Is history about to repeat itself? The Green Bay Packers may have gone down to the Eagles in the end as they lost 40-33, but Jordan Love may have just won himself the starting QB job with his great performance in relief for Aaron Rodgers.
It’s too bad the media attention will all be about Jordan Love, Aaron Rodgers, and the future of the Packers quarterback situation as that was a great game last night with huge stakes. The 9-1 (now 10-1) Philadelphia Eagles were playing for the 1st seed in not only the NFC, but also the NFC East as their archrivals, the Dallas Cowboys, continued to keep the pressure on them with another win this past Thanksgiving.
Reversely, the Green Bay Packers were fighting for their playoff lives for the first time under the Matt LaFleur regime as Aaron Rodgers and the rest of the Pack would be almost certainly doomed if they fell to 4-8 on the year (which they did). Thankfully, unlike most of the season, the Packers actually showed up and gave a game of it to the Eagles as they didn’t roll over and lie down before the Philly goliath.
But even that story gets buried by the huge events that unfolded last night: Jordan Love came into the game for an injured Aaron Rodgers…and played GOOD.
Yup, the “Rodgers getting benched” story is now going to take a life for its own as not only did Rodgers have a sub-par game (by his standards, which has been something I’ve been saying a lot of late) as he completed just 11/16 passes for 140 yards, 2 TD, and 2 INTs in the three or so quarters he played, but Jordan Love also had a very solid game as he went 6/9 for 113 yards, 1 TD, and led the Packers on two scoring drives.
Sure, the Packers still lost the game, and the offense scored more points with Rodgers than with Love, but there was a different feel to that game in the 4th Quarter. Love nearly overcame a 14-point Eagles lead with only one viable receiving option (Christian Watson), a nonexistent running game, and a defense that gave up 363 TOTAL RUSHING YARDS.
That game should have been a 25-point blowout once Rodgers left the game, but Love proved that he’s no longer the young, rash, inexperienced QB that we saw against the Chiefs last season. Or, in other words, Jordan showed that he is ready to take over an NFL offense as the starting QB.
Unfortunately for the Packers, that fact now puts them in a pretty serious bind: do they stick with 38-year-old Rodgers, go for another Super Bowl run next season, and trade Love to facilitate it, or keep the young, hungry Love to rebuild the Packers offense and trade Rodgers to free up cap space to facilitate that scenario.
To be honest, I’ve got no idea what I’d do if I was in Brian Gutekunst’s (Packers GM) position.
On the one hand, you already have one of the greatest quarterbacks who’s ever played the game still capable of leading the Packers to another Super Bowl victory, though he now needs significant (and expensive) help to do so. On the other hand, you have a young, promising QB that has the potential to win a Super Bowl and lead Green Bay’s offense for 15+ years, but the roster needs to be completely blown up and rebuilt to suit his skillset.
Anway, one thing is for sure is that the Packers have no chance of making the playoffs now. Yes, the Giants and Commanders aren’t the cream of the crop (so to speak) of the NFL, but they are easily better teams than the Packers at this moment of time. Plus, they also have substantially better records at 7-4 and 7-5, respectively. Time to look at the offseason and the draft, Green Bay (4-8).
As for the Eagles, this team is fantastic. Especially their running game.
Lead by Myles Sanders (21 CAR, 143 yards, 2 TD) and Jalen Hurts (17 CAR, 157 yards), the Eagles running game had a staggering total of 363 yards. How is that even possible against professional NFL defenses? Yes, the Green Bay rushing defense has been horrendous all season long, but this feat isn’t just down to a bad Packers defense. This feat belongs to Eagles and their running schemes and backs.
I mean, they nearly had two running backs go for 150 yards!
Moreover, I now believe that Jalen Hurts is the leading candidate for the MVP. He has been sensational this year as he’s not only led the Eagles to have the best record in the NFL (10-1), but he’s also been a crucial factor in the Eagles winning these games.
Throwing for 16/28 completions, 153 yards, 2 TDs and rushing 17 times for 157 yards, Hurts singlehandedly DESTROYED the Green Bay Packers defense both threw the air and on the ground. Despite having Pro-Bowl caliber players like Jaire Alexander, Adrian Amos, Rasul Douglas, and Preston Smith, the Packers defense couldn’t even lay a glove on Hurts and the Eagles offense as they not only gave up 363 total rushing yards, but also 500 total scrimmage yards.
And that’s all down to Jalen Hurts, which shows why he’s the presumptive MVP candidate as of this moment.
When the Eagles fly, they really soar, don’t they?
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