PHILADELPHIA — By the time it was over, the Green Bay Packers had lost their top two remaining receivers, a pair of offensive linemen and a starting defensive tackle.
The bigger problem was that it — their once-promising season — was over before they lost that quintet.
In what was largely the same kind of game the seventh-seeded Packers lost over and over during the regular season against the NFC’s elite, their struggling offense combined with some shaky special teams doomed them again in Sunday’s 22-10 wild-card loss to the second-seeded Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field.
Despite winning two more games this season, the feeling after Sunday’s loss was far more deflating than last year, when the Packers won just nine regular-season games but finished by winning six of the last eight to make the postseason before losing in the final minute of the divisional round.
“I think it’s tough to say right now after a loss,” Packers quarterback Jordan Love said of the difference between the two seasons. “I don’t know if I’d say it’s pointing down.”
The Packers trailed the Eagles 10-0 in the third quarter when receiver Romeo Doubs left because of a concussion. He fell hard in the end zone after a potential touchdown pass was broken up and never returned after being diagnosed with a concussion, his second of the season. The Packers capped that drive with a field goal, their first points coming with 5:46 left in the third quarter.
They already were without left guard Elgton Jenkins, who suffered a shoulder injury/stinger in the first quarter, and the Packers tried two replacements — first rookie Travis Glover and then Kadeem Telfort. Glover was pulled after getting called for three penalties, including two holds. Telfort finished the game but added another holding penalty.
In all, the Packers had five accepted holding penalties — tied for their most in a game since Matt LaFleur took over as coach in 2019.
Green Bay trailed 16-3 when receiver Jayden Reed left in the third quarter and never returned because of a shoulder injury. After the game, Reed said his shoulder was dislocated. Given that the Packers were already without Christian Watson, who suffered a torn ACL a week earlier, Love was without his top three receivers by the end of the game.
The Packers lost one more offensive player — center Josh Myers — in the fourth quarter. What appeared to be a major knee injury turned out to be less severe, Myers said, although he could not return. He said the initial indication was a potential hairline fracture in his lower leg. Myers also told ESPN after the game that he played the second half of the season with a torn pectoral minor muscle.
“So frustrating, man,” said Myers, who is scheduled to become a free agent in the offseason. “It’s such a long year, there’s so much that goes into it that it’s just incredibly disappointing.
“Just felt like we didn’t have any rhythm, felt like we were just shooting ourselves in the foot. We were getting penalties, we were turning the ball over. All the stuff you can’t do against a team like that, you can’t do.”
On defense, the Packers lost lineman Devonte Wyatt — one of their best run stoppers — because of a lower leg injury in the first quarter. Even though the defense was solid, it couldn’t generate turnovers and still let Eagles running back Saquon Barkley finish with 119 rushing yards on 25 carries.
Love’s second season as the starter ended with a clunker. He tied a career high with three interceptions and became the first Packers quarterback with a zero-touchdown, three-interception playoff game.
When asked whether he took a step forward this season, which began with him signing a four-year, $220 million contract extension, Love said: “That’s a good question.”
“I think there’s obviously areas that I improved on, that the team improved on,” he added. “And there’s some stuff I want to clean up, be better at, for sure.”
It ended a season in which the Packers won 11 games but went 0-6 combined against the Eagles, Lions and Vikings — losing twice to each of the NFC’s top three teams.
“All those games, we were right there,” said Packers running back Josh Jacobs, who had 121 total yards from scrimmage and a touchdown. “My biggest message this offseason — from the coaches to the players — is how do we take that step? We figure out how to take that step, ain’t nobody gonna be able to f— with us in this league.”
In most of those games, the Packers were doomed by slow starts just like the one they had against the Eagles. The Packers finished with four turnovers, the first of which occurred on the first play of the game, when Keisean Nixon fumbled on the opening kickoff.
“I think that’s going to be a great reflection point this offseason because obviously, if we had the answers, it wouldn’t have been a problem,” said LaFleur, who dropped to 3-5 in the playoffs. “And for it to come up multiple times is disappointing.”
