January 08, 2025
Kirby Lee/Imagn Images
Eagles QB Jalen Hurts must do a better job of taking care of the football against the Packers than he did Week 1.
It's go time. The Philadelphia Eagles are in the playoffs, and their opponent, the Green Bay Packers, were also their Week 1 opponent. Our five things to watch, when the Eagles have the ball.
To begin, it remains uncertain whether Hurts will be recovered from his concussion in time to play in this game. For the purposes of this preview, we'll assume he is going to play.
Hurts did not play well Week 1 against the Packers. If you'll recall, he made good decisions all summer long, avoiding throwing an INT in the first 15 practices of training camp, and then in a real game he started recklessly chucking the ball around like 2020 Carson Wentz.
• His first possession INT in the middle of the field was ill-advised.
• He threw a slant to a clearly covered A.J. Brown, who had to play defense to prevent an INT.
• He threw what should have been a pick-six, but Keisean Nixon couldn't hang onto the ball.
• On the next play, Hurts made a horrid decision, throwing across his body into the end zone, where Jaire Alexander camped under it and made the pick.
Throw in some bad Cam Jurgens shotgun snaps, and the Eagles' offense was sloppy that night.
And yet, they still scored 31 points and won the game despite losing the turnover battle 3-1.
Hurts must play better in this matchup. To be determined if there will be any rust after missing the last two games. The sooner he is able to practice fully, the better (duh).
One other thing to note is that there should be less uncertainty for the Eagles' offensive coaching staff in this matchup than there was Week 1.
In Week 1, the Eagles' offense was facing a Packers defense that was transitioning from 2023 defensive coordinator Joe Barry (a Vic Fangio disciple), to Jeff Hafley, who was Boston College's head coach before joining the Packers. It's difficult to prepare for a defensive coordinator who (a) is new to a team, but also (b) entirely new to that position at the NFL level.
"We certainly anticipated there was going to be a lot of unknown going into that game," Kellen Moore said. "Just with watching Boston College and watching other teams around the NFL and projecting what could or could not happen. That's going to happen Week 1 anyway, no matter who you play.
"There was a lot of unknown with this one and certainly as the season has progressed you see that they have evolved just like everyone else. When you have a lot more film you can evaluate that and anticipate a few more things. Just like every team, there's going to be some flavor and there's going to be a little bit something different going into a playoff game they will present us and try and stress us on our side."
Barkley ran 24 times for 109 yards and 2 TDs against the Packers Week 1, plus a couple of receptions, including an 18-yard receiving TD.
The Packers have a good run defense, finishing seventh both in rushing yards allowed per game, and run defense DVOA:| Packers run defense | Stat | Rank |
| Yards allowed per game | 99.4 | 7 |
| Rushing first downs per game | 6.1 | 8 |
| Yards per attempt | 4.0 | 3 |
| DVOA | -17.4% | 7 |
Their run defense has also gotten better as the season has progressed:
| Week | Opponent | Rush yards allowed |
| 1 | Eagles | 144 |
| 2 | Colts | 140 |
| 3 | Titans | 33 |
| 4 | Vikings | 120 |
| 5 | Rams | 134 |
| 6 | Cardinals | 89 |
| 7 | Texans | 142 |
| 8 | Jaguars | 91 |
| 9 | Lions | 124 |
| 11 | Bears | 179 |
| 12 | 49ers | 44 |
| 13 | Dolphins | 39 |
| 14 | Lions | 111 |
| 15 | Seahawks | 80 |
| 16 | Saints | 67 |
| 17 | Vikings | 69 |
| 18 | Bears | 83 |
From Week 12 on, they allowed just 70.4 rushing yards per game. Prior to Week 12, they were allowing 119.6 rushing yards per game.
The Eagles' rushing offense should be fresh on Sunday, with the return of Dallas Goedert and the assumed return of Jalen Hurts. Barkley and the offensive line could also be rejuvenated after getting some rest in their meaningless Week 18 game against the Giants.
The Packers player to watch in the run game is rookie Edgerrin Cooper, who has very quickly become one of the Packers' best players. He has good length, and he's explosive:
In the Packers' last four games, Cooper has 35 tackles and 8 tackles for loss. Here are his four tackles for loss against the Vikings Week 17 (via @B_Carwile_NFL)
The Eagles have to make sure Cooper doesn't make plays in the Eagles' backfield and put them in long downs and distances.
The Packers' CB1 is Jaire Alexander, a two-time All-Pro. He is on injured reserve and will not play. The Packers' starting corners are now Keisean Nixon, a good player who is more known for his return abilities, and Carrington Valentine, a 2023 seventh-round pick.
Nixon is a good run defender and a sure tackler, but he has allowed 5 TDs this season, which ties him for the 10th-most in the NFL. He is also only 5'10, so the Eagles could target him on 50-50 balls to either Brown or Smith. Valentine has had a surprisingly good season after taking snaps away from former first-round pick Eric Stokes, but I imagine the Eagles will be eager to test him.
Brown toasted Alexander for a TD on a double move Week 1:
Interestingly, Valentine's college scouting report says that he was susceptible to double moves:
Valentine has the physical traits necessary for the NFL but the instincts and body control to extend his coverage against quality route runners leaves something to be desired. He’s solid at crowding vertical throws and can play press-and-bail, but he has had coverage busts in zone. Also, he bites too easily on double moves. Valentine’s lack of aggression as a run defender could make it tougher for zone teams to give him a chance.
Maybe Kellen Moore will go back to that?
The Eagles almost always like their matchups of Brown and Smith vs. the opposing corners, and this matchup should be no different.
The Eagles never have to be too worried about any teams' edge rushers because they employ the best offensive tackle tandem in the NFL in Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson. But for the sake of being thorough, the Packers' best pass rusher is Rashan Gary (7.5 sacks in 2024), who got kind of a BS sack against the Eagles Week 1, when Lane Johnson was anticipating a neutral zone infraction that wasn't called.
If the Eagles aren't going to give any help to Johnson or Mailata against the Steelers' edge rushers, they won't in this game either.
The Packers blocked a couple of kicks this season, one of which won them a game in Chicago:
(Side note: The Packers were a blocked kick away from being 0-6 in their division this season.)
The Eagles' field goal team hasn't exactly been stellar this season, and they had a field goal block returned for a touchdown on them earlier this season against the Browns.
"Green Bay, obviously we know, blocked a couple kicks this year against Chicago and against L.A.," Michael Clay said on Tuesday. "So, for us to make sure there's a clean pocket and make sure operation has been up to our standard with Rick [Lovato] and Braden [Mann] holding. Again, just doubling down on our fundamentals and technique, knowing that this is a very good team rolling in on Sunday, and making sure Jake has a clean pocket so that he's able to perform at his highest ability."
Elliott has had a shaky season, missing 8 field goal attempts and a PAT. He missed a 39-yarder Week 18 against the Giants.
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