A pair of NFC powerhouses meet at Lincoln Financial Field with the Philadelphia Eagles hosting the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, January 12. Philly won the Week 1 matchup, 34-29, and my top Packers vs. Eagles predictions and NFL picks for Wild Card Weekend expect another close game and another solid day from Green Bay running back Josh Jacobs.
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While on the surface Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs lands in a difficult matchup this weekend against the Philadelphia Eagles, I think Philly’s soft schedule has padded its defensive statistics. The Eagles played the second-easiest schedule per PFF and fifth-easiest per ESPN’s NFL power Index. Opposing offenses often had to abandon the run, and I’m not anticipating Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur going that route Sunday.
This is so important. The Eagles ranked first in the NFL in turnover margin (plus-17) and points off takeaways from Weeks 8 through 18, and Green Bay actually has a better season total of plus-12 in turnover differential. The Packers have scored 117 points off of takeaways, second-best in the league (the Eagles scored 104 points off of takeaways to rank third). There isn't a whole lot to say otherwise. The Eagles have talked about this every day of the season – the importance of ball security and of taking the football away on defense.
Stopping the run is always a priority and that doesn't change here. Josh Jacobs ran for 1,329 yards and scored 15 touchdowns on the ground. Emanuel Wilson is sneaky good with 502 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns, averaging 4.9 yards per carry. Green Bay is a very good running team. But the Packers also hurt teams with the long ball – they had 7 passing plays of 50-plus yards this season, tied for second-best in the league. Green Bay uses a lot of pre-snap motion, so that is something the Eagles must be disciplined with, and the Packers have scored 25 points in seven consecutive games. So, stopping the run, pressuring quarterback Jordan Love, and containing a group of receivers that did damage in Week 1 to the defense present a tough challenge in every way for the No. 1-ranked defense in the NFL, a defense that is much more sound, much more effective than it was back in September.
Of course, Jacobs also ran for 84 yards (5.25 per carry) in Week 1 against the Eagles, and he rushed for 70 or more in nine of 17 games. Jacobs also yielded carries to backfield mates in four of the eight games he didn’t top the 70-yard benchmark because Green Bay was in the driver’s seat and won handily.
More to this point, Jacobs is also rested after handling just 36 carries across 82 offensive snaps over the final three weeks, including being limited to only six carries across 18 snaps in Week 18.
The added rest sets Jacobs up for a full workload Sunday, and I’m anticipating him approaching 20 carries and ceding much less work to fellow backs Emanuel Wilson and Chris Brooks with it all on the line at Lincoln Financial Field.
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While on the surface Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs lands in a difficult matchup this weekend against the Philadelphia Eagles, I think Philly’s soft schedule has padded its defensive statistics. The Eagles played the second-easiest schedule per PFF and fifth-easiest per ESPN’s NFL power Index. Opposing offenses often had to abandon the run, and I’m not anticipating Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur going that route Sunday.
This is so important. The Eagles ranked first in the NFL in turnover margin (plus-17) and points off takeaways from Weeks 8 through 18, and Green Bay actually has a better season total of plus-12 in turnover differential. The Packers have scored 117 points off of takeaways, second-best in the league (the Eagles scored 104 points off of takeaways to rank third). There isn't a whole lot to say otherwise. The Eagles have talked about this every day of the season – the importance of ball security and of taking the football away on defense.
Stopping the run is always a priority and that doesn't change here. Josh Jacobs ran for 1,329 yards and scored 15 touchdowns on the ground. Emanuel Wilson is sneaky good with 502 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns, averaging 4.9 yards per carry. Green Bay is a very good running team. But the Packers also hurt teams with the long ball – they had 7 passing plays of 50-plus yards this season, tied for second-best in the league. Green Bay uses a lot of pre-snap motion, so that is something the Eagles must be disciplined with, and the Packers have scored 25 points in seven consecutive games. So, stopping the run, pressuring quarterback Jordan Love, and containing a group of receivers that did damage in Week 1 to the defense present a tough challenge in every way for the No. 1-ranked defense in the NFL, a defense that is much more sound, much more effective than it was back in September.
Of course, Jacobs also ran for 84 yards (5.25 per carry) in Week 1 against the Eagles, and he rushed for 70 or more in nine of 17 games. Jacobs also yielded carries to backfield mates in four of the eight games he didn’t top the 70-yard benchmark because Green Bay was in the driver’s seat and won handily.
More to this point, Jacobs is also rested after handling just 36 carries across 82 offensive snaps over the final three weeks, including being limited to only six carries across 18 snaps in Week 18.
The added rest sets Jacobs up for a full workload Sunday, and I’m anticipating him approaching 20 carries and ceding much less work to fellow backs Emanuel Wilson and Chris Brooks with it all on the line at Lincoln Financial Field.