Game Preview: Packers vs. Eagles, Week 11

Playoff seeding is at stake when the Packers host the NFC East leading Eagles on Sunday.

Green Bay Packers running back Eddie Lacy by Jeff Hanisch—USA TODAY Sports. Graphic design by Brian Carriveau–CheeseheadTV.com.

Green Bay Packers running back Eddie Lacy by Jeff Hanisch—USA TODAY Sports. Graphic design by Brian Carriveau–CheeseheadTV.com.

The Green Bay Packers (6-3) host the Philadelphia Eagles (7-2) at Lambeau Field on Nov. 16 at 3:25 p.m. CT for a game televised on Fox.

 

The Big Picture: What's at Stake?

After the 55-14 embarrassment the Packers handed to the division rival Chicago Bears last Sunday, Green Bay faces a team with a pulse in its second consecutive home game.

By squaring off against the NFC East leading Eagles, the Packers are due to receive a test from a playoff-caliber team in a game that could have playoff implications.

The Packers are already on the outside of the playoffs looking in when it comes to the NFC standings, and the head-to-head result with the Eagles could potentially be a tie-breaker.

 

What to Watch When the Packers Have the Ball

A) Aaron Rodgers' Incredible Home Streak: The Packers quarterback may have been extraordinarily good in the first half against the Bears a week ago, tying an NFL record with six touchdown passes in the first two quarters of action and being named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts, but it's the bigger picture that's really impressive.

Rodgers has now thrown 26 consecutive touchdown passes at Lambeau Field without an interception, the longest home streak in NFL history, which exemplifies the job he does in taking care of the football.

If Rodgers can avoid turnovers while at the same time taking advantage of an Eagles pass defense that ranks 22nd in the NFL, allowing an average of over 250 yards through the air per game, the Packers offense should be able to put plenty of points on the scoreboard.

B) Screen Passes: In each of the past two games, running back Eddie Lacy has turned screen passes into long gains, 67 yards against the Saints and 56 yards for a touchdown against the Bears.

It's not as if the screen pass ever went away completely in Green Bay, but it seems to have found a resurgence of late with success due to blocking on the perimeter from the wide receivers and even from injured offensive linemen like Josh Sitton and T.J. Lang getting downfield.

Getting the football in Lacy's hands through the air has been an effective way to keep him involved even when the running game hasn't been working and could work against an aggressive Eagles defense if they're not careful.

C) Josh Sitton and T.J. Lang Going the Distance: After playing against the Chicago Bears and not suffering any setbacks, it's likely Sitton (toe) and Lang (ankle) will be in the starting lineup once again versus the Eagles, each being listed as "probable" on this week's injury report.

Because of last week's blowout, however, Sitton and Lang each played only 44 snaps. Being asked to play a full game, perhaps even overtime, and staying both healthy and effective through its entirety could prove to be a challenge.

If J.C. Tretter is called into action, he'll need to fare better than he did in mop-up duty against the Bears when he allowed a hit and a hurry in just 23 snaps. It was his regular-season debut, however, implying that there's room to improve.

 

What to Watch When the Eagles Have the Ball

A) Clay Matthews at ILB, Nick Perry at OLB: One of the biggest storylines of the week was Eagles linebacker Casey Matthews suggesting his brother Clay didn't like the switch to inside linebacker, although Clay has since said there's little truth to the matter.

The Packers defense appeared rejuvenated in the Bears game with Matthews at his new position. After allowing a season-high 235 rushing yards to Chicago in the season's first meeting, they allowed a season-low 55 this past Sunday.

A big part of the reason the Packers were able to move Matthews around is the improved play of Perry, who played a season-high 40 snaps in Matthews' place at outside linebacker. Each player will have to remain effective in their new-found roles for the Packers to continue in such an alignment.

B) Handling the Up-Tempo Philly Offense: The Packers offense runs plenty of no-huddle, so the Green Bay defense should have plenty of practice defending that type of unit.

Facing the Eagles, however, takes matters to whole new level. Philadelphia snaps the football an average of every 22.1 seconds, according to Football Outsiders, three seconds faster than the next-closest team.

If the big men on the Packers defense such as Julius Peppers, Mike Daniels and Letroy Guion get tired and wear down, it will be that much easier for the Eagles to move the ball down the field.

C) Forcing the Eagles into Mistakes: The Packers' plus-10 turnover margin, ranked third in the NFL, has been one of their keys to success on the defensive side of the football, but it's not every week they face Jay Cutler.

Mark Sanchez may have had his issues in New York, but in limited action, he looks comfortable in Chip Kelly's offense. It'll be up to the Packers to force Sanchez into the same old mistakes he used to make.

The same goes for the dangerous Eagles running back duo of LeSean McCoy and Darren Sproles. Both players have fumbled twice and lost one this season.

 

What to Watch on Special Teams

Game-Changing Plays: The Packers were doing good in the special teams department Week 10 when they got a 52-yard field goal from Mason Crosby and a blocked punt from Jarrett Bush. That was until the fourth quarter when they allowed a 101-yard kickoff return to Chris Williams for a touchdown.

The job gets even harder this week when they face Sproles, who is coming off a Week 10 performance against the Carolina Panthers in which he had a 65-yard punt return for a touchdown.

Sproles has twice been named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week this season and leads the NFL in both punt-return average (17.0) and punt return touchdowns (two).

 

Brian Carriveau is the author of the book "It's Just a Game: Big League Drama in Small Town America," and editor at Cheesehead TV and its "Pro Football Draft Preview." To contact Brian, email [email protected].

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Comments (4)

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NickPerry's picture

November 16, 2014 at 10:08 am

Mark Sanchez played a defense that just about everybody shreds and still completed just 54% of his passes. believe that the Packers secondary is better than Carolina's too, much better. The Packers hopefully stop the run and force Sanchez to try and beat them, it's not going to happen.

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Allan Murphy's picture

November 16, 2014 at 11:26 am

Pound the rock bb.

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Mario Willis's picture

November 16, 2014 at 12:01 pm

The Philly secondary or lack there of is the story of the game. Sam Shields and Micah Hyde will play big Sanchez has this thing about forcing the ball into spots.

I hate to beat a dead horse but R-E-L-A-X the boys got this...

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Lphill's picture

November 16, 2014 at 06:47 pm

COW called it again, he is a football God, all those Philly skill players no match f or the hapless Packers D.

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