnel in the secondary, but they certainly needed a boost.

Quinyon Mitchell is one of the best cornerbacks in football. He moves to both sides of the formation to shadow an opposing team’s best receiver, especially in key situations. It’ll be interesting to see how defensive coordinator Vic Fangio deploys Mitchell with the Packers not having a top-tier receiver like some other teams the Eagles have faced.

In addition to Mitchell, Cooper DeJean is one of the NFL’s best nickel corners. There had been some discussion to moving him outside, but they may not do that with the additions of Carter and Alexander.

Up front, the Eagles are missing their best pass rusher. Nolan Smith, who tormented the Packers with two sacks in the Eagles’ 22-10 playoff victory, was just designated to return from injured reserve, but is unlikely to be back for Monday’s game.

In his absence, the Eagles have relied on a committee and undergone a lot of turnover.

Former Packers star Za’Darius Smith was on the team for a few weeks but retired suddenly. In the wake of his retirement, they pulled Eagles legend Brandon Graham out of retirement. He could make his debut on Monday night. The aforementioned Phillips will likely make his debut, albeit in a limited fashion.

The key guy to block up front for the Eagles is defensive tackle Jalen Carter. Carter is one of the best interior defensive linemen in football, and the Packers have struggled against players like him this season. He has only one sack but leads the team with nine quarterback hits.

By raw numbers, the Eagles rank 17th in the NFL against the pass. They are 12th in passing yards per attempt, 17th in interception percentage and 24th in sack percentage.

They play a similar style to that of Carolina’s Ejiro Evero, and could force Love and LaFleur to stay patient to move the ball down the field.

The bet here is that the Packers learned their lesson from last week, and in the wake of the loss of Kraft, LaFleur will rely more on his franchise quarterback to move the ball against a stingy Eagles defense.

Advantage: Packers

Eagles Rush Defense vs. Green Bay’s Rush Offense

This week’s matchup on the ground is, in essence, a relatively stoppable force meeting a movable object.

Green Bay’s ground game is downright mediocre, and almost any yard gained is to the credit of Josh Jacobs, who gains more than 80 percent of his yards after contact.

Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs celebrates after scoring against the Eagles in last year's playoffs. | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

The Eagles’ rushing defense is ranked 19th with 120.4 yards allowed per game and 21st with 4.44 yards allowed per carry. They recently got linebacker Nakobe Dean back, and are working through having him, first-team All-Pro Zach Baun and rookie sensation Jihaad Campbell all healthy and able to play.

The loss of Kraft is something that should affect the ground game, as well. He was Green Bay’s best blocker at tight end.

Luke Musgrave can help the offense as a vertical threat, but his blocking leaves a lot to be desired.

With the way the Packers have blocked for Jacobs this year, that’s pretty appropriate.

Advantage: Push

Special Teams

Philadelphia’s special teams is led by its veteran kicker, Jake Elliott. Elliott struggled last year, especially on longer field goals. He’s 7-of-9 this season, with a miss in each of the last two games. He is taken out of the game to some degree with the Eagles’ ability to convert in short-yardage situations on fourth down.

On kickoff returns, running back Will Shipley gets most of the work. He’s averaging 28.6 yards per return and a 41-yarder in his last game. On punt returns, receiver Jahan Dotson has a 9.6-yard average. The Eagles have six returns and 12 fair catches.

Punter Braden Mann is second with a 52.4-yard average and 13th with a 42.1-yard net.

Green Bay’s special teams is in flux with one of its aces, linebacker Nick Niemann, being placed on injured reserve after suffering a pectoral injury against the Steelers. He was replaced by Kristian Welch for one week, who was subsequently released and re-signed to the practice squad.

Brandon McManus has kicked two games in a row, but Lucas Havrisik is still on the roster. Is that trying to make sure McManus is healthy? Is it a built-in competition for McManus? The trade deadline was Tuesday, so the idea that they were posturing for a trade should be over by now.

Did McManus missing a kick against Carolina force Green Bay to take another look at their kicking situation?

Who knows at this point, but the instability on special teams is nothing new in Green Bay. McManus was supposed to be a solution to that, but he has really struggled this season.

Their punt-return game has been messy, but it looks like the Packers are settling on sure-handed Romeo Doubs in the absence of making an addition. Savion Williams had a nice kickoff return before the first half ended on Sunday. He has been inconsistent but there are some high-end flashes.

Ultimately, the Eagles are more stable and much more explosive in the return game.