Eagles-Packers preview: Five things to watch

In Week 10 of the NFL season, the Philadelphia Eagles will face the Green Bay Packers, who they beat in Week 1 last season as well as in the playoffs. Here are our five things to watch.

1) The Eagles must tackle well against Josh Jacobs and the Packers' rushing attack

The Packers were the third-most run heavy team in the NFL last season. This year they're ninth. When they run the ball well, it opens up their entire offense. However, much like the Eagles, they are not running it as well as they did last season.

RB1 Josh Jacobs finished sixth in the NFL in rushing in 2024, behind just Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, Bijan Robinson, Jonathan Taylor, and Jahmyr Gibbs. This season, he's 14th. He has rushed 141 times for 534 yards, or just 3.8 yards per carry. His long run on the season is just 19 yards, so he has not popped any big runs yet. That's not really his game. He had seven runs of 20+ yards a year ago, which was a career high. His longest run was 38 yards. By comparison, Jalen Hurts also had 7 runs of 20+ yards. Barkley had 17.

Jacobs is more of a throwback power runner who gains tough yards, and will typically fall forward. He has also been very good around the goal line, as he had 15 rushing TDs in 2024, and already 10 so far in 2025.

"They’ve got one of the best backs in the league," Vic Fangio said.

In the first meeting against the Packers Week 1 in Brazil, Jacobs ran 16 times for 84 yards. In the playoffs, he ran 18 times for 81 yards and a TD. He was a rare back last season who had success against the Eagles' run defense. The Eagles cannot give up plays like this:

The Eagles have had good tackling games, and bad ones. They cannot afford a bad one against this opponent.

2) The Eagles' secondary vs. the Packers' depleted passing offense

The Packers' best receiver, in my opinion, is Jayden Reed. In 2024, he led the team in receptions (55) and receiving yards (857), and had 6 TDs. He had a big game in Brazil against the Eagles, catching 4 passes for 138 yards and a TD, plus a 33-yard TD run.

Reed is currently on injured reserve, after having concurrent surgeries on a broken clavicle and a Jones fracture in his foot. The image of one doctor going to work on his foot while another works on his shoulder is funny to me for some reason.

Anyway, there was some optimism that Reed could maybe return in time for this matchup, but he won't.

The Packers' best receiver this season is actually a tight end. That would be Tucker Kraft, who leads the team with 32 catches for 489 yards and 6 TDs. He was on his way toward an All Pro-caliber season before tearing an ACL.

So if the Packers are missing their two best weapons in the passing game, they're screwed, right? It certainly hurts, but they do have good depth at receiver.

Romeo Doubs has 34 catches for 441 yards and 4 TDs, while Matthew Golden is having a decent enough start to his rookie season with 23 catches for 262 yards. But the most dangerous player on the Packers' offense, in my opinion, even when everyone is healthy, is Christian Watson.

Watson has not be able to stay healthy for the Packers, but when he is, he is deadly deep down the field. Watson is 6'4 with 4.36 speed, and he can win contested catches. Spider chart beast:

Watson has only played in 2 games this season, but he has 6 catches for 143 yards (23.8 YPC). For his career, Watson is averaging 17.3 YPC. In 40 career games, he has 28 receptions of 20+ yards, and 11 receptions of 40+ yards. He had a 52-yard reception against the Panthers Week 9:

If Fangio intends on having Quinyon Mitchell trail one of the Packers' receivers, Watson should be the guy, though he could be on a pitch count.

At quarterback, Jordan Love was in the same 2020 quarterback draft class as Jalen Hurts. He sat for his first three seasons behind Aaron Rodgers before taking over as the starter in 2023. He has played in Matt LaFleur's offense his entire career, and has only had two offensive coordinators (Nathaniel Hackett and Adam Stenavich), compared with two head coaches and five coordinators for Hurts.

"They have a good scheme that they're committed to, and they do well," Fangio said. "LaFleur calls it. He has good command of his offense. The quarterback has good command of it now. It's the only system he has ever been in, and you could see it. They do a lot of motion, a lot of movement, good tight ends, good receivers, good back. Obviously, they're a tough matchup."

The Packers have hit on a lot of chunk plays during Love's tenure as the starter:

He is not afraid to make aggressive throws (video via @BleedGreenPGold):

However, Love is also prone to putting the ball in harm's way. He had 11 INTs both in 2023 and 2024, and although he only has 3 so far in 2025, he has gotten away with some bad YOLO balls (via @DepBearsFan):

The Eagles' secondary must capitalize when Love makes bad decisions.

3) Where might the Eagles go #Feastin™️? 🍗

The Packers' offensive line looked like this Week 1:

The sixth man entering the season was 2024 first-round pick Jordan Morgan, who has traditionally filled in whenever either of the tackles or guards have gone down. However, after the Packers' bye Week 5, Rhyan was benched and Morgan took over as the starting RG.

In Week 9, Banks suffered a stinger, and Rhyan filled in at LG. Banks' injury is not thought to be a long-term issue, but his availability for Week 10 against the Eagles could be in question. He was a limited participant in practice on Thursday.

Rounding out the interior is Elgton Jenkins, who has played guard and center throughout his career with the Packers. You may remember Jenkins as the guy who Nolan Smith lit up / knocked out of the Wild Card round of the playoffs. He was the LG in that game. (Video via @DiBonaNFL)

If the guards are Rhyan and Morgan, there could be some opportunity for Jalen Carter and Moro Ojomo to capitalize.

At the tackle spots, Tom has developed into one of the best RTs in the NFL, though he has dealt with oblique, back, and hip injuries this season. Walker is just a guy who had to earn the starting LT job in training camp over Morgan.

The Eagles could have a bunch of new edge rushers on the field in this matchup, with Jaelan Phillips now on the team, Brandon Graham having returned from retirement, and Nolan Smith potentially returning from IR (we'll see).

This is just an average offensive line, in my opinion, and Love will hold onto the football.

#FeastinMeter™️: 6/10 turkey legs 🍗🍗🍗🍗🍗🍗

4) Everyone on the Eagles' offensive line must be ready for Micah Parsons

Hey, did you guys hear that the Cowboys traded Micah Parsons to the Packers? Crazy, right?

Well, he's having a good first season in Green Bay. For example, in the Packers' win over the Cardinals Week 7, Parsons had three extremely high-leverage sacks.

3rd and Goal from the 8, Parsons sack, led to a field goal.

3rd and Goal from the 10, Parsons sack, led to a field goal.

1st and 10 from the GB26, Parsons sack, loss of 9, eventual turnover on downs on the Cardinals' final drive of the game.

The Packers maybe don't win that game absent Parsons' performance.

Through 8 games, Parsons has 6.5 sacks and 14 QB hits, numbers that are right in line with his typical career averages.

The Cowboys used to move Parsons around quite a bit, trying to create mismatches against whoever they deemed was the weak link along the Eagles' offensive line. Like in 2023, when then-rookie Tyler Steen was forced to start at RG, the Cowboys looked to get Parsons matched up against him:

The Packers also move him around.

"I think really he's so dynamic in everything he does and they move him around a lot to where you've got to pay attention to him," Kevin Patullo said. "But they have a really good group of guys in general. Their front seven is really good, they're playing really good team football right now when you watch them. Just as a whole, I think he brings the energy up, and the demand for who he is just elevates everybody around him."

Every player on the Eagles' offensive line must be ready for Parsons. On obvious passing downs, I imagine the Packers will try to get him matchups against Steen and whoever plays at center, whether that's Cam Jurgens or Brett Toth.

5) The Eagles' improving rushing attack vs. the Packers' good run defense

The Eagles got their run game going against the Giants before the bye, with Saquon Barkley running for 150 yards and Tank Bigsby going for over 100. Of course, the Giants' run defense sucks. The Packers' run defense doesn't suck. They're allowing 89.4 rushing yards per game, which is good for fifth in the NFL, though it's worth noting that Panthers RB Rico Dowdle ran for 130 yards and 2 TDs against the Packers' defense Week 9.

The Eagles will look to keep their run game momentum going, and the Packers will look to get back on track.

(Also, as a reminder, this is the team that tried to stop the Tush Push off the field because they don't want to have to stop it on the field. So, you know, subplot.)

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