PHILADELPHIA – The Packers snapped their four-game losing streak on Monday night, beating the Eagles 27-13 at Lincoln Financial Field with an impressively efficient performance on offense.
The Packers converted 10-of-14 times on third down and once more on fourth down. They also burned more than eight minutes off the clock in the fourth quarter in adding a late field goal.
QB Aaron Rodgers completed 30-of-39 passes for 313 yards with two touchdowns. Rodgers finished with a 116.7 passer rating.
WR Davante Adams caught five passes for 113 yards and two scores, while WR Jordy Nelson added eight receptions for 91 yards. RB James Starks ran 17 times for 41 yards and added five receptions for 27 more, while FB Aaron Ripkowski scored his first career rushing TD.
Defensively, the Packers held the Eagles out of the end zone after an opening TD drive and got a big third-quarter interception from S Ha Ha Clinton-Dix as well as four sacks, by four different players.
For Philadelphia, rookie QB Carson Wentz was 24-of-36 for 254 yards with an INT for a 75.5 passer rating. WR Dorial Green-Beckham had six catches for 82 yards, while RB Wendell Smallwood carried nine times for 37 yards.
Here's a quarter-by-quarter recap of the action:
Fourth quarter:
Rodgers opened the third quarter by hitting Adams for 23 yards on third-and-10 to make it first-and-goal on the Philly 3. FB Aaron Ripkowski plowed in from the 1 on second down, and the Packers led, 24-13, with 13:53 left.
The Packers caught a break on the first play of the next drive. WR Dorial Green-Beckham was called for offensive pass interference, blocking too early on CB Damarious Randall on a short pass to RB Darren Sproles. A big gain by Sproles into Green Bay territory was wiped out by the penalty.
Green Bay returned the favor, though, as LB Julius Peppers was flagged for a facemask penalty when the Packers seemingly had Wentz sacked on third down. The penalty, followed by a 17-yard gain on a screen pass to Sproles, got Philadelphia moving again. But a low shotgun snap contributed to a sack by LB Clay Matthews, and Wentz's pass on third-and-20 for WR Bryce Treggs was behind him and incomplete. The Eagles punted, and the Packers took over on their own 8 with 10:18 left.
A holding penalty on LG Lane Taylor immediately moved the Packers back to the 4, but a 9-yard pass to Ripkowski and an offside penalty on Eagles DE Brandon Graham gave the Packers a first down on the 18. A run for 6 by Starks and a pass for 6 to Nelson moved the chains again. Then, on third-and-12, Rodgers bought time in the pocket and found Nelson wide open over the middle for 22 yards to the 50. Huge play.
Starks then ran for 8 and 2 yards for another first down, but a holding penalty on C Corey Linsley moved Green Bay back to midfield. After an 8-yard grab by Adams made it fourth-and-10, the Eagles were called for 12 men on the field, making it fourth-and-5 from the Philly 35. The Packers went for it, and Rodgers hit Nelson down the sideline for a 21-yard gain and another big first down. After three more running plays, K Mason Crosby added a 32-yard field goal to make it 27-13 with 1:57 left.
The 17-play drive covered 78 yards and consumed 8:21 on the clock.
Peppers and LB Nick Perry added two sacks on Philly's final drive, and the Packers killed the last 54 seconds after a failed fourth down.
Third quarter:
The Packers entered the fourth quarter with a 17-13 lead over the Eagles and were driving for more on Monday night at Lincoln Financial Field.
The Eagles got moving again with RB Wendell Smallwood. An offside penalty on Green Bay turned a third-and-6 into third-and-1, and Smallwood converted with a 9-yard run, following up with two more runs of 9 and 3 yards. But on second-and-10 from the Green Bay 45, QB Carson Wentz overthrew TE Zach Ertz, and S Ha Ha Clinton-Dix was there for the interception.
The Packers immediately took a shot, as QB Aaron Rodgers went deep to WR Davante Adams, who made a terrific over-the-shoulder catch for a 50-yard gain to the Philly 22. The drive stalled on third-and-3 from the 15, though, and the Packers had to settle for K Mason Crosby's 33-yard field goal to make it 17-10 with 8:48 left in the third.
The Eagles got that field goal right back. Wentz converted on third downs with passes of 8 yards to RB Darren Sproles and 16 yards to Ertz. A 10-yard pass to RB Kenjon Barner got Philly into scoring range, but the drive was stopped there and K Caleb Sturgis was good on a 50-yard field goal. The Packers led, 17-13, with 5:21 left in the quarter.
The Packers got back to work again. A roughing-the-passer penalty on Eagles DT Fletcher Cox on third down got the drive going, and then WR Jordy Nelson converted on third-and-2 by catching his own deflected pass. Back-to-back receptions by RB James Starks gained 13 yards to put the ball on the Philly 26, and the quarter expired with the Packers facing second-and-10.
Second quarter:
The Packers got an early touchdown in the second quarter and the Eagles ended the period with a field goal as Green Bay headed into halftime with a 14-10 lead on Monday night at Lincoln Financial Field.
On the opening play of the second quarter, the Packers took the lead. QB Aaron Rodgers fired a laser to the back of the end zone that WR Davante Adams caught with a nifty sliding grab behind CB Nolan Carroll. It was Adams' second TD of the night, and the Packers led 14-7 just seven seconds into the second quarter.
The Eagles got two first downs on their ensuing drive, as the Packers were playing without Clay Matthews (shoulder) and inserted S Morgan Burnett to play inside LB. A 17-yard pass to WR Jordan Matthews and a pair of runs by RB Wendell Smallwood got the Eagles near midfield. But DT Letroy Guion got Smallwood for a 2-yard loss on his third straight carry, and Wentz threw incomplete to WR Bryce Treggs on third down, forcing a punt.
The Packers converted three straight times on third down on their next drive, with a 4-yard option run by Rodgers, and two passes to WR Randall Cobb. But on third-and-10 from the 49, a pass to RB James Starks came up 3 yards short, and the Packers had to punt after holding the ball for more than 6 ½ minutes.
P Jake Schum's punt checked up perfectly at the 1-yard line and was downed by LB Jayrone Elliott. The Eagles challenged that Elliott contacted the goal line when he touched the ball, but the call on the field stood, and Matthews returned to the game on defense for the Packers.
The Eagles got out of the hole with a 20-yard pass to WR Jordan Matthews, but Packers DT Mike Daniels sacked Wentz on the next play for a 14-yard loss, moving Philly back to its own 8 at the 2-minute warning.
After a 13-yard pass to TE Zach Ertz and an offside penalty on LB Nick Perry, QB Carson Wentz scrambled for 17 yards to convert on third-and-6. An 11-yard pass to Treggs moved the chains again and got the Eagles into Green Bay territory, and passes of 7 yards to Ertz and 5 yards to WR Dorial Green-Beckham gave Philly a first down on the Green Bay 34. Pressure from LB Julius Peppers and CB Quinten Rollins led to incomplete passes on the next two snaps before a 4-yard screen pass to RB Darren Sproles came up short of the first down.
K Caleb Sturgis was good on a 48-yard field goal with 25 seconds left in the half, pulling the Eagles within 14-10.
First quarter:
The Packers and Eagles traded touchdowns on their opening drives, and Green Bay was driving again as the first quarter ended with a 7-7 tie on Monday night at Lincoln Financial Field.
The Packers got right to work on offense. With rookie Jason Spriggs starting at RG, Green Bay got moving with a 10-yard pass to WR Jordy Nelson and a 16-yard scramble by QB Aaron Rodgers on third-and-1. Passes of 12 and 6 yards to WR Randall Cobb preceded a 7-yard completion to TE Jared Cook to convert another third down.
After a 4-yard run by RB James Starks, Rodgers scrambled again for 9 yards and then hit WR Davante Adams on a slant for a 12-yard TD, giving Green Bay a 7-0 lead just over five minutes into the game.
The Eagles quickly answered. Rookie QB Carson Wentz went 6-for-6 on his opening drive, including four completions to WR Dorial Green-Beckham for 53 yards in all, the biggest a 24-yarder down the middle to get the ball into the red zone. Wentz eventually finished off the 11-play, 81-yard drive with a 1-yard scramble for the TD, tying the game at 7 with 3:40 left in the period.
The Packers got going again with a 9-yard pass to WR Ty Montgomery and back-to-back passes to Nelson for 13 and 8 yards. An 8-yard run by Starks converted on third-and-2, and an 11-yard pass to Cobb gave the Packers a first down at the Philly 20 as the quarter expired.
