Green Bay Packers defeat Philadelphia Eagles in Wild Card weekend (Part 3)
"I just feel we rushed that last play and we didn't have to rush it," Jackson said. "That's what I was trying to say. ‘Just down the ball, just spike the ball, just kind of get back to the huddle and regroup.’ But he called 'All go.' We just ran what was
called so that's neither here nor there. It's just unfortunate."
In their first game of the season, Vick threw for 175 yards and had 103 yards rushing. The Eagles almost came back from being down 17 points, but were unable to. They lost the game 27-20. Vick later said that he wished he had another chance to play the game
because he felt as though the outcome would be different.
He had his chance at a do-over, but was not able to make the most of it.
The Eagles had possession of the ball first, but it was the Packers who scored first. Rodgers passed to Tom Crabtree for a 7-yard touchdown pass, followed by a successful point after by Mason Crosby to put them up 7-0 with eight seconds left in the first
quarter. It was Crabtree's first touchdown of his career.
They scored again with about five and a half minutes left in the second quarter. Rodgers threw a 9-yard pass to James Jones for a touchdown, followed by another point after by Crosby to put them14-0 up. The Eagles would not end the first half without a score,
but settled for a 29-yard field goal by Akers with 1:11 left in the first half.
Down 14-3, Philly’s defence pulled through by forcing a turnover on the Packers’ first drive of the third quarter. Jugua Parker recovered a fumble after Darryl Tapp forced the ball out of Rodgers’ hands at the Packers’ 24-yard line. Vick made an incredible
touchdown with a perfect pass to Jason Avant, who was surrounded by four defenders. The touchdown pass over the middle brought the Eagles within four points of the Packers.
However, Green Bay wouldn’t have any of it. They responded with a 16-yard pass from Rodgers to Brandon Jackson for a touchdown. Their lead was then 11 with the score at 21-10. The Eagles weren’t able to get a first down afterwards, and attempted a field
goal instead. However, Akers’ kick went far to the right on a simple 34-yard kick.
The Packers should have had an 18-point lead going into half time. That is, until Jones dropped a perfect pass in the last minute of the first half, which would have been a 63-yard touchdown pass. Jones was able to outmanoeuvre Asante Samuel but the ball
bounced right out of his hands. Jones has had a couple of issues with dropped passes this season. Rodgers was upset when he saw the ball fall to the ground, and fell to his knees and grabbed his helmet.
Before the season started, the Packers were the favourites to get to the Super Bowl. However an onslaught of injuries overtook the team with fifteen players put on injured reserve including tight-end Jermichael Finley, Grant, and four other starters.
The Packers are now 1-2 in terms of playoff games against the Eagles. The Eagles defeated the Packers exactly 50 years ago in the 1960 NFL Championship, which is the only playoff that Vince Lombardi has ever lost. Lombardi was the coach for the Packers from
1959 to 1967, who were first in the entire league for five seasons. The Eagles also won over the Packers in January of 2004 in the divisional round.
The remaining game will be discussed in part 4
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