Packers Beat Eagles: Review & Grades
By jclombardi
Jclombardi reviews and grades the Eagles game.
Summary: After a tough fourth quarter, the Packers held on to beat the Eagles 27-20 when MVP LB Matthews made the game-saving stop of QB Vick on a fourth-and-1 keeper with 2 minutes remaining. QB Rodgers connected with WR Driver for a 6 yard score and with WR Jennings for a 32 yard score, as they combined for 10 catches and 112 yards. TE Finley had only 4 catches for 47 yards.
Video Highlights: ESPN.
Game Balls: LB Matthews; FB Hall; FB Kuhn; WR Jennings; WR Nelson. Game ball report—FB Korey Hall on offense, LB Matthews on defense, and WR Nelson on special teams. LB Bishop got the “Big Hit” award.
Turning Point: MVP LB Matthews made the game-saving stop of QB Vick on a fourth-and-1 keeper with 2 minutes remaining in the game.
Report Card Grades–Good, Bad, & Ugly (LA vs. SE):
Pass Offense—C—vs C-. QB Rodgers completed 19 of 31 passes for 188 yards, 2 touchdowns, 2 interceptions, 3 sacks, and a poor 73.1 passer rating. Don’t know why he missed so many targets, other than maybe that was the first time this year he had bullets flying around him. It almost seemed as though he was targeting TE Finley too much. At times, he tried to force the ball to him with other guys open. In an awful first quarter, he misfired on the first three throws of the game and threw an interception. In the third quarter, Rodgers briefly rebounded to build a 27-10, but he choked in the fourth quarter. WR Jennings led the receiving corps with five receptions for 82 yards and one touchdown. Generally, C Wells, LG Colledge, and RG Sitton had solid games. Showing their age, the usually reliable veteran duo of RT Tauscher and LT Clifton struggled in the first half allowing 3 sacks.
Rush Offense—B+ vs B. The Packers had 28 rushes for 132 yards averaging a solid 4.0 yards. RB Grant rushed 8 carries for 45 yards before he was injured. Tuesday, he went on injured reserve. Replacement RB Jackson got 18 carries for 63 yards. FB Kuhn had two carries for 15 yards and a touchdown.
Pass Defense—B vs B-. The pass defense had a good game except for CB Shields allowing WR Maclin’s 17-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. QB Vick made a few plays against relentless pressure completing 16 of 24 passes for 175 yards and one touchdown. The Packers 3-4 blitz schemes got pressure throughout the game getting five sacks. Matthews got two and Jenkins, Raji and Zombo got one each. CB Williams had a solid game. CB Woodson played solid and forced a key fumble.
Rush defense—C- vs D. Elusive QB Vick had 11 rushes for 103 yards mainly on broken pass plays causing fits for the Packers defense. DLs Jenkins and Raji had long solid games getting solid pressure with one sack each. LB Matthews dominated the defensive wth seven tackles and two sacks. Overall, LBs Barnett and Chillar had good games. LB Jones had a rough game failing to hold the edge on occasions. The Packers got break when the Eagles kept Vick between the tackles on a delayed shotgun draw instead of running him to the outside on fourth-and-1 at the Packers’ 42 inside the two-minute warning. Matthews stuffed Vick for no gain and clinch the victory. McCoy was limited to seven carries but made the most of them in averaging 5 yards and scoring from 12 yards. Burnett is stiff in run support. He whiffed three times. The worst was on the screen pass to McCoy at the end. On McCoy’s touchdown run, Burnett has got to fill. He runs up to the pile nice after the play, but he’s got to want to tackle. He wasn’t even physical
Special teams—A- vs A. The special teams had a great game. The return game had a great game with WR Nelson averaging 31.2 yards on 5 kickoffs. K Crosby made two long fields, but he misfired on one kickoff. K Masthay did okay on 3 of 4 punts and averaged 41.5 (gross), 38 (net) and 3.82 (hang time). PR Williams had good hands making fair catches on most punt returns. CB Bush looked surprisingly sharp forcing two fair catches. Generally, the coverage units played fast and smart keeping Jackson and Hobbs from big returns.
Coaching—B+ vs A-. Head coach McCarthy and his assistants held the team together, as it seemingly was coming undone at the seams by all kinds of adversity throughout the game, including a handful of injuries, to pick up the Packers’ first win at Philadelphia in 48 years. In the red zone, they were 2 for 2. In 3rd down efficiency, they were 6 for 14.
Overall Game—B+ vs CBS Sportsline-B. Finally, the Packers won a road game against the tough Eagles.
Preview: A home game against the Bills. Go Pack!