Packers Make A Point In Pounding Eagles 53-20
GREEN BAY, WIS (CBS) — Chip Kelly dismissed it. The Eagles' coach skirted the question when it came to how to measure his team, since Kelly feels all games are barometers.
Some games are more a gauge than others.
That's because it's hard to ignore an NFL caste system that says the Green Bay Packers are one of the best teams in the NFC. It also says that the Eagles fall into a nebulous area that states they're in the not-good-enough bracket right now.
Those notions played out to fruition Sunday afternoon, when Aaron Rodgers and the Packers scored on six of their first seven possessions in pasting the Eagles, 53-20, at historic, frigid Lambeau Field.
It translated into a miserable afternoon of Lambeau leaps, and a glimpse at the Eagles possibly finishing right where they landed last year, with a playoff berth as maybe NFC East Division champions and not much more after that.
When asked if he considered this game a measuring stick, considering how good Green Bay is, Kelly said, "I consider every game a measuring stick. I don't think you can look at one game and say this one is, and say we played really well in this game, but you better be ready to play every single week in this league."
Kelly kept it brief after the game, telling his team, "We need to stick together as a group, rain or shine, and be ready to come back Tuesday."
The 53 points is the third-most points ever given up by the Eagles. It's the most points the Eagles have surrendered in a game since a 62-10 loss to the New York Giants on Nov. 26, 1972, and before that, a 56-7 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Oct. 9, 1966.
It was a stark reality check. The Packers' dominance proved the vast divide that the Eagles will need to negotiate before becoming viable NFC contenders.
"We needed to execute and get pressure on (Rodgers) and we didn't get pressure on him," Kelly said. "He was on fire early and we didn't do a good enough job of getting after him. The game got out of hand early and we became one-dimensional. With that quarterback, we didn't get pressure. (Defensive coordinator Billy Davis) was trying everything. If we blitzed, he got it out quick. If we dropped into coverage, he had enough time to pick you. He saw it all and hit it."
The game was over by halftime. More so, it was probably over after the first quarter, when the Packers bolted out to a 17-0 lead.
By halftime, Rodgers had picked apart the Eagles' defense for 279 yards and two touchdowns in a 30-6 thrashing. Green Bay's first punt didn't come until there was 12:50 left in the third quarter.
Bradley Fletcher had a long half. The Eagles' maligned cornerback had issues defending Packers' receiver Jordy Nelson, who caught four passes for 109 yards, including a 64-yard reception, and a touchdown.
Rodgers was excellent. He finished completing 22 of 36 for 341 yards and three touchdowns without an interception.
Mark Sanchez, meanwhile, completed 26 of 34 for 346 yards and two interceptions. The Eagles turned the ball over four times—two resulted in Green Bay touchdowns: a Julius Peppers' 52-yard interception return and Casey Hayward's 49-yard fumble return.
The Eagles were 5 of 15 on third-down conversions. Green Bay was 8 of 14.
When asked if he had any concerns if fans would equate Sanchez with BFV (butt-fumble version) of him with the Jets, Sanchez replied, "I thought the things we practiced all week were on point, and just got out-executed, offense, defense, special teams, coaches, we're all in on this," Sanchez said. "We're going to find out who we are and what we take from this. It's easy when you're on the other end of this thing, like we were last year. Now it's tough. I'm excited because I think we can bounce back from this.
"That's the way some of these games go and I feel like there are plenty of things to get better. We'll concentrate on that. But to be totally honest, whether we won, 100-0, or lost the way we did, just like last week, what everyone else says on the outside really doesn't affect what we have going on in our building. We're a tight-knit group. We're a family. We'll clean it up inside and we'll be ready to go next week."
Check Out These Sports Stories:
