GREEN BAY, WI – It was a beautiful day at Lambeau Field on Sunday as the Green Bay Packers hosted the Philadelphia Eagles in an NFC battle. As somebody who was at the Packers-Bears game last Monday Night, it felt like deja vu all over again. The Packers’ first drive ended without much of a bang, the starting quarterback walked off of the field, and and never came back. Seneca Wallace, who looked much more comfortable within the offense, suffered a groin injury after the first drive and was replaced by University of Wisconsin graduate & recent practice squad signee Scott Tolzien. The rest of the day for the Packers can be summed up over the next three plays:
- A missed Mason Crosby field goal
- A five-yard run by LeSean McCoy for Philadelphia
- A 55-yard touchdown pass from Nick Foles to DeSean Jackson that bounced off of two Packers’ defenders (Morgan Burnett & Tramon Williams) and into the Eagles’ hands for a touchdown.
A ball that could have been intercepted and should have at least been knocked down, ended up becoming a scoring play for Philadelphia. Wow. It really summed up the day. Green Bay had a fumble recovery in the end zone on a punt: We inadvertently “downed” the ball at the 16 yard line. We pick up a Nick Foles fumble and score: Down by contact on the recovery. To sum up the day for the Packers……It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
I will say that, with the exception of two horrendous throws, Tolzien did a serviceable job in relief of Wallace. He finished 24-for-39 for 280-yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Eddie Lacy carried the ball 24 times for just 73 yards as he faced seven- or eight-man fronts. Jarrett Boykin led the way for the receivers with eight catches for 112 yards, and Brandon Bostick caught, both, his first career touchdown and the lone touchdown of the game for Green Bay.
Also similarly to last Monday, the Packers defense failed to contain the opposing team’s running back or get a stop when desperately needed. LeSean McCoy had 25-carries for 155-yards, and was instrumental in sealing the game for the Eagles, who ran out the clock with a long drive to end the game. That, combined with two defensive breakdowns that led to Riley Cooper touchdowns, ultimately sealed the Packers’ fate. The loss, coupled with Detroit’s 21-19 victory in Chicago, knocked Green Bay into third place in the NFC North.
The Packers will now look forward to a date with the Giants in New York next Sunday. The Giants are in the midst of a three-game win-streak and are now in sight of a possible NFC East division title, despite their 0-6 start. If the Packers want to be in the hunt for a playoff berth by the time Aaron Rodgers comes back, they’ll need to win one of the next three games. If the Packers can be 6-6 with Aaron Rodgers coming back into the fold, then they should still have a chance to make the playoffs.
Be sure to tune into 98.3WRUP for all of your Green Bay Packers football action on Sunday, November 17th @ 4:25pm. Go Pack Go!
-Carl Leander Johnson
Other scores from around the NFL:
- Minnesota def. Washington 34-27 (Thursday)
- Baltimore def. Cincinnati 20-17 (OT)
- Seattle def. Atlanta 33-10
- Detroit def. Chicago 21-19
- Jacksonville def. Tennessee 29-27
- St. Louis def. Indianapolis 38-8
- New York Giants def. Oakland 24-20
- Pittsburgh def. Buffalo 23-10
- Carolina def. San Fransisco 10-9
- Arizona def. Houston 27-24
- Denver def. San Diego 28-20
- New Orleans def. Dallas 49-17