Eagles defense swarms Jordan Love all night long, helping Philly survive a Monday night slugfest at Lambeau

All the Eagles needed to do was punt it away and play defense again, facing a fourth-and-6 from the Packers' 35-yard line, but Nick Sirianni and/or Kevin Patullo instead dial up a deep shot to A.J. Brown. Why? It falls incomplete and Green Bay gets the ball with time to aim for a last-minute field goal. Fortunately for Philadelphia, Brandon McManus doesn't even come close to hitting a walk-off 64-yard kick.

Jordan Love tries his best to fire the ball down the field, but his receiving corps -- once again dinged by injuries -- doesn't offer a ton of help. Then Jacobs is absolutely swarmed on fourth-and-1 as the Eagles' defensive line overpowers the trenches. Leading the charge? Jaelan Phillips, who's been a terror against the Packers in his very first action as part of Philadelphia's defense.

Jacobs gets five carries on the Packers' first drive following the Eagles' touchdown, and he refuses to go down without a fight. Green Bay benefited greatly from a pass interference call on Philly linebacker Jihaad Campbell, who was in coverage against Luke Musgrave, and then Jacobs did the rest in the red area, driving through contact for a six-yard scoring run. He's up to 79 yards.

Hello, offense! After almost three and a half quarters of stagnant work, the all-star Eagles make themselves known: Saquon Barkley breaks out a spin move to race down the sideline and put the Birds in scoring range, then Jalen Hurts uncorks a deep shot to DeVonta Smith in a throw reminiscent of his Super Bowl LIX dagger to No. 6. Smith outmuscles Packers safety Evan Williams in the end zone to confirm the touchdown. Suddenly it's a two-score Eagles lead.

Is this an effort to lessen the impact of, say, a devastating Micah Parsons pass rush? A byproduct of not having a healthy Cam Jurgens and Lane Johnson in the trenches? Whatever it is, it's got the Eagles looking sluggish once again:

Matt LaFleur may lean conservative, but he tries to vault the Packers into contention by dialing up a fourth-and-9 throw from the Eagles' 41-yard line, and Jordan Love zips it to Bo Melton, who can't hang on as he goes to the ground.

Philly goes conservative to close its latest drive, this one a 10-play, 50-yard effort that lasts more than six minutes, opting to run it on third-and-long to set up a 39-yard Jake Elliott field goal. But at least we have points! Jalen Hurts also took a conservative posture as the Birds marched into the red zone, seemingly avoiding an over-the-middle dart to A.J. Brown to pick up a few yards with his legs. This has truly been a game of inches -- scraping by and working to survive hard-fought defensive fronts.

Johnson limped to the locker room before halftime but could be eyeing a return to action:

Both sides are mirroring each other in this defensive slugfest. In the first half, each team endured:

• a quarterback fumble
• a key offensive line injury
• stalled offensive drives

Technically, the Eagles' pass rush is getting home more, with three sacks and three tackles for loss already. But Jalen Hurts has been unable to connect with any of his wideouts down the field on the offensive side; neither A.J. Brown nor DeVonta Smith has a catch longer than 9 yards. As for the Packers, Josh Jacobs is trudging along to the tune of 3.8 yards per carry, while Jordan Love appears to have nowhere to fire the rock with Matthew Golden and Tucker Kraft missing from his arsenal.

Philadelphia may not be moving the ball, but the Eagles' defensive front is showing up. This time, it's Nakobe Dean coming through to make Jordan Love antsy, and the Packers gunslinger tries to reposition and/or throw the ball away, only to lose it entirely. Jaelan Phillips, the Eagles' newest addition to the front seven, scoops it up for the fumble recovery to keep the Packers scoreless. To make matters worse for Green Bay: Veteran lineman Elgton Jenkins is now banged up as well.

Philadelphia's star right tackle is forced to walk gingerly to the medical tent after Packers safety Evan Williams contacts his left leg in the pocket. Johnson needed a moment to get to his feet and labored to reach the sidelines. Backup swing tackle Fred Johnson is now in at the right tackle spot for the Eagles, who've notoriously seen a dip in offensive production when Lane Johnson isn't available.

Jalen Hurts looks increasingly uncomfortable as this one wears on. He's got solid protection considering Micah Parsons is on the other side, but the throwing lanes aren't very clear. First he squeezes a dangerous cross-body dart past Quay Walker on the Eagles' latest series, then nearly throws a pick to Keisean Nixon thanks to the veteran corner's tight coverage of Dallas Goedert. Not a whole lot of breathing room for Philadelphia so far, and it makes sense; the Packers entered this one ranked No. 5 in total defense.

Halfway through the second quarter, Philly and Green Bay have combined for three different drives of at least four minutes, but neither side has touched the scoreboard. 

Matt LaFleur opted to go for it on fourth down three times, although two attempts were negated before they could officially get underway -- one by a false start and the other as Green Bay failed to draw the Eagles offsides. 

The big difference so far? The Packers thwarted the best drive of the night -- a 16-play Eagles series -- with Edgerrin Cooper's punch-out forced fumble. Not a whole lot of explosive plays other than the turnover thus far.

A rare giveaway from the Eagles' star quarterback, who entered Monday night with just two total turnovers on the 2025 season: Hurts takes a designed run up the middle for a strong would-be first down, only to have the ball punched out of his grasp by Cooper. A textbook play from the Packers' linebacker to halt a methodical drive by Philly's offense.

Sometimes the Eagles' early movement on their signature sneak play is close enough to let slide. But Philly's Landon Dickerson somehow got away with a blatant jump past the line of scrimmage on the team's first drive. Not sure how the officials missed that.

As The Athletic's Zach Berman notes, the last time the Eagles took the field, their edge rushing rotation was led by overlooked veterans like Jalyx Hunt, Patrick Johnson and journeyman Joshua Uche. Against the Packers, the Birds will have a trio of new names joining that group: Jaelan Phillips, who was just acquired via trade from the Dolphins; Nolan Smith, who headlined the unit before suffering an injury earlier this season; and Brandon Graham, who was lured out of retirement ahead of the bye. Smith is probably the favorite to lead the charge once again, but remember Phillips has a history with Vic Fangio, so perhaps he'll be full go out of the gate.

Green Bay's ever-shuffling wide receiver corps will be without Golden, the first-round rookie, as he recovers from a shoulder injury. That means Romeo Doubs and Christian Watson are due to serve as Jordan Love's top pass targets, with reserve pass catchers Dontayvion Wicks and Savion Williams both active despite entering the day questionable with injuries of their own. Another notable inactive for the Packers: kicker Lucas Havrisik, who's a perfect 10 for 10 on combined field goals and extra points this year but will miss a third straight game in favor of veteran Brandon McManus.

Jaire Alexander is the big name on the Eagles' inactives list; the former Packers All-Pro won't take on his former team tonight as he continues to settle into Philadelphia after arriving via trade with the Ravens during the team's bye week. But the most notable absence for the Birds belongs in the trenches, where starting center Cam Jurgens will sit out due to a knee injury, leaving reserve interior man Brett Toth as the fill-in anchor of the front.

From Will Brinson's forecast of Monday night's showdown, in which he suggests Jacobs will go over 16.5 carries:

The Packers absolutely believe in capping Jacobs' carries if they can. But it's also clear that when the lights are brightest, they're the most willing to give him the football.

He's topped 20+ carries only twice this year and both were in prime-time games, against Washington in Week 2 on a Thursday and then on Sunday night a few weeks later in Dallas. ... Emanuel Wilson will get a few carries sprinkled in, but I think in this massive NFC matchup with an extra day to rest and get ready, we'll see Green Bay lean on Jacobs more.

From our expert predictions piece featuring SportsLine simulation data:

Coming off a loss as 13.5-point favorites versus Carolina is sure to motivate Green Bay on Monday, and ... [the] Packers have won six straight home games on Mondays, with an average margin of victory of +13.6 points over this streak. Additionally, they have an 18-6 all-time record versus the Eagles at home, including winning the last Lambeau meeting in 2020.

Matt LaFleur has the best cover percentage (66%) by any head coach in prime time this century, going 23-12-1 against the spread. The 2025 Packers [also] boast top-eight rankings in total yards, passing offense and third-down offense while the defense is also carrying its weight. Green Bay shuts down the pass, allowing the fewest yards per attempt and fewest yards per completion, while Micah Parsons and co. rank in the top 10 in pressure rate. That pass rush could cause problems for an Eagles offense that ranks 28th in third-down conversion percentage.

Green Bay temperatures are currently registering just above freezing, but that will soon change: The Weather Channel is forecasting a dip below 30 around kickoff time, with temps set to reach the low 20s by the home stretch of the matchup. No snow on the radar, though, so cold air is set to be the biggest hurdle for both sides.