After Losing to Bears, Packers Will Face Powerhouse Eagles in Wild-Card Game

The Green Bay Packers lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 1. A lot has changed heading into next weekend’s NFL playoffs rematch.

Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) runs during the first half against the Green Bay Packers in Brazil. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – On the heels of Sunday’s loss to the Chicago Bears, the Green Bay Packers are off to Philadelphia to play the NFC East champion Eagles in an NFC wild-card matchup next weekend.

The time and date will be announced on Sunday night.

The Packers, of course, started their season against the Eagles in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Big nights from Xavier McKinney and Jayden Reed put the Packers in position to win the game, but the Eagles were able to get enough production from Saquon Barkley to pull off a 34-29 victory.

A lot has changed since then.

The Eagles and Packers came into the season as relative question marks.

The Eagles were being asked whether they were the team that started the 2023 season looking like it was destined for a repeat trip to the Super Bowl or the one that ended it with a flat tire in a wild-card loss at Tampa Bay.

The Packers were being asked similar questions.

Were they the 3-6 team that looked inept on offense for most of the 2023 season, or the team that took the San Franciso 49ers to the brink of elimination in their own backyard in the divisional playoffs.

As it turns out, both teams were good enough to qualify for the postseason this year.

The Eagles won the NFC East with relative ease. They finished the season 14-3, led by a powerful offensive line and the brilliance of Saquon Barkley.

The Packers finished the season 11-6 but are in the same spot as a year ago.

They’re the seventh seed. They’re on the road. They’re set to face the winner of the NFC East.

Some of that is a byproduct of the Packers playing in a historically good NFC North division. The Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions are playing for the top seed in the NFC in the final game of the regular season on Sunday night.

Some of it is also a byproduct of the fact they did not beat any top-tier teams during the regular season.

With a loss at Minnesota last week, the Packers were guaranteed to enter the postseason without a win against a team with a better record. They finished a combined 0-5 against the Lions, Vikings and Eagles.

In order to get where they want to go, the Packers must get that elusive signature win against the Eagles.

These teams are seemingly headed in opposite directions.

The Eagles have the looks of a juggernaut. They won 12 of their last 13 games and won the NFC East by a two-game spread over the Washington Commanders.

With that, they were afforded the opportunity to rest Barkley, receiver A.J. Brown, their starting offensive tackles and some other key contributors against the Giants on Sunday.

Quarterback Jalen Hurts missed the game with a concussion, but did participate in a walkthrough on Saturday, which should put him on track to start against Green Bay.

By extension, the Packers entered the postseason on a dead note.

They lost their final two games against division rivals.

Their passing game looks clunky. Their defense was torn apart by the Vikings’ Sam Darnold before being picked apart by Caleb Williams on a game-winning drive by the Bears.

That’s a far cry from last year, when the Packers were entering the postseason as one of the hottest teams in the NFC.

They were the team nobody wanted to see.

If the last two weeks are any indication, the Eagles could be licking their chops as they are set to face a wounded team in a hostile environment.

Make no mistake about it, the chips are stacked against the Packers.

They’re better than they were last year. They’ve won two more games.

They did not need to win on the final Sunday of the regular season in order to make the postseason.

Their task, however, is much heavier than a season ago.

The Dallas Cowboys were a great team on offense a season ago, but they do have a penchant for underachieving.

The team the Packers are set to face next week are one of the bullies on the block.

They came within a field goal of winning the Super Bowl two seasons ago. They started 11-0 in 2023 before faltering down the stretch.

They’re as talented as can be throughout their roster.

They have one of the best defenses in the NFL, led by past Packers nemesis Vic Fangio.

So, what gives them confidence that they can flip the switch and go on a run similar to – or better than – last year?

“We did not do anything special last year,” Jordan Love said after a 24-22 loss to the Bears.

At first glance, it felt like he was saying they did not accomplish anything great. Perhaps that is true in a city that is named Titletown.

Then he continued.

“We went down there in Dallas and we did what we had done all season and made plays. We made a lot of plays and didn’t miss on a lot of plays, I would say.”

Love is right. The Packers are talented enough, in theory, to beat anybody.

Apart from a 10-point loss to the Detroit Lions on Nov. 3, they lost their other five games by a total of 14 points.

That’s the difference of a play here or there.

That’s the positive spin.

The negative spin is the Packers did not win many games this year when a play like that was required and, if they did, it was against the bottom-feeders of the AFC South.

With the Packers headed to Philadelphia for a tough first round matchup, perhaps this is befitting of the team they’ve been all season.

They’re good. No question.

To prove they’re good enough, they have to exorcise the demons that they created early in the year.

Can they do that?

We’ll find out next week.

Latest Green Bay Packers News 

There's no other way to slice it: Matt LaFleur's untimely timeout led to the #Packers' demise against the Bears. ⬇️https://t.co/WFlZRXLsrp

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) January 6, 2025

Matt LaFleur’s costly timeout | The latest on Jordan Love, Christian Watson | Packers-Bears stock report | Bears beat Packers 24-22 | Breaking down the 2025 schedule | Jordan Love, Christian Watson injured | Live updates | Packers Bears weather and prediction | Packers-Bears inactives | Three reasons why Packers will lose to Bears | Q&A on eve of Matt LaFleur’s 100th game | Five greatest games in Packers-Bears history