Two division leaders meet tonight when the National Football League completes their Week 10 schedule with a Monday night meeting at Lambeau Field between the Green Bay Packers and visiting defending Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles.
These two teams met in the postseason last year as the Eagles began their drive to Super Bowl LIX with a Wild Card Weekend victory over the Packers in Philadelphia, 22-10. The Eagles and Packers also opened the 2024 season in Brazil, a contest also won by Nick Sirianni’s team, 34-29. In fact, the Eagles have pretty much had their way with the Packers in recent seasons while winning four of their last five meetings. Green Bay has only one win against the Eagles since 2016.
History.
Now for the future … starting tonight.
The defending champs don’t have any competition in the NFC East that have a winning record. The Dallas Cowboys, Washington Commanders and New York Giants have a combined won/loss record of eight wins and twenty losses. What that leaves on the plate for the Eagles is pretty much simply a quest to earn home field advantage for the playoffs.
The Packers, conversely, play out of the NFC North Division, a grouping of four teams that are all bunched with Green Bay needing a win tonight to catch the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears in the win column with six. What that means, is the pressure on the Packers to win is driven by the need to make the playoffs … which is a much better motivator than simply trying to improve a playoff seed.
Green Bay has played best this season against the toughest competition. Their two season losses were against the Cleveland Browns and Carolina Panthers, and they added a tie versus the Dallas Cowboys. Now, if one knew those were the teams good enough to compete with Matt LaFleur’s squad, one might think the Packers aren’t all that good.
Wrong.
Against their toughest foes, including the Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh Steelers, the Packers won by double-digits.
Do you think the Eagles may have the Packers attention tonight?
Do you think Green Bay may have a little more focus this week given they are coming off last week’s home loss to the Panthers, lost twice to the Eagles last season, and are challenged by wins yesterday registered by two of their division opponents, the Lions and Bears?
The Lions and Bears, oh my!
The Eagles, not only with a bulge in their division race, are also coming off a satisfying revenge win over the New York Giants before serving their bye last week. One might think that would be an advantage … one would be wrong.
The team that wins consistently is the team with the most at stake and the greatest fear of failure. Tonight, that’s the Pack.
Qoxhi Picks: Green Bay Packers (pk) over Philadelphia Eagles