The wheels have officially fallen off the Green Bay Packers’ 2025 season. A 5-3-1 record is nothing to scoff at, at least in theory, but it is the way in which the Packers have lost their last two games
— all three of their losses, in fact — that reveal massive questions that this team must answer if they have any hope of making the postseason.
On Monday Night Football, the Packers lost to the Philadelphia Eagles 13-7, in a game that was abysmal to watch for fans of the Packers and other fans alike. The Packers’ defense has played plenty well enough in all three of their losses to give the team a chance, allowing just 16, 13, and now 10 points in those three games. But the offense has continued to be disjointed at best, seemingly having no identity or ability to play good situational football.
The Packers team that had previously led the NFL in 3rd down conversion rate at nearly 50 percent went 5-for-13. Six drives in this game reached midfield, but only one made it to the red zone, where the team had massive issues a week ago. Mental mistakes cost the offense dearly, with a few clutch explosive plays erased by alignment penalties and Jordan Love coughing up a costly fumble late in the first half. And once again, Matt LaFleur’s playcalling will come into question, as the team faced a 4th-and-1 near midfield only to see the team line up out of sorts and then get stuffed on a run out of the shotgun.
Losing to the defending Super Bowl champions is no crime or embarrassment on its own. But losing when your defense holds that team to ten points, because the offense can’t get out of its own way? That very same offense is the one that the head coach has developed and calls plays for. From playcalling to execution, this team appears to have a coaching problem in general, and Matt LaFleur needs to step up and find a way to change these recent performances if he wants to be playing football into January once again.
The Eagles deferred the opening kickoff, giving the Packers the football to start the game. Josh Jacobs had six touches on the Packers’ 9-play drive, but Jordan Love took an ugly 11-yard sack on 2nd down at the edge of field goal range. That set up a deep pass attempt to Christian Watson on 3rd-and-20, but Watson had to play defensive back, knocking the ball away from Quinyon Mitchell, who was banged up on the play before Daniel Whelan came on to punt.
Philadelphia put together a lengthy drive of their own on their first series, starting from their own 9-yard line. An early 3rd-and-1 was an obvious tush push opportunity, but Jalen Hurts picked up the yard he needed after the referees missed a blatant false start by multiple members of the Eagles’ offensive line. Philadelphia later got conversions on 3rd-and-10 and 3rd-and-5 as they ate up more than nine minutes of clock.
But Edgerrin Cooper put an end to the interminable drive on a 3rd-down run by Hurts. The second-year linebacker punched the football out of Hurts’ hands as he was going to the ground, knocking it out before his knee touched down. Keisean Nixon scooped up the ball and scampered out for 20 yards, giving the Packers a massive early turnover.
After the takeaway, the offense looked disjointed again, with a fumbled play-fake on first down and a batted pass on second down. Love scrambled for 12 yards on 3rd-and-13, but came up just short at their own 45-yard line. They lined up to go for it with a QB sneak, but this time the officials called Aaron Banks for a false start for leaving early prior to the snap — a much tighter play than the one that they let go for the Eagles — and the Packers had to punt after all.
This time, the Packers defense forced a three-and-out, with Saquon Barkley going backwards on first and second downs. After the punt, LaFleur called handoffs to Jacobs on four consecutive plays, then Love threw to Luke Musgrave short of the sticks on 3rd-and-8. Facing a 4th-and-2 from their own 46, LaFleur sent the offense back out only to try to draw Philadelphia offsides, instead taking a delay of game before Whelan punted and sent the ball into the end zone for a touchback anyway.
A second straight three-and-out for the Eagles yielded a brutal 30-yard punt from Braden Mann, then the Packers returned the favor before forcing a third straight punt from Philadelphia at the two-minute warning. That set up the Packers at their own 35 with 1:54 on the clock and with all three timeouts in their pockets.
Finally, Green Bay’s offense started moving the football again, using tempo and short passing to move the ball. However, after reaching field goal range, the Eagles dialed up the pressure and sacked Love on back-to-back plays. The first saw Love roll up on the leg of center Elgton Jenkins, knocking him out for the game, then the second resulted in Love fumbling as he tried to shovel the ball to Jacobs, and the Eagles recovered for a turnover of their own with 23 seconds left, but the clock ran out on them before they could make any progress and the teams went into halftime with no points on the board.
Philadelphia finally got a number other than zero on the scoreboard on the opening drive of the second half. They picked up 55 yards in 10 plays, getting one explosive play on a 22-yard catch from Dallas Goedert, before eventually settling for a 39-yard field goal from Jake Elliott to finally open the scoring.
On the very first play of their own opening drive of the third quarter, the Packers finally got an explosive play as Love hit Watson off play-action for a 20-yard gain. Love then hit Dontayvion Wicks for the Packers’ first third-down conversion of the game across midfield. Then after a 3rd-and-9 ball went off Doubs’ hands, Love hit Bo Melton — yes, cornerback convert Bo Melton, who was playing significant snaps on offense in the game — right between the numbers on 4th-and-9 but he dropped the sure conversion to give the ball back to the Eagles.
Another three-and-out for the Packers defense —buoyed by a 6-yard tackle for loss by Devonte Wyatt on Barkley — gave the offense the ball back at the 20 following a touchback on the punt. It took just two plays for the offense to reach midfield behind an 11-yard run from Jacobs and a 20-yard gain for Wicks, then faced a 3rd-and-4 at the Eagles’ 43 on the first play of the fourth quarter. Wicks made another touch catch right at the sticks to move the chains to keep the drive alive for what appeared to be a big catch for Watson on the next play, but an illegal formation penalty wiped it out. A 3rd-and-11 went incomplete a few plays later from the 40 and the Packers punted, narrowly getting a touchback thanks to Melton’s foot being on the goal line when he tried to knock the ball back before it hit the ground in the end zone.
On the ensuing drive, the Eagles finally hit their big explosive plays. Hurts found Barkley wide open on a checkdown and he shook Carrington Valentine 1-on-1 for a huge 41-yard gain. On the very next play, Hurts hit Davonta Smith on a deep ball with Evan Williams in single coverage, and Smith hauled it in for a 36-yard touchdown. That extended the Eagles’ lead to 10-0 with 10:35 remaining in the game.
Green Bay finally went a bit up-tempo and finally found the red zone after getting a steady drive and a long pass interference penalty on a pass to Luke Musgrave up the left sideline. Josh Jacobs finally punched into the end zone for a 6-yard touchdown to get the Packers on the board, capping off an 11-play, 75-yard drive and cutting the deficit to three points.
Desperately needing a stop, the Packers gave up a conversion on an early 3rd-and-12, as Davonta Smith picked up 16 to move the chains. They then faced a 3rd-and-2 at midfield with 3:23 to go, but Barkley picked it up with a run from a fullback position. Finally, the Packers got a stop, helped by a pair of incomplete passes from Hurts, and the Eagles punted away with more than two minutes left and the Packers holding a pair of timeouts to try to go tie or win the game.
The Packers had no Romeo Doubs for the drive as he was out with a chest issue, but after a pair of ugly incompletions, Love finally found Watson for a gain of 25 yards on 3rd-and-10 as the clock ticked down to the two-minute warning. Facing a similar 3rd-and-10, Love hit Musgrave for a gain of 9, setting up a 4th-and-1.
With the game on the line, the Packers hurried to the line of scrimmage, weren’t on the same page, and ran a draw to Jacobs out of shotgun. The play never had a chance, with Jacobs getting hit in the backfield and eventually fumbling, while the team also got flagged for another illegal formation penalty. That turned the ball over to the Eagles, leaving the Packers with the slimmest of possibilities of eking out a victory.
Philadelphia failed to pick p a first down on their first three downs, but the Eagles bizarrely kept their offense on the field for a 4th-and-6 from the Packers’ 35. They failed to pick it up, leaving the Packers 27 seconds to try to get into field goal range.
Somehow, the Packers managed to get a field goal attempt off after Nick Sirianni’s insane decision. Bo Melton made a snag over the middle, setting up a 64-yard attempt for Brandon McManus, who got a free try after an Eagles timeout. He came up just short on that attempt, but then badly shanked the one that counted, ending the game in a 10-7 final.
