Packers head to Eagles for playoff matchup with both starting QBs on the mend

Green Bay (11-6) at Philadelphia (14-3)

Sunday, 4:30 p.m., EST, Fox

BetMGM NFL Odds: Eagles by 4 1/2

Against the spread: Green Bay 9-8; Philadelphia 11-6

Series record: Green Bay leads the regular-season series 27-17, but the Eagles have won two of the three playoff matchups. All three of the previous postseason games were also played in Philadelphia.

Last meeting: The Eagles defeated the Packers 34-29 in the season opener on Sept. 6 in a game that was played at São Paulo, Brazil.

Last week: Packers lost to the Bears 24-22. Eagles rested many starters in a 20-13 win over the Giants that had no effect on their playoff seeding.

Packers defense: overall (5), rush (5), pass (12), scoring (8)

Packers defense: overall (5), rush (7), pass (13), scoring (6)

Eagles offense: overall (8), rush (2), pass (29), scoring (7)

Eagles defense: overall (1), rush (10), pass (1), scoring (2)

Turnover differential: Packers plus-12; Eagles plus-11

Packers player to watch

WR Jayden Reed. Green Bay's best player in the Week 1 loss to the Eagles was Reed, who caught four passes for 138 yards and one touchdown and added a 33-yard TD run. He was relatively quiet down the stretch and had a big fumble against the Bears on Sunday, but without big-play receiver Christian Watson, lost to a torn ACL in his right knee, someone must step up in the passing game.

Eagles player to watch

RB Saquon Barkley returns to the field after a day off in Philadelphia's final regular-season game last week. Barkley finished 101 yards shy of breaking Eric Dickerson's single-season NFL rushing record of 2,105 yards, set in 1984. Two weeks ago, Barkley rushed for 167 yards against the Cowboys to become the ninth player in NFL history to rush for at least 2,000 yards in a season.

Key matchup

Green Bay's defense against Eagles QB Jalen Hurts. Assuming Hurts plays after getting concussed Dec. 22 at Washington and spending the past couple of weeks in league protocol, the Packers will want to test him early. The Packers keeping Hurts in the pocket and not running the ball is likely their best chance of success.

Key injuries

Packers: QB Jordan Love suffered an elbow injury vs. Chicago and did not return. He was limited in practice on Wednesday but said he was ''hopeful'' to play on Sunday. ... Along with Watson, CB Jaire Alexander is out following knee surgery. ... Two defensive starters, LB Quay Walker and S Evan Williams, have missed the past three games.

Eagles: Hurts did not play two weeks ago against Dallas and missed the final three quarters the previous week against Washington after getting concussed early against the Commanders. Hurts was a limited participant in practice on Wednesday. Also limited in practice on Wednesday were A.J. Brown (knee/rest), Kenny Pickett (ribs) and RB Will Shipley (ankle).

Series notes

Green Bay has a three-game road winning streak in the wild-card round, going back to a win at Philadelphia that jump-started its run to a Super Bowl championship in 2010. ... This is the Packers' 37th postseason appearance, most for any franchise in NFL history. Their 37 playoff wins trail only San Francisco's 38. … The Packers have a league-high 16 playoff appearances since realignment in 2002. That includes five since Matt LaFleur took over as coach in 2019. Only Buffalo and Kansas City (six each) have more. ... On Jan. 11, 2004, in a divisional round playoff contest, the Eagles defeated the Packers 20-17 in overtime in a game that is remembered for Freddie Mitchell's catch from Donovan McNabb on fourth-and-26.

Stats and stuff

Love's 157.2 passer rating during last year's wild-card win at Dallas tied for No. 1 all time in a quarterback's first playoff start and is No. 1 among all quarterbacks in a road start. … This will mark just the second time the Packers faced a 14-win team in the playoffs. In 2001, they were trounced by the St. Louis Rams. … Pro Bowl Packers S Xavier McKinney has four interceptions in five games against the Eagles, including one in Week 1. … RB Josh Jacobs ended the regular season with eight consecutive games with a rushing touchdown, tops in Packers history. … The Packers finished third in the NFL with 3.96 yards allowed per carry, their best mark since 2017. ... Philadelphia finished with a single-season record of 3,048 rushing yards. … The Eagles fell 15 points shy of eclipsing the club record of 477, set in 2022. … DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson tied his career high with six interceptions. … LB Josh Sweat led the Eagles in sacks with eight.

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