November 28, 2016
The Eagles need a home win against the Green Bay Packers in the worst way on Monday Night Football, and they let Aaron Rodgers get off to a hot start at The Linc. That's obviously a dangerous formula. At halftime, the Birds trail Green Bay, 14-10.
Here's what I saw:
• Going from playing Seattle on the road to this Green Bay defense at home has to be like going from All-Madden to rookie mode for Carson Wentz. The No. 2 overall pick was 6-6 for 70 yards on the opening drive, which he capped of with a very impressive run:
CARSON. WENTZ.
— NFL (@NFL) November 29, 2016
Wow.
The rookie QB dives for the TD! #GBvsPHI #FlyEaglesFly https://t.co/APEZvTNXEj
• It's not surprising considering he was dealing with a struggling Green Bay defense, but Wentz put together a very good half. He was accurate throwing the ball (13-17, 147 yards) and made some impressive plays with his legs. This scramble on third down was huge:
Carson Wentz just ran away from Clay Matthews like a gazelle #EaglesTalk https://t.co/3KkZf41RZZ
— Kevin McGuire (@KevinOnCFB) November 29, 2016
• I mean, this is just ridiculous from Rodgers:
What a catch!@tae15adams somehow hauls in another TD pass from ARodg. #GBvsPHI https://t.co/Q7OlmH39Xn
— NFL (@NFL) November 29, 2016
• The opening drive could have gone better. A lot better, actually. The Eagles defense had yet to surrender any first-quarter points at home this season, but Rodgers took little time to change that. The Packers went 75 yards on 10 plays, and the Birds front did a particularly poor job containing the Packers' franchise QB.
Rodgers finished the drive with an easy toss to Davante Adams:
.@AaronRodgers12 to @tae15adams for the TD!@packers out to an early 7-0 lead. #GBvsPHI https://t.co/oQnViwc84S
— NFL (@NFL) November 29, 2016
Rodgers to Adams for a 12-yard TD. Packers marched down the field without much trouble on that 80-yard opening drive. pic.twitter.com/BPEmBHqqkE
— Matt Mullin (@matt_mullin) November 29, 2016
• It appeared as if the officials missed an easy pass interference call on Bryce Treggs that submarined an Eagles drive.
• The Eagles defense has been very good, but Rodgers had Jim Schwartz's number in the first half. Primarily utilizing the short passing game, the Packers owned the time of possession battle (17:09 to 12:41) and limited the Eagles to only three drives. It's key for Green Bay to keep its defense off the field as much as possible, and Rodgers' surgical passing allowed that to happen in the opening 30 minutes.
• After making an impressive back shoulder catch with the Eagles backed up against their own goal line, Jordan Matthews exited the game with an injury. Not good:
Jordan Matthews is heading to locker room after testing out his right ankle. There's a noticeable limp.
— Zach Berman (@ZBerm) November 29, 2016
• From an Eagles perspective, this was a beautiful crackback block from Allen Barbre. In the parlance of ESPN a decade ago, Clay Matthews, you got JACKED UP:
Allen Barbe's big bit helps this end-round for the #Eagles. https://t.co/JnBaBXQFKb
— Philly Influencer (@PHL_Influencer) November 29, 2016
Here's a replay of that block by Allen Barbre on Clay Matthews: pic.twitter.com/5SlEFLLpiG
— Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) November 29, 2016
• This made Sean McDonough flinch:
I love Gruden so much. pic.twitter.com/Qf4EiacMPM
— Cian Fahey (@Cianaf) November 29, 2016
• I thought Mike McCarthy made a mistake not going for it on 4th and 3 in Eagles territory. At that point, Green Bay was 6-for-7 on third down. And even though the punt was down at the Birds one-yard line, Wentz managed a field goal out of the ensuing drive.
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
