The Eagles are starting the playoffs the same way they started the regular season, playing against the Green Bay Packers. This time, it's on their home field and not in Brazil. When these teams met in Week 1, it was a high-scoring affair, with both team's run games playing a big role in that. The Packers had 163 rush yards and one rushing touchdown on 21 carries, averaging 7.8 yards per carry! This game was Saquon Barkley's Eagles debut, and he scored 109 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries while adding 23 yards and one more touchdown through the air.
The rest of the Eagles run game somewhat struggled, with Hurts averaging just 2.5 YPC on 13 carries and Kenneth Gainwell having just one carry for two yards. Both Jordan Love and Jalen Hurts threw two touchdowns; however, Hurts also had two interceptions, and Love threw a pick to Reed Blakenship late in the game. Packer slot guy Jayden Reed had 138 receiving yards, 33 rushing yards, and two touchdowns, one through the air and one on the ground. He'll have a tougher matchup this time around, as he'll be facing Cooper DeJean instead of Avonte Maddox.
Game Info
Date: January 12th, 2025
Start Time: 4:30 PM ET
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Stadium: Lincoln Financial Field
TV Info: FOX (Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady on the call)
Eagles Uniform Info: Green helmet, green jerseys, white pants
Packers Statistical Rankings
Points Per Game: 27.1 (8th)
Points Allowed Per Game: 19.9 (6th)
Offensive Yards Per Game: 370.5 (5th)
Passing/Rushing Yards Per Game: 223.6 (12th) | 146.8 (5th)
Defensive Yards Allowed Per Game: 314.5 (5th)
Passing/Rushing Yards Allowed Per Game: 215.2 (13th) | 99.4 (7th)
Third Down Offensive/Defensive Conversion Rate: 39.5% (15th) | 37.5% (12th)
Red Zone Offensive/Defensive Conversion Rate: 59.4% (10th) | 60.0% (20th)
Penalties: 112 (12th)
Penalty Yardage: 832 (12th)
Players Already Ruled Out
Packers: WR Christian Watson, RB MarShawn Lloyd
Eagles: DT Byron Young, TE CJ Uzomah
Green Bay Packers
Defense
The last time this defense lined up across Jalen Hurts and Co., they gave up 34 points and 410 total yards. This was Saquon Barkley's Eagles debut, and he showed up with three total touchdowns and 132 total yards. The Eagles elite receiving duo also performed well, with AJ Brown having 119 yards on five receptions and catching a TD pass. DeVonta Smith had seven receptions for 84 yards. The man passing them the football, Jalen Hurts, didn't perform the greatest, but with his 34 pass attempts, he had 20 completions for 278 yards and two TDs; the only reason I say he didn't perform the best was that, along with those two TDs were two interceptions. The Packers did a great job forcing takeaways in this game and forced and recovered a fumble off Hurts. This was an uncharacteristic start to the season for a defense that gives up just 19.9 points and 314 yards a game. They finished the season as the seventh-best running defense in the league, so things may be more challenging for Barkley this time.
This defense will be without their CB1, Jaire Alexander, who was injured in late October and has been trying to return to action since. He suffered a torn posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and underwent surgery; Head Coach Matt LeFleur says he's most likely done until next year. The Packers' secondary has been in the middle of the line this season, ranking 13th in opponent passing yards per game and yards per pass. They face 33.2 pass attempts per game, the 15th most in the league. Their run defense is the stronger part of this team, but overall, they rank in the top six in opponent PPG, YPG, and yards per play.
Offense
Jordan Love finished the season with 3,389 passing yards, 25 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. Love was only sacked 14 times in his 15 games played; the Packers O Line has only given up 22 on the season, the second-fewest in the league! Green Bay did not have any 1,000-yard receivers; Jayden Reed led the team with 857 yards and had the second-most TD grabs on the team with six. TE Tucker Kraft had a great season, totaling 50 receptions for 707 yards and a team-high seven TDs. Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs had over 600 yards; Doubs reeled in four TDs, and Watson had two. Doubs had 46 receptions, and 33 of them went for a first down; he led the team in that stat. Star RB Josh Jacobs played a slight role in the passing game, reeling in 36 receptions for 342 yards and one TD, the only receiving TD of his career.
Jacobs did A LOT more on the ground, though, proving the Packers right for signing him in free agency. He carried the ball 301 times, the second most in a single season. He ran for 1,329 yards with career highs in first downs with 73 and touchdowns with 15. Of his six seasons in the league, Jacobs has run for over 1,000 rushing yards in four of them. Emmanuel Wilson was the only other player to have 200+ rushing yards, with 502 yards on 103 carries and four touchdowns. It was an outstanding sophomore season for him after having just 14 carries in his seven games last season. The only other players to have over 100 yards on the ground were backup QB Malik Willis and WR Jayden Reed. Both players had 20 carries, having the first and second-highest YPC on the team, and both ran in a score.
Philadelphia Eagles
Defense
The saying goes, “Defense wins championships”, and if that’s the case, the Eagles are in luck because their defense has been top tier playing as arguably the best defense in the entire league. DT Jalen Carter was voted Second Team All-Pro, and free agent pickup LB Zach Baun received First Team All-Pro, which is not even half the firepower this team has. The Eagles went corner with their first and second-round pick this year, drafting Quinyon Mitchell out of Toledo and Cooper DeJean out of Iowa, and both have been quality starters for the Birds putting up some of the best numbers at their position in their first year in the league. Two of the team's million Georgia Bulldog alums had breakout years. Nolan Smith filled the absence of Hassan Reddick. While it’s a lot to ask a second-year player to put up the same numbers as a seasoned vet and one of the best edge rushers in football, he played better than expected. In his rookie year, he had 18 tackles and one sack. This year he had 42 tackles, 6.5 sacks, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries. Nakobe Dean’s first two seasons were disappointing, but he’s turned it around this year. In his first two seasons, he combined for 43 tackles and half a sack. This season, he had 128 tackles, second most on the team, three sacks, nine TFLs, four pass deflections, one interception, one forced fumble, and two fumble recoveries. CJ Gardner Johnson returned to Philly after a one-year hiatus in Detroit. He led the team with six interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown, the Birds’ only defensive TD on the season.
As a team, they’ve put up some elite numbers. They give up the second least PPG, allowing just 17.8 per game, first in yards allowed per game with 278.4, first in opponent yards per play at 4.7, third in TDs allowed per game at 1.9, and they allow opponents to convert on third down just 35.5% of the time, third best in the league, and they allow TDs in the red zone just 50% of the time, fifth best in the league. Teams run the ball against less than 25 other teams. The Birds face 24.5 runs per game, allowing just 104.2 yards on 4.3 YPC per game, and they give up the second-fewest rushing TDs of any team. Their secondary pushed this D from good to great, giving up the fewest pass yards per game, allowing just 174.2 per game! They give up a league-best six yards per pass and hold teams to a 62.2% completion percentage, sixth-best in the league. They do all this while facing 31.9 pass attempts per game.
Offense
While the Philly defense is the most impressive part of this team, the offense is nothing to overlook. Despite the constant backlash and belittlement all season, Jalen Hurts had another good year after a rocky start. He had seven turnovers in the first four weeks of the season, four interceptions, and the Birds started 2-2. Hurts finished the season with just five interceptions and four fumbles, losing two of them. He also did his thing on the ground, putting up 630 yards, third most by any quarterback, and 14 rushing touchdowns, which is the most of any quarterback and fifth most by any player in the NFL. AJ Brown had another 1,000-yard season; in his six-year career, he’s only had under 1,000 yards once, which happened in 2021 with the Titans when he played 13 games. He also snagged seven touchdowns, second most on the team. He averaged a team-high 16.1 yards per reception. His right-hand man, DeVonta Smith, didn’t hit the 1,000-yard mark this season after doing it the last two years, but he did have a career-high and team-leading eight touchdowns while playing a career-low 13 games. He still finished the season with 833 yards on 68 receptions; it was also the first year Smitty had under 100 targets.
The centerpiece of this dynamic offense has been Saquon Barkley, who has had a career year, is an MVP candidate, was named First Team All-Pro, and was selected to the Pro Bowl. The only thing that could make this season more legendary for him is if he ends it with the Lombardi in his hands and a ring on his finger. Barkley had 345 carries for 2,005 yards and 13 TDs, averaging 5.8 YPC. He set career highs in carries, yards, YPC, TDs, and first downs. Saquon also added 33 receptions, 278 yards, and two TDs through the air. His backup, Kenneth Gainwell, contributed to the run game, having 290 yards and one TD on 75 carries; he also had 22 receptions and 116 receiving yards. It was the least single-season receiving yards Gainwell had had in his career and his second-lowest rushing yards, but that’s a given when the starting back is putting up 2,283 scrimmage yards. Look for the Birds to rely heavily on the run game to control games in the playoffs.
Betting Info
Points Spread: PHI -4.5 (-110) | GB +4.5 (-110)
Moneyline: PHI (-225) | GB (+185)
Over/Under: O 45.5 (-108) | U 45.5 (-112)
Lines Via Draft Kings as of 1/8/25
Prediction
The last time these two teams faced each other, neither team had found their identity, as both teams now rely quite heavily on their run game and have top defenses. Both teams rank within the top 10 in PPG allowed, YPG allowed, and rush YPG allowed, so it shouldn't be as high-scoring of a contest this time, especially by Green Bay, who scored 29 last time, the third most points allowed a game by the Birds this season. Philadelphia will be healthy and hungry, and if they can play how they did during the regular season, they're built for the playoffs. The Birds should be able to win this one somewhat comfortably, at least for playoff terms.
Final Score: Eagles 27, Packers 17
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