Five Most Important Packers for Wild-Card Game at Eagles

Can the Green Bay Packers pull off a wild-card upset for the second consecutive year? To beat the Philadelphia Eagles will require big performances by many players, including these five.

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Jayden Reed (11) scores a touchdown against the Philadelphia Eagles in Brazil. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – With 12 wins in their last 13 games, the Philadelphia Eagles are hot. With back-to-back losses, the Green Bay Packers are not.

For the Packers to pull off the upset in Sunday’s NFC wild-card game, they’ll need these five players to have big games.

QB Jordan Love

Green Bay’s offense runs through Josh Jacobs, and the success of Jacobs and the offensive line against a talented Eagles front will be critical.

But the NFL is a passing league. Quarterbacks have to make plays, whether it’s on third-and-long or when taking advantage of run-game-created play-action opportunities. Jordan Love is going to need to make more plays than he did for the first three quarters at Minnesota and in the first quarter-plus against Chicago before suffering an injured elbow.

Philadelphia finished third in the NFL in opponent passer rating. Its pass rush is good but not great (15th in sack percentage and 25th in pressure percentage). So, Love should have time to survey the field.

But can he make anything happen? The Eagles run a typical mix of man and zone concepts on defense. According to Pro Football Network, Love ranks fourth in EPA per play against zone but plunges to 30th against man.

“It’s everybody,” coach Matt LaFleur said on Monday. “There’s a couple plays, as there always is, that you’d like to have back, and it’s just about taking what is there, reading with your feet, taking what the defense is giving you, and going to the right place with the ball.

“That’s going to be critical in this game moving forward in order for us to stay efficient, to stay on schedule and have success offensively.”

WR Romeo Doubs

The Packers finished 15th in the NFL on third down this season with a conversion rate of 39.5 percent. Last year, the Packers were fifth at 47.1 percent. It’s been a rather stunning fall considering the run game provided by Jacobs.

Romeo Doubs has been the team’s best receiver on third down.

By far.

Doubs has caught 17-of-22 targeted passes and turned those into 14 first downs. That’s a 63.6 percent success rate.

Contrast that to the rest of the team’s most-targeted players: 10-of-26 (38.5 percent) for Dontayvion Wicks, 9-of-25 (36.0 percent) for Jayden Reed, 5-of-15 (33.3 percent) for Tucker Kraft and 6-of-21 for Christian Watson (28.6 percent).

With Doubs inactive against Minnesota due to illness, Green Bay was just 3-of-10 on third down.

WR Jayden Reed

Following Christian Watson’s torn ACL, Jayden Reed is Green Bay’s best playmaker in the passing game.

Reed led the team with 55 receptions for 857 yards. Without Watson, he’s also No. 1 with 15.6 yards per catch.

Reed had a huge game against the Eagles in Week 1 with four receptions for 138 yards and one touchdown plus a 33-yard touchdown run. Reed didn’t get enough opportunities down the stretch, and he had a key fumble against the Bears.

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Jayden Reed (11) makes a catch during the first half against the Philadelphia Eagles. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

However, he is the most electric weapon in the passing game and, statistically, one of the best deep threats in the NFL. Of all receivers targeted at least 10 times on passes 20-plus yards downfield, Reed’s 12-of-15 for 80.0 percent was No. 1.  

“I haven’t been playing good ball lately,” Reed said after the Chicago game. “If we want progress in the playoffs, that’s not how we got to play.

“We got to play better than we did today. Just pounding in on the details, protecting the ball that’s protecting the team, first and foremost, that’s on me. I got to be better. If I want to be a leader and good player in this league, I got to be able to do that.”

LB Edgerrin Cooper

Both teams have changed since Week 1 thanks in part to the performance of their rookies.

For Green Bay, the most impactful first-year player has been second-round linebacker Edgerrin Cooper. He played only 11 defensive snaps against the Eagles in Week 1 but has played almost every snap the last two games.

“I’m in a way better position and I think I’m playing way better than I was way back then,” Cooper said on Sunday.

He’s a work in progress but his speed is unmatched among the team’s linebackers – and most linebackers in the NFL. His ability to get in the backfield to stop Saquon Barkley before he gets started and keep Jalen Hurts from moving the chains with his legs will be critical.

“He’s an instinctual player,” defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said. “For the most times, he’s where he’s supposed to be. If he feels like he can go through a gap and make the play before it gets into his gap, there’s times where he does that, too.

“We pressure him a lot, which helps. He goes and gets the football. For the most part, he’s where he’s supposed to be. In other times, he’s an instinctual guy who gets there probably quicker than most. But I get it. I totally see what everybody sees. If you turn on the TV copy of that guy, you can make a 12-play cut-up and it’s just like, ‘Whoa.’”

CB Carrington Valentine

At cornerback in Week 1, Jaire Alexander played all 76 snaps, Eric Stokes played 67, Keisean Nixon played 52 and Carrington Valentine played nine.

With Alexander on injured reserve, the Packers against Chicago went with Nixon and Valentine for all 62 snaps and Stokes for five.

Presumably, that’s how the Packers will roll against the Eagles and their elite receiver duo of A.J. Brown and Devonta Smith, who combined for 12 receptions for 203 yards and one touchdown in Week 1.

“We didn’t play a clean, complete game that game, either,” Valentine said on Sunday. “But we definitely want to go out there, compete, for sure. They got playmakers on the offensive side of the ball and we got to be ready for them.”

Valentine had an interception in Week 16 and Week 17 and forced a fumble in Week 18.

Hafley liked how he battled against Vikings star Justin Jefferson a couple weeks ago. The challenge will be just as big on Sunday.

“Turn on the tape and watch CV compete against Justin Jefferson and the way he didn’t back down,” Hafley said. “Now, Justin I think is the best receiver in the NFL. Watch CV press him at the line, watch CV compete against him, watch CV not back down to him.

“Now Justin made plays and Justin’s going to make plays, but what gives me confidence is the fight in that group, and what gives me confidence is the way our defense is hungry and has played together.”

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