The Packers‘ 2024 campaign is over. Last 2 minutes of the wild card game. The team was fighting to stay alive. It was a distant dream as the scoreline showed 10-22 in favor of the Eagles. Jordan Love knew if the touchdown didn’t come right then, there was no chance of a comeback. The QB made a deep 50+ yard left pass to his WR Bo Melton, but it was intercepted by the Eagles CB Quinyon Mitchell. Melton asked the referee for a penalty against LB Zack Baun. But it wasn’t given. They knew the game was over.

During the post-game conference, Love took a shot at his locker room but mixed it with a friendly tone: “We’re not getting beat by the other team, we’re kind of beating ourselves, whether it’s penalties, turnovers, stalled drives, things like that. It comes down to the details and execution or a lack of execution.”

Is it though? Really? The Eagles were way better than their rivals on the night. They came with a clear plan in mind. Create chances, score, and block the Packers offense. After having 3 passes intercepted, Jordan Love couldn’t rally his O-line well. They applied pressure on them from the first drive of the game with Jalen Hurts with the Packers’ defense unable to breach their pocket. Hurts had 7 seconds before passing the ball left to the WR Jahan Dotson, ending in a touchdown.

On the other hand, the Packers‘ O-line failed to find open spaces. In the opening drive of the 2nd quarter, Jordan Love made a right pass to the WR Dontayvion Wicks. But the CB Darius Slay was on his tail and intercepted. That shows the depth of the Eagles’ defensive plans that allowed them to stop the visitors from scoring TDs until the fourth quarter.

It was frustrating for the HC Matt LaFleur as well. He hasn’t advanced to the Super Bowl despite being in the playoffs 5 of 6 seasons since 2019. His emotions were quite visible on the sidelines.

Matt LaFleur takes at Jibe at Jordan Love & co’s playoff performance

The wildcard loss was a first for the head coach. In the previous four trips to the postseason, the team had lost twice in the NFC Championship game, in 2019 and 2020, and in the NFC Divisional game in 2021 and 2023. Getting angry with his players on the sidelines, he took a jibe at his players when his Gatorade bottle toppled, making a loud sound through his microphone. The HC said, “Nice. That’s about on-par for the night.”

The coach had a rough talk with DT Tedarrell Slaton, who was penalized for unnecessary roughness. It gave the Eagles a 15-yard advantage and moved them from the Packers’ 35 to 20 at the 4:47 mark in the 4th quarter. Taking his microphone off, Matt LaFleur told his player to keep his emotions in check. But the damage had already been done. Jake Elliott scored a 32-yard field goal and stretched the lead to 12 points with the final score reading 22-10.

The Pack is sad. They hoped for a better run. Hopefully, a little bit of friendly-fire and finger-pointing in that locker room can fire them up rather than drag them down.