42. Packers 53, Eagles 20 (2014)

Chip Kelly was the new fastest gun in the West. His offense was dynamic and his team was riding high. His Eagles came into Lambeau in 2013 and came away with a win. That win, however, was when the Packers were without Aaron Rodgers. Philadelphia was 7-2 and Green Bay was coming in at 6-3, having destroyed Chicago 55-14 the week prior. The winner of this game would have a leg up in a race to have a first round bye.

No one figured this would be a beatdown like the one given by the Packers the previous week, but that is what it turned out to be. With it being such an important game, the green and gold needed a fast start. That is exactly what it got. The Packers led 17-0 after one quarter and it never was closer than 14 points the rest of the way.

After a 64-yard completion on the first drive from Rodgers to Jordy Nelson, the Packers had to settle for the field goal, but it set the tone for the entire game. Rodgers would throw for 341 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. Nelson would have 109 yards receiving and a score on the day.

Philadelphia punted on its first possession of the day and the Green Bay offense went back to work. Starting on its own 13, the green and gold offense embarked on a 13-play, 88-yard drive that would end with a 6-yard touchdown pass from Rodgers to rookie Devante Adams. The Packers converted three third down and longs on the drive, including a 3rd-and-18 conversion on a Rodgers 24-yard pass to Andrew Quarless to put the Packers into Eagles territory.

If the day could not have started any worse for the Eagles, they went three and out on their next drive and had to punt. The punt was fielded by Micah Hyde at the 25 and eluded a coverage man immediately and then found a seam and went virtually untouched for the 75-yard punt return touchdown to bury the Eagles.

The Eagles would drive down the field for a field goal, but the Packers offense was not finished. Green Bay’s offense would not punt once in the first half. Randall Cobb would catch three passes on this drive for 47 yards, but it was Nelson who got the glory. Rodgers threw a beautiful pass along the right sideline to Nelson, who made an over-the-shoulder catch at the pylon and tip-toed his way into the end zone for the score.

The Packers would score one more time before halftime. It would take 10 plays to travel 80 yards and the game officially became a rout. Four of the 10 plays were of 10 yards or more, but none more than 16. A pass interference on Philadelphia put the ball on the 1 and Eddie Lacy would do the work from there and the Packers had a commanding 30-3 lead. Philadelphia tacked on a field goal at the end of the half, but the Eagles were no match for the Packers that day.

Green Bay’s offense took the second half off, but the defense picked up the scoring slack. With the green and gold now ahead 33-6, Mark Sanchez went back to pass and threw an interception to Julius Peppers, who ran it back for the score to put the Packers in front 39-6 after the extra point was blocked. That was Peppers’ second pick six on the year after having one earlier that season against Minnesota.

With the score 39-13, Green Bay got its only offensive score of the second half. It was an 80-yard drive and Lacy accounted for every single one of them. He had 48 yards on the ground on three carries, but his score came on a pass from Rodgers. On 3rd-and-10, Rodgers went back to pass and could not find anyone open past the first down marker, so he flipped it to a wide open Lacy at the 28. He was able to pick up the first down easily, but he eluded a tackler at the 15 and spun off another at the 11 before dragging tacklers the final five yards for the impressive touchdown. It was that kind of day for the Packers.......and that kind of day for the Eagles.

On a play that would should be replayed with “Yakety Sax” playing, Green Bay was able to score its final points. On a second down play from inside the Packers 40, the snap went through the hands of Sanchez and he went back to pick it up and was unable to. The ball was scooped up by Casey Hayward and the Green Bay defensive back easily broke the tackle attempt of Sanchez and waltzed the rest of the way for the score to put the Packers in front 53-13.

The Eagles would score once more, but the game was never in doubt and the green and gold came away with a huge win. In the words of Gordon Bombay in D2: The Mighty Ducks, “That was not a game, that was a statement!”

Green Bay would lose once more the remainder of the season and earn a first round bye, but would collapse in the NFC Championship game in Seattle.