The Green Bay Packers could absolutely beat the Philadelphia Eagles on the road over Wild Card weekend. But if the Eagles are full strength, that's going to tough sledding for the Pack.

Remember, these two teams got together to kick off the 2024 NFL Season in Sao Paulo, Brazil back in September, and the Eagles roared away with a 34-29 win. This is despite the fact that the Packers were able to pick off quarterback Jalen Hurts twice while also forcing him into a fumble.

Saquon Barkley put up 109 yards and two touchdowns on the ground and another 23 yards and a touchdown as a receiver in his inaugural game with the Eagles. Meanwhile, the Eagles forced Jordan Love into just an 83 quarterback rating thanks to the fact that he completed just 17-of-34 passes. He did throw for 260 yards and two touchdowns in that game, but Philly also picked him off once.

Philadelphia won that one fair and square and they went on to have the much better season compared to Green Bay. Both teams are talented, of course, but the second-seeded Eagles were more consistent and they also got hot to finish with a 14-3 season. In fact, if it wasn't for a tough 36-33 loss at the Washington Commanders near the end of the year, the Eagles would have finished the season on a 13-game winning streak. As it was, they won 12-of-13.

Meanwhile, the Packers have kind of stumbled into the playoffs. They had a few (smaller) winning streaks and some impressive performance, but they went 1-5 against opponents within the NFC North and ended their season with a thud rather than a thump. They look outmatched by the Minnesota Vikings in Week 17 in a 27-25 loss in which the final score made it looked closer than it was, and then they took a terrible loss to the Chicago Bears at home in Week 18.

The Eagles have already beaten the Packers once this season and they're clearly the favorites in this game. Also, if momentum between the regular season and the playoffs means anything, the Packers couldn't be coming in to this Wild Card matchup on a worse note.

Philly has all the advantages in this one, including home field, but there is one way the Green Bay could find themselves with a tremendous opportunity to get into the next round, and that's if Hurts' last few weeks on the injury report impacts this game.

Is it possible that happens? Absolutely.

Health of Jalen Hurts could determine Packers vs. Eagles

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) warms up before playing against the Washington Commanders at Northwest Stadium.
Peter Casey-Imagn Images

The Packers have their own injury questions at quarterback with both Love and backup Malik Willis sporting injuries they suffered in their Week 18 clash this week in practice. But that's a story for a different article.

The focus here is Hurts, because even though he missed the past two games with a concussion that he suffered all the way back on December 22 in that loss to the Commanders, he's not yet officially out of the concussion protocol.

He did show up to practice on Wednesday, though, which was a big step for the Philly quarterback. Hurts was limited, but left tackle Jordan Mailata felt he looked good, according to Tim McManus of ESPN.

“He looked sharp today. It was awesome to have him back. He came back with high energy,” Mailata said.

Wednesday was a nice first step for Hurts, but the tough thing was that it was his first practice since the injury. That means the concussion kept him out 17 days, which is a scary thing to think about as it relates to head injuries and the risks NFL quarterback take with their health.

Hurts was then a full participant in practice on Thursday, so now what he needs to do is move forward without a recurrence of symptoms in order to be cleared to play against the Packers. That process includes a sign-off from an independent neurological consultant.

That moment has yet to come, and even it it comes soon, just how ready is Hurts going to be to play in a big-time playoff environment having just taken his first full-contact reps just days before the big game?

Even if Hurts plays, and he likely will, defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley and the Packers defense will want to focus on queuing up blitzes and quarterback pressures in order to rattle the vulnerable quarterback.  Even more simple would be focusing on stopping Barkley and making Hurts beat them.

The former Alabama quarterback is perfectly capable of winning a big game, of course, but putting the game on his shoulders coming off this extended period away may be the better option for the Packers when the other option is watching Barkley run loose all over Green Bay's defense.

The Packers have an advantage here, and they need to gameplan to take it. Hurts is vulnerable at the moment and he at the very least may be a bit rusty. For what it's worth, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni doesn't think rust will be a problem for his quarterback, but it's up to Hafley and the Packers defense to make Hurts prove it.

“This is why you go through the process of practicing and all the things that you do at practice to get on the same page and do everything there,” Sirianni said, discussing any worry he may have that Hurts will be rusty. “We feel like we practice at a very high intensity level. This is why you go out there and do those things.”