Eagles take care of business vs. Packers, move on to divisional round

PHILADELPHIA — In a game where quarterback Jalen Hurts and the passing game struggled to get going, the Philadelphia Eagles leaned on their top-ranked defense to fend off the Green Bay Packers 22-10 in the wild-card round of the playoffs Sunday.

Packers quarterback Jordan Love hadn’t thrown an interception since Nov. 17 against the Chicago Bears — a streak spanning seven-plus games — but was picked off twice in the first half, including in the closing minute by First Team All-Pro linebacker Zack Baun.

The Eagles finished the regular season first in yards allowed per play (4.7) and second in points allowed per game (17.8). Vic Fangio’s unit smothered a Packers offense that was missing receiver Christian Watson (torn ACL) and lost more players along the way, including fellow receiver Romeo Doubs.

Hurts was out of sync after missing the last two games of the regular season with a concussion. Receiver A.J. Brown also wasn’t his normal dominant self (one catch for 10 yards) after he was absent for two days of practice with a knee injury this week.

This Eagles proved through the regular season they are good enough to muscle through games when one area of the operation isn’t clicking, and they showed they can do it even in the playoffs when the competition is stiffer.

The offense will need to be better to keep the season rolling.

Eye-popping stat: Hurts went 90 minutes between completed passes before heating up late in the third quarter. He had managed 39 passing yards on 6-of-13 passing before going 3-of-3 for 61 yards on a drive beginning with 5:46 left in the third quarter, which was capped off by a stiff-arm-fueled 24-yard touchdown catch-and-run by tight end Dallas Goedert.

Pivotal play: Down nine points midway through the fourth quarter, the Packers needed a scoring drive to keep hope alive. It looked for a moment like Love completed a fourth-and-3 pass to receiver Malik Heath, but Heath came down with the catch out of bounds for a turnover on downs.

Most surprising performance: Former Packers linebacker Oren Burks set the tone for the game with a huge hit on returner Keisean Nixon on the opening kickoff, jarring the ball loose for an Eagles takeaway that led to seven points. Burks also filled in for an injured Nakobe Dean on defense and had five tackles. — Tim McManus

For most of Sunday’s game, the Packers defense did its part.

The offense and special teams, not so much.

If that sounds familiar, it’s because the Packers lost a playoff game in nearly identical fashion to the San Francisco 49ers in the 2021 divisional round in a 13-10 game.

In that game, the Packers were the No. 1 seed.

This time, they were the underdogs at No. 7 trying to upset the second-seeded Eagles. They pulled off that same 2-7 upset in last year’s playoffs when they won at the Dallas Cowboys. But that season, they went into the playoffs with all kinds of momentum, winning six of their last eight regular-season games. This season, they limped in on a two-game losing streak.

It didn’t help that Love finished the game without his top three receivers. After Watson was lost to a torn ACL in the regular-season finale, Doubs (evaluated for a concussion) and Jayden Reed (shoulder) dropped out in the second half. Love was 6-for-6 targeting Reed and Doubs before they left with their injuries but had little success elsewhere. He finished the game 20-of-33 for 212 yards, 0 TDs and 3 INTs.

The Packers fell to 0-6 against the NFC’s top teams, losing twice each to the Eagles, Lions and Vikings this season.

Troubling trend: If it’s a playoff game, that must mean the Packers will have breakdowns on special teams. The game started with Nixon’s fumbled kickoff return and then Brandon McManus (who had missed one kick all season) was wide right from 38 yards in the second quarter in a 10-0 game. Last year’s playoff loss to the 49ers included a missed field goal with 6:21 remaining, and the 2021 divisional loss to the 49ers saw the Packers get a field goal blocked and blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown.

Troubling trend II: The Packers fell to 1-12 with Love as the starter when they’ve been behind by at least 10 points in a game, including playoffs. The lone win came against the Saints in Week 3 last season, when they turned a 17-0 deficit into an 18-17 victory. Love has lost 11 straight such games since.

Biggest hole in the game plan: The Packers didn’t have a viable plan after they lost former Pro Bowl left guard Elgton Jenkins to a shoulder injury/stinger in the first half. First, they tried rookie sixth-round pick Travis Glover, who had played only 13 snaps all season. Glover lasted only 20 snaps and was pulled after three penalties — two holds and an ineligible downfield infraction. Kadeem Telfort replaced him at the two-minute warning of the first half and was called for a holding penalty in the third quarter. — Rob Demovsky

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