The Green Bay Packers will take on the Philadelphia Eagles in a highly anticipated rematch of Week One on Wild Card Weekend. Despite finishing the season 11-6, two games better than their 9-8 record in 2023, Green Bay once again enters the NFL Playoffs as the seventh seed in the NFC, meaning that they will need to play on the road in each round if they are going to make a run to the Super Bowl.
Philadelphia won the NFC East with an impressive 14-3 record, including a 34-29 victory over the Packers in Sao Paolo, Brazil. Former Wisconsin Badgers linebacker Zack Baun had a career year in his first year with the Eagles, earning First Team All-Pro honors. Running back Saquon Barkley had 2,005 rushing yards, joining rare company in NFL history among rushers who have eclipsed 2,000 yards in a season.
Indeed, the Philadelphia presents a great challenge for Green Bay, but not an insurmountable one, at least according to former Packers wide receiver Davante Adams.
Former Green Bay Packers Wide Receiver Davante Adams Is Rooting for His Old Team to Beat the Philadelphia Eagles
Even though Adams may not have had the cleanest ending to his tenure with the Packers, he still holds the organization and the team in high regard. In the same interview with podcast host Kay Adams on her show “Up and Adams” in which he revealed that he is definitely open to a reunion with Green Bay, the three-time All-Pro wide receiver discussed how the Packers can upset the Eagles on Sunday.
Davante Adams wasn’t shy about who he’d be rooting for in Packers-Eagles 😅🧀
“I’m DEFINITELY rooting for (Green Bay) in that game… that’s for SURE.” @tae15adams @packers @heykayadams @MSGNetworks | #GoPackGo #GBvsPHI pic.twitter.com/KZNaJaAAHG
— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) January 10, 2025
“They just got to get back to doing what they were doing earlier in the year. They’ve been dealing with some injuries and, um, honestly I feel they just need to push the ball down field a little bit more like how they were doing before.
“Catching teams off guard, whether it’s getting penalties, or, you know I think that is something we could have done a little bit more throughout the years. Just challenging people down the field.
“The game gets hard when you try to dink and dunk, you know, kind of having that Tom Brady approach without having a Tom Brady quarterback that’s okay with throwing just five-yard, ten-yard completions and just doing it right all the way up the field.
“If you have a young team like they have, it’s not always easy to do that, so getting some more chucks, you know getting Josh [Jacobs] back and getting him going is going to be a big thing.
“I’m still rooting for them. I’m definitely rooting for them in that game, that’s for sure.”
Adams makes a valid point when talking about how young the Packers are right now. They are the second-youngest team in NFL history to make the postseason, with last year’s roster being the only one younger.
Adams mentioning getting “Josh back” is likely a comment on how Green Bay’s running back exited the Week 18 loss to the Chicago Bears to prevent him from getting injured before the playoffs.
How Can the Green Bay Packers Upset the Philadelphia Eagles?
As one can tell from the 34-29 score between the Packers and Eagles in Week One, Green Bay has the potential to hang with, and possibly beat, Philadelphia.
One important part of their game that needs to improve this week is how they start the game. Slow starts have plagued Green Bay’s offense, particularly in the past two games. Simply put, that cannot happen in the postseason, especially with Barkley able to eat up game clock with his rushing capabilities on the other side.
Early first downs and long drives will be vital. Jacobs should get the ball early and often, and Matt LaFleur must do a better job of calling plays that will allow the Packers to convert and third (and possibly fourth) downs.
With Christian Watson out, wide receivers like Jayden Reed and especially Dontayvion Wicks, who will see more playing time, need to step up and promptly fix their drop issues.
Defensively, Green Bay must unleash Edgerrin Cooper on the Eagles and allow him to blow up plays like he has done when he’s gotten the opportunity to play. Fortunately, he has been playing a lot more than he did at the beginning of the season.
In Week One, Cooper played just 11 defensive snaps, but still had four tackles and pass defended.
He will be the key to slowing down Barkley and the Eagles’ run game.
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