The 2024 season of the Green Bay Packers ended abruptly Sunday in Philadelphia with a 22-10 loss to the Eagles, who led the entire game and forced four turnovers in the NFC Wild Card Round at Lincoln Financial Field
After starting 11-4, the Packers lost three straight games to end the season and will now watch the NFC Divisional Round from home after nearly taking down the San Francisco 49ers in that playoff round last January.
Here’s what went right, what went wrong and what it means for the Packers moving forward:
What went right
— The Packers fought defensively all night. In fact, Jeff Hafley’s defense was the only reason this game stayed close. The Eagles finished with only 290 yards, and seven of the team’s 22 points were gift-wrapped by Keisean Nixon’s fumble. The group consistently played adversity defense at a high level.
— Josh Jacobs turned 21 touches into 121 total yards and a score. He caught all three of his targets, created 81 hard-earned rushing yards and produced an incredible 31-yard score to set up the Packers’ only touchdown.
— Dontayvion Wicks had a 29-yard catch on third down, a 10-yard catch on third down and drew a 33-yard pass interference penalty on third down.
— Jayden Reed caught four passes for 46 yards, including a terrific effort on a 20-yard catch, and had a 20-yard punt return. He was effective with the ball in his hands. He just only touched the ball six times.
— The Packers limited Jalen Hurts to just 13 completions, and A.J. Brown caught just one pass for 10 yards.
What went wrong
— Keisean Nixon fumbled the opening kickoff, and the Packers scored three plays later. Just 99 seconds into the game, the Packers trailed 7-0.
— The Packers didn’t score until almost 10 minutes into the second half. They trailed 10-0 at half. It was another glacially slow start.
— Elgton Jenkins went out with an injury early, and the offensive line was crippled without him. Travis Glover and Kadeem Telfort committed four penalties after Jenkins departed. Nolan Smith produced two sacks, including one in which he beat Zach Tom on third down.
— Jordan Love threw three picks and could have thrown more. His first pass was high and nearly picked. It’s nearly impossible to win playoff games when your quarterback has three turnovers and you lose the turnover battle 4-0. Love played poorly on a night when the Packers had to have his best.
— Carrington Valentine missed a tackle on Saquon Barkley on an explosive run in the first quarter and then got out-muscled by Dallas Goedert on a 22-yard touchdown in the second half.
— After cutting the lead to 10-3, the Packers immediately gave up a touchdown. After cutting the lead to 16-10, the Packers immediately gave up a field goal drive.
— The Packers committed eight total penalties, including two 15-yard, emotion-fueled penalties in the second half.
— Saquon Barkley didn’t dominate, but he and Jalen Hurts still combined for 155 rushing yards. Barkley needed 25 carries to get to 119.
— Malik Heath had a fourth down conversion fail when he couldn’t get two feet down in bounds. He also stumbled coming out of the break and likely ruined what would have been a touchdown pass in the second half.
— The Packers had only two tackles for loss, one pass breakup and zero takeaways. The defense was solid but not overly disruptive. This was a game where the Packers desperately needed a takeaway.
What it means
The 2024 season is over. The Packers finished 0-6 against the Eagles, Vikings and Lions, summing up the season overall. Matt LaFleur’s team was good overall but never great against the NFL’s best teams. And the taste of a three-game losing streak to finish it out will be tough to remove. A season that started with Super Bowl expectations — set by the crazy run to end 2023 — ended well short of New Orleans. But don’t let the disappointing ending cloud the improvement created by the 2024 team. They didn’t get to the “great” tier but the Packers improved in almost every meaningful area, including record, points per game scored, points per game allowed, yards per play, yards per play allowed, takeaways, turnover differential and point differential.
Highlights
What’s next
The offseason. It’s a big offseason for the Packers. They are no longer heavily restricted by dead cap problems and should have plenty of resources to improve, both via veteran free agency and the draft. Speaking of the draft, that little event is coming to Green Bay. Don’t be surprised if Brian Gutekunst is very aggressive this offseason. He has cap dollars to spend and a team that looks to be on the doorstep of being very good.
