The Green Bay Packers will take on the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field in Sunday’s Wild Card round game. It’s a rematch of Week 1 when the Eagles beat the Packers 34-29 in São Paulo, Brazil. Last week, however, Packers quarterback Jordan Love left the field midgame in a loss over the Chicago Bears.
Despite consisting of the No. 7 and No. 2 seeds, Sunday’s Wild Card Weekend clash has all the makings of a heavyweight fight. Will Green Bay have its star quarterback for the fixture on Sunday? Let’s examine Love’s injury and his availability.
Will Jordan Love Play Against the Eagles?
On a second-quarter pass attempt, Love injured his right hand/elbow after coming in contact with a Bears defender. Love was seen shaking his right hand after the play, trying to loosen it up. However, trainers pulled him from the game.
Jordan Love –
I didn’t see much at his hand/wrist on the actual injury video.
He did get hit at the elbow and have his arm forced back by the defender, and they’re assessing elbow+last 2 digits.Concern on ulnar nerve/elbow injury > wrist imo.
pic.twitter.com/Qph8uc2uzc— Jeff Mueller, PT, DPT (@jmthrivept) January 5, 2025
While Love was getting his hand looked at on the sideline, Malik Willis took over at quarterback, promptly leading the Packers on a drive culminating in a Josh Jacobs touchdown.
After the game, head coach Matt LaFleur said Love was fine and would have reentered the game had it mattered.
The 26-year-old was sidelined quite a few times this season due to injuries. In Week 1, Love hurt his knee against Philadelphia. He also sprained his MCL and had a groin issue throughout the season.
After a limited practice this past Wednesday, Love practiced in full on Thursday and Friday. Barring any setbacks, he is on track to play on Sunday.
Love’s Play This Season
Love has been a tough quarterback to figure out this season. When healthy, he’s largely been good without being exceptional.
Love doesn’t have any games graded above a B and only one inside the top 50 on the year, according to our QB+ metrics. Yet, he also only has one game graded below a C- despite playing through injury on a couple of occasions.
Love has some contrasting efficiency numbers this season. He ranks fourth in net yards per attempt (nYPA) at 7.8 but is converting just 32.8% of his third-down opportunities (31st). When pressured, Love ranks eighth at -0.17 EPA/DB, which has helped take him to 13th in overall EPA/DB (0.13). Love’s numbers from a clean pocket and in clutch situations this year will raise some alarm bells entering the playoffs.
The young QB has recently managed his risk-taking, which has allowed Green Bay’s offense to stay on the field and produce.
- Weeks 12-18: 168 attempts, 0 INT
- Weeks 1-11: 257 attempts, 11 INTs
Packers vs. Eagles Game Preview
- Location: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia
- Time: 4:30 p.m. ET
- Channel: Fox/Fox Deportes
Love isn’t afraid to take chances. While that creates some downside, his style of play has paid off more often than not up to this point in the season.
The issue is now it must pay off against elite competition, all while Love battles a right elbow injury that caused him to miss much of the team’s Week 18 loss to the Bears. Love has averaged -0.06 EPA per dropback in five games against the Minnesota Vikings, Detroit Lions, and Eagles this season. Against all other teams, he’s averaged 0.21 EPA per dropback.
Saquon Barkley has opened up offensive versatility that simply didn’t exist last season. The ninth 2,000-yard rusher in NFL history led the top-ranked offense by EPA per rush (0.08) excluding Week 18 (when Philadelphia benched nearly all of its starters).
The Eagles can produce against anyone, but if the offensive line remains a liability when it comes to pass blocking, Philly could be in a precarious spot if it falls behind.
The Eagles are the worst team at preventing pressure when not blitzed, a flaw that could undo all the good it’s capable of doing. That said, with playmakers at every level, counting this offense out isn’t a wise move as long as Jalen Hurts recovers from his concussion before the Wild Card Round.
The play of the Packers’ offensive line has been fairly inconsistent since its bye week, but they rank ninth in the league over the past four weeks. The overall numbers do not appear to be anything to worry about, and a strong showing up front against the Lions in Week 14 is a strong reason for optimism in the playoffs.
This week, they face a Philadelphia team that they graded as a B- against last time out. However, that was back in Week 1, so both teams have changed significantly. The Eagles’ OL has also been all over the map in recent weeks. They rank 27th over the final four weeks with D+ grades against the Commanders and Steelers.
There isn’t a statistical flaw in Philadelphia’s defense, which ranks top 10 in every metric that encompasses our Defense+ grades (except for sack rate, where they’re 15th). That makes them an incredibly dangerous threat to win the NFC, even without the top seed.
Five of the Packers’ six losses came against the Eagles, Vikings, and Lions, which bodes ominously for a playoff run that starts in Philadelphia. The offensive injuries were the bigger concern coming out of Week 18. For the Packers to make a run in the playoffs, they’ll need this unit’s variance to swing in the right direction.