The Packers did not elevate anyone from the practice squad.  The team earlier signed QB Sean Clifford to the 53-man roster.  WR Christian Watson, S Zayne Anderson, OT Andre Dillard were inactive due to injury.  TE Ben Sims and QB Sean Clifford were healthy inactives.  Since Clifford was signed to the 53-man roster, he would have been allowed to play as the "emergency quarterback" had both Love and Willis been injured.  Sims being inactive is a surprise.  Monk and Willis did not play.

Elgton Jenkins (stinger) and Devonte Wyatt (lower leg) left the game early and did not return.  Doubs left the game after banging his head on the ground while Jayden Reed suffered a shoulder injury late in the game.  Josh Myers was carted off the field late in the game with a leg injury, but word is that he might have a hairline fracture.  Myers will be an unrestricted free agent in 2025.

OFFENSIVE LINE:

The offensive line's run blocking was not good.  The running backs gained 87 yards on 21 carries, a 4.14-yard average.  Jacobs got loose for a 31-yard gain.  Without that run, the running backs gained 2.80 yards per carry, which better reflects what actually happened.  Kraft ran two sneaks for 10 yards, and both converted third downs.  Love added 10 yards on 2 carries.  There were very times that a double teams allowed one of the offensuive linemen to get to the second level, and thus very few longer runs.  The running backs earned most of the yards they gained. The Packers did not attack the edges often, and the Eagles did not play with 6 men in the box often.  The Packers instead slugged it out, but they could not get much movement against the defensive line and the run support arrived quickly.   

The line had an average day in pass protection.  The Bears had 5 quarterback hits and 2 sacks.  RDE Jalen Carter, LDE Milton Williams and NT Jordan Davis, gave the linemen fits, especially Davis.  Carter had 2 quarterback hits while Davis had 1 QB hit.  Williams and Davis drew what seemed like innumerable holding calls against the guards who attempted to replace Elgton Jenkins.  OLB Nolan Smith terrorized Zach Tom with 2 sacks and 2 tackles for loss.  As Larry McCarren said, Rasheed Walker probably had the best day, as he neutralized Josh Sweat, who had just 1 tackle. 

2025 Outlook:  All of the linemen return for 2025 except Josh Myers.  I gather the draft is not full of prospects at the center position.  Nevertheless, center could use an upgrade.  RT Zach Tom might get an extension sooner rather than later, with many estimating it at about $21M per year.  Tom finished in third place for RT in AP All-Pro awards behind Penei Sewell and Lane Johnson.  I wish Rasheed Walker would improve his run blocking.  I am happy to pay him good money for his pass blocking, but his run blocking is simply less than average.  The problem is that left tackles, like quarterbacks, get paid a lot even if they are not that good.  Spotrac estimates that LT Cam Robinson is worth $14M and I think Walker is better than Robinson.  I am not crazy about paying Walker $15M or so per year on a team that is so dependent on the running game, but tackles do not grow on trees and Walker is pretty good.  Rasheed Walker is under contract for 2025: we will see what Gutekunst decides to do.  The team needs a starting center and and depth on the interior, along with a swing tackle.     

QUARTERBACKS:

Love completed 20 of 33 passes (60.61%) for 212 yards (6.42 yards/attempt).  He finished with a 41.5 passer rating.  He threw 3 interceptions and no touchdowns.  Love did scramble twice for nice gains.  He looked like a quarterback who does not have a match-up he likes or any reliable plays he is comfortable with.  Love was good throwing quick outs, but the Eagles played a lot of people near the line of scrimmage, so the bubble screens and the like did not work.  They tried a few deep throws but the only completion was a ball that was well under thrown to Wicks who came back for it.  I cannot remember the last time Love escaped and made a strong, accurate pass on the run.  Part of that might be very poor scramble drill skills from the receivers. The 15 scripted plays and the game plan in general did not seem to identify and exploit any chinks the Eagles' defensive armor.  Coach LaFleur said after the game that the Eagles played a lot of soft zone, but it did not look that soft to me.  

2025 Outlook:  Love will return as the starter, and one would imagine that Willis also returns.  I do not think Willis played enough and thus did display enough to seriously tempt another team sufficiently to make General Manager Gutekunst an offer he can't refuse.  Then again, pick 91 tempted Gutekunst to part with Rasul Douglas and a fifth round pick.  Clifford can return to the practice squad.  Or not.

RUNNING BACKS:

Jacobs gained 81 yards on just 18 carries for a 4.50-yard average and a touchdown on a really fine run.  Aside from a 31-yard romp, a lot of Jacobs' yards came from always falling forward.  Jacobs used a lot of jump cuts and second effort.  Jacobs caught all 3 of his targets for 40 yards.  He is a large part of the offense.  Wilson gained 6 yards on 3 carries while Brooks had no carries but caught 2 of 3 passes for 9 yards.  The pattern is clear: Wilson comes in to run the ball and Brooks comes in to catch it or pass block.  Jacobs is used for short yardage with Kraft getting the chance to run some direct snap sneaks. 

2025 Oulook: Jacobs, Brooks and Wilson all should return in 2025, and they will get a better look at Marshawn Lloyd.

TIGHT ENDS:

Kraft caught all 5 of his targets for 26 yards with a long of 12.  He caught some of those short passes with a defender practically standing next to him.  I did not notice any routes downfield.  Musgrave had no statistics.  Fitzpatrick had no targets, the same as the last three weeks.  I wrote last week that it seemed like Kraft was often targeted while he was close to the line of scrimmage and in traffic.  That happened again.  I would like to find out how many routes Musgrave ran.  Did the Packers attack the seam or downfield with him?

2025: Kraft and Musgrave will return.  The Packers used to run plays to get Musgrave in favorable match ups.  I have not seen that much this year.  Did he come back 100%?  2025 will be a important year for Musgrave.  Fitzpatrick and Sims should be looking over their shoulders.

WIDE RECEIVERS:

Reed caught all 4 of his targets for 46 yards.  I thought the Packers made a conscious effort to get Reed involved.  That was probably the correct thing to do, but it is better if it just happens organically.  Wicks caught 2 of his 6 targets for 39 yards with a long of 29.  Melton caught 1 of his 3 targets for 16 yards and Heath did not catch any of his 4 targets.  Heath caught a 43-yard bomb but it was negated by an offensive holding call on Rhyan.

I overestimated the wide receiver room.  LaFleur mentioned that the Eagles played a soft zone.  Maybe so, but you couldn't prove it by me.  There were a lot of contested catches.  The Packers have a deep group but there are no #1 wide receivers or even #2 wide receivers.

2025 Outlook:  They are all returning.  Watson will likely start the season on PUP; maybe he gets activated mid-season or maybe he stays on PUP for most of 2025 and his contract tolls.  The Packers need a starting "X" receiver who is a deep threat.  Doubs concussions scare me and his curious decision to miss a couple of practices make me wonder about him.     

DEFENSIVE TACKLES:

Slaton had 3 tackles (2 solo) and a tackle for loss.  Wooden had 2 assisted tackles, 2 quarterback hits and a half sack.  Clark had 5 tackles (2 solo). Brooks had 1 assisted tackle and a couple of hurries.  Wyatt had no stats in his 5 snaps. The Eagles gained 169 yards on 34 carries for a 4.97-yard average with a long of 17.  They did a decent job on Barkley who had 98 yards on 23 carries for a 4.26-yard average until the Eagles' last possession.  The Eagles made sure that Barkley got over 100 yards by giving him 2 carries when I expected a couple of kneel downs.  Barkley gained 21 yards on those two carries, including the 17 yarder on which he just gave himself up. 

The Eagles only gained 290 yards on offense.  They had to punt 5 times.  The Eagles only converted 2 of 11 third down opportunities.  The Packers had 302 net yards on offense and converted 8 of 15 third and fourth down chances while winning the time of possession battle. The Packers had 4 turnovers, giving the Eagles a couple of short fields.  

2025 Outlook:  Everyone returns except Slaton, who is an unrestricted free agent.  I have no idea what the Packers were thinking when they gave Clark that extension.  Clark belongs in the NFL, but he is more of a $12M AAV player than a $21M AAV player.  The Packers probably will hang on to Clark.  This room needs competition.    

DEFENSIVE ENDS:

Enagbare had 4 tackles (2 solo).  Van Ness had 4 tackles (1 solo).  Gary had 3 tackles with a sack, a tackle for loss and a quarterback hit.  Cox had no statistics.  Mosby had an assisted tackle on special teams.  The Packers only had 5 quarterback hits and 2 sacks.  Two of the QB hits came on one sack as Wooden and McDuffie each got a half sack.  Lane Johnson is a first team All-Pro at right tackle and LT Jordan Mailata was named to the 2nd team All-Pro by the Associated Press.  They just shut down the Edge rushers.  Hurts had time to pass, and some times he had all day.    

2025 Outlook:  Everybody returns for 2025.  This room needs an upgrade.

LINEBACKERS:

Walker had 8  tackles (4 solo).  McDuffice had 6 tackles (2 dolo) with a QB hit and a half sack.  Edgerrin Cooper 6 tackles (2 solo), 1 quarterback hit and a couple of other pressures.  Eric Wilson had no defensive statistics during his 3 snaps but he had an assisted tackle on special teams.  Hopper had no statistics.  I thought the linebackers did a nice job.  The opponents TEs and RBs did not do much harm.

2025 Outlook:  Walker is under contract for 2025 and Cooper was only a rookie.  McDuffie and Eric Wilson are both unrestricted free agents.  While I assume it won't be difficult to re-sign one or both players to inexpensive contracts with little guaranteed money (less than $300K guaranteed), a day three pick might be worth it.  

DEFENSIVE BACKS:

Nixon had 2 tackles (1 solo).  He had a penalty for unnecessary roughness.  He had a fumble on the opening kickoff.  I think that was a helmet to helmet hit, not withstanding Tom Brady prattling on about how it was absolutely clean hit right on the ball.  I also think Nixon recovered his fumble, but that was a closer call.  Nixon has been much better than I expected as a perimeter cornerback and probably is the leader to play opposite Jaire Alexander next year.  He brings a physicality and toughness to a team that needs it.  I wish he wouldn't return every possible kickoff and that he would be more disciplined.  Still, he is a steal at $6M per year.  Valentine had 5 tackles (3 solo) and a couple of missed tackles.  His coverage is pretty good.  He is a good depth piece.  Stokes, Ballentine, and Rochell had no statistics. 

The safety room has been utterly transformed.  McKi8nney had 5 tackles (2 solo).  Evan Williams had 4 tackles (2 solo) and the only pass defensed by the Packers.  Bullard had 3 tackles (2 solo).  He still gets picked on in coverage but the athleticism is there. 

2025 Outlook:  Everyone returns except Stokes and Ballentine.  Alexander's contract suggests that he will be back in 2025, though the Packers could release him while saving cap space.  The better question is whether he can be relied upon. 

SPECIAL TEAMS:

McManus made 1 of his 2 field goals and his extra point attempt.  It was an important miss.  Whelan punted only 2 times a 50-yard gross average. 

RB: 1.03

TE: 1.21

WR: 2.76

DT:  2.00

DE:  1.98

LB:  2.50

DB:  4.52

Photo courtesy of Eric Hartline, Imagine Images.