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The Green Bay Packers are the seventh seed in the NFC playoffs and face the Philadelphia Eagles in the Wild Card round. Sunday's game will be a rematch of the Week 1 game in Brazil which Philly won. The Packers had 11 wins but fell all the way to number seven because of the great season from the Lions and Vikings. Now, they need to win out on the road to get back to the Super Bowl. For their first game, Jordan Love is not the X-Factor. Running back Josh Jacobs is.
Love missed the two games following the Eagles loss because of a knee injury he suffered in the final seconds. But Malik Willis held serve, picking up two wins for the team moving forward. But it was not just Willis that got those wins. Jacobs combined for 194 yards and picked up a touchdown in the two wins over the Colts and Titans. That was the beginning of a great season for the running back.
After spending the first five seasons of his career with the Raiders, Jacobs hit free agency before the season. He signed a four-year, $48 million deal with the Packers last offseason. He has paid that off in spades with over 1,300 rushing yards, the second-most in his career. Now he enters a game he has to perform in because of the running back on the other side.
Saquon Barkley is one of the few running backs who outperformed Jacobs this season. It started in the opening game against the Packers, with 132 yards and three touchdowns in the victory. While Barkley fell short of the all-time rushing record, it was a phenomenal season. Jacobs will have to outrun Barkley if the Packers are going to win this game.
The Packers need Josh Jacobs because of a wide receiver injury
The Packers had an opportunity to avoid the Eagles in Week 18. They needed to beat the Chicago Bears and have the Washington Commanders lose to the Dallas Cowboys. Neither of those outcomes worked out for Green Bay and they stayed at number seven. Part of the reason they lost the game to Chicago was two injuries that may impact them in the playoffs.
Love left the game with an apparent hand injury. He came back to warm up on the sideline but did not re-enter the game, as the Commanders took the lead and locked Green Bay in the seventh spot. Assuming he plays, he will be down one of his big targets in Christian Watson, who tore his ACL on Sunday. While it was a meaningful game, it was not worth losing Watson for the playoffs and most of next season.
While the Packers have a plethora of other pass catchers to target, they will need Jacobs to pick up the slack in this game. Tucker Kraft, Romeo Doubs, and Jayden Reed will help the case but there is no more important player than Jacobs. They will not be able to keep up with AJ Brown and Saquon Barkley, but Jacobs is the key to keeping it close.
Matt LaFleur must bury playoff demons
The Packers have made the playoffs in five of Matt LaFleur's six seasons as the head coach. They only missed in 2022, Aaron Rodgers' last season with the team. But the playoff games have not been great, with two losses in the divisional round and two in the Championship game.
This is a key game for LaFleur and his offense against Vic Fangio and the Eagles' defense. If Jacobs can get rolling and the passing game opens up, don't sleep on the Packers as an option for the Super Bowl in the NFC. But if their offense falters like it did last year against the 49ers, it will be a quick exit once again.
