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The 2024-25 NFL Regular Season concluded on Sunday, so the first round of the playoffs is set. NFL Wild Card Weekend features six different contests, as the Los Angeles Chargers and Houston Texans will kick things off on Saturday, January 11, and the Minnesota Vikings visit the Los Angeles Rams on Monday, January 13 to conclude the first round. Sandwiched right in the middle of Sunday is a pivotal matchup between the #2 Philadelphia Eagles and #7 Green Bay Packers.
We’ve previewed this matchup and made Packers @ Eagles NFL Wild Card picks, so let’s get into it.
The Green Bay Packers went 11-6 this season but still found themselves in 3rd place in the NFC North due to the Lions and Vikings going 29-8. However, it was still a success for Matt Lafleur’s squad, as they dealt with injuries to their starting QB Jordan Love, who missed 2.5 games this season. They still managed to go 2-1 in those contests and had an offense that averaged 370.8 yards per contest (5th in the NFL) and 27.1 points per game (8th in the NFL).
RB Josh Jacobs leads a rushing offense that churns out 146.8 YPG (5th in the NFL), and only three RBs finished with more rushing yards and touchdowns than the free agent signing. Not only does Green Bay have a strong rushing attack and QB, but their defense is one of the NFL’s best, giving up just 315.6 yards (6th in the NFL) and 19.9 points per game (6th in the NFL).
The Packers have to play every playoff game on the road since they’re the lowest seed in the NFC, and they will have to beat the #2 and #1 seeds (Eagles and Lions) to make the Conference Championship, so Jordan Love has to be at his best if the Packers want to make a Super Bowl run.
The Philadelphia Eagles secured an NFC East title this season, as they went 14-3 and only fell to the Atalanta Falcons at home and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Washington Commanders on the road. Luckily, they could face either of those squads at home instead of on the road, and their only road contest would be the NFC Championship at the Detroit Lions.
The biggest concern for Philadelphia ahead of this game is the health of QB Jalen Hurts. The Eagles playcaller missed the final game of the regular season because he was in concussion protocol, but ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler stated that he is ‘trending in the right direction for the playoffs’, so the Eagles should get their starting QB back just in time. This is great news for Philly fans because Hurts led an offense that scored 27.2 PPG (7th in the NFL) and 179.3 rushing yards per contest (5th in the NFL). However, the offense will likely focus on RB Saquon Barkley, as the former Giants back tallied 2,005 rushing yards this season (1st in the NFL) and didn’t even play a snap in the final game.
Although the Eagles offense has been impressive this year, the real strength of this team is their defense. Philadelphia allowed just 278.4 yards per game (1st in the NFL) and held their opponents to 17.8 points per contest (2nd in the NFL). The Commanders were the only team to score 30+ against this Eagles defense, and the Packers were one the only other team to score 24+ against Philly, but they did that in Week 1. Their main strength is their secondary, as they allow a dismal 174.2 passing yards per contest (1st in the NFL), but they give up 104.2 rushing yards per contest (10th in the NFL), so I expect the Packers will take a run-heavy approach.
This game is the highlight of Wild Card Weekend, and although the Eagles are expected to win, I don’t think it’ll be an easy result for the hosts. Most of the Eagles’ starters were able to rest in NFL Week 18, so they will have an advantage from a rest standpoint. However, I have lots of questions about Philadelphia’s run defense. They’ve given up 113+ rushing yards in 4 of their previous 6 games and allowed 163 rushing yards to the Packers when they met in Week 1.
I anticipate that Matt LaFleur will take advantage of the lone weakness on this Eagles defense, and RB Josh Jacobs is in for a big game. I expect him to find the back of the end zone with his legs at least once, as the Alabama product has scored a rushing touchdown in 8 straight games and 9 of Green Bay’s last 10 contests.
Luke Lindholm is an avid basketball, baseball, football, hockey and soccer fan who specializes in writing promotional content for multiple sportsbooks and prediction-based articles across a variety of sports. His work has been featured on prominent websites including Sports Illustrated, Pickswise, Men’s Journal, TheStreet, Athlon Sports and more. He started as a college football handicapper for Pickswise in 2016 and is a current member of the Pickswise NFL handicapping team.