Green Bay Packers: Takeaways from win over Eagles

The Green Bay Packers held on to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 13.

The final score was much closer than what the game actually looked like, but the Green Bay Packers will be happy to have grabbed the win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday in Week 13.

Green Bay defeated Philadelphia by a final score of 30-16 after leading 23-3 in the fourth quarter. The game was seemingly over with nine minutes to go, but the Eagles rattled off 13 unanswered points to make it interesting late. Packers running back Aaron Jones sealed the win on a 77-yard rushing touchdown with 2:51 remaining in the game.

With that and mind, let’s look at what we can glean from the Green Bay Packers victory that moves the team to 9-3 on the season.

Takeaways and observations from the Green Bay Packers’ win

– Aaron Rodgers is the frontrunner for the NFL’s MVP this season. Rodgers had another spectacular outing against the Eagles, throwing for 295 yards and three touchdowns on 25-of-34 passing. He leads the NFL with 36 touchdown passes.

– On Sunday, Rodgers became the first player in NFL history to record at least 35 touchdown passes in five separate seasons. He also became the fastest player to eclipse 400 passing touchdowns in NFL history (193 games).

– It’s fair to say that based on this season, Davante Adams is the NFL’s best receiver. He’s scored in seven straight games and has 11 touchdowns during that span. He and Rodgers have a telepathic connection.

– Adams joined Hall of Famers Terrell Owens, Randy Moss, Marvin Harrison and Jerry Rice as the only players in the Super Bowl era with 1,000 receiving yds and 12 receiving touchdowns in their first 10 games of a season, according to NFL research.

– The Packers defense played a great game, but the Eagles offense looks broken. Quarterback Carson Wentz isn’t seeing the field well. The Eagles’ receivers can’t consistently separate. The offensive line is playing backups at multiple spots. Green Bay should still feel good about where they stand defensively, but some of their stats against Philly were empty.

– Wentz was eventually replaced by backup quarterback Jalen Hurts, who was much more effective. Hurts gave the Eagles a spark, but couldn’t lead the comeback win.

– For the second straight game, Rashan Gary got the start over Preston Smith at outside linebacker. Gary is finally putting it all together. He tallied 1.5 sacks and was in the backfield all game long.

– Green Bay’s pass-rush was on point. The Packers recorded four sacks in the first half alone and finished with seven sacks total.

– Za’Darius Smith now has 10.5 sacks this season, marking his second straight season with double-digit sacks. He’s been a home run free agent signing by Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst.

– Robert Tonyan is the Packers’ best tight end since the Jared Cook experiment in 2016. Except, Tonyan is a much more complete tight end. Unlike Cook, he can run routes and  block. Tonyan caught a touchdown for the third straight game against Philly.

– Mason Crosby is hard to get a beat on. He missed his third extra point of the season on Sunday, but converted a field goal attempt. Crosby is perfect on field goals this season (14-of-14).

– Special teams has been a nightmare for the Packers these past few weeks. My goodness.

– The best part about watching the Packers this season is that you can tell all the players are having so much fun. It’s one thing to be successful, but it’s another to have fun while doing it.

The Packers travel to Detroit to take on the Lions in Week 14. Kickoff is set for 3:25 pm CT and the game will be televised on FOX.