Packers Improve Playoff Chances with 53-20 Win over Philadelphia Eagles

Entering the week, the Green Bay Packers would not have made the playoffs. Their 6-3 record would have left them out, had it for some reason begun in Week 11 of the season, due to the tiebreaker for the final wild-card spot coming down to their match against the Seattle Seahawks, which they lost in a 36-16 effort in Week 1.

Against the Philadelphia Eagles, though, they managed to flex their strength in a 53-20 win, vaulting them over the Seahawks, who lost in Kansas City 24-20. The Detroit Lions, the former standalone leader of the NFC North, also lost. Their 14-6 performance against the Arizona Cardinals in the desert put Green Bay back up at the top of the division with the squad.

The Packers still lose the tiebreaker to the Lions, but they're now in a position to control their own destiny for the rest of the season. If they want to will their way into the playoffs, the only ones that can stop them are themselves.

On this cold Wisconsin day, which even featured a grizzly pair of announcers in Troy Aikman and Joe Buck, Green Bay showed no signs of letting up on their goal. Many questioned if the Green and Gold could contend with a "quality team," as they brought up the fact that the Packers had only one win over a team with a winning record coming into the game. 

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Only 1 of #Packers' six wins has come against team with winning record (Miami). Today is opportunity to silence critics by beating hot team.

— Michelle Bruton (@Michelle_NFL) November 16, 2014"

Over the course of the season, the Packers have proven to take advantage of busted coverage downfield. With Aaron Rodgers, a potential MVP candidate, running the offense, Green Bay could strike at any time. Philadelphia was more willing to give up a big play by its secondary on a relative scale, as mentioned in Bleacher Report's game-plan piece prior to the game.

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For Green Bay, this is a huge element to its offense, as the Packers are second in the league in completions of over 40 yards.

The deep ball also keeps defenses honest, forcing them to cover every inch of the field, allowing the Packers to continue their efficiency, as they rank first in the league in quarterback rating.

On the flip side, the Philadelphia Eagles defense is fairly boom or bust when it comes to covering the deep ball. Eagle defenders allow enough 20-plus yard gains through the air to rank them in the bottom quarter of the league defensively. And as good as Green Bay is at getting completions of 40-yard or more, the Eagles defense is as bad in surrendering such big plays. It ranks next to last in the league in that category.

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Armed with this information, the first big play of the match, a 64-yard catch by receiver Jordy Nelson, was less than surprising. Put into a one-on-one situation deep, Rodgers went for the kill shot, eating a chunk of yards in a singular play.

As NFL.com's college football site's Twitter account, College Football 24/7, pointed out, the reason Nelson was able to be execute the deep ball was contradictory to his scouting report when he left Kansas State. 

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From Jordy Nelson's draft profile: "Lacks explosiveness, elite deep ball speed. ... May lack acceleration to be more than possession WR."

— CollegeFootball 24/7 (@NFL_CFB) November 16, 2014 "

I bet plenty of people around the league, specifically in the Eagles organization, are kicking themselves over not taking the Wildcat when they had the chance.

Defensively, not much changed for the Packers. They put on a performance similar to last week's win over the Chicago Bears, with the same starting lineup. As Wes Hodkiewicz of the Green Bay Press-Gazette noted, Clay Matthews again started at inside linebacker, pushing Nick Perry into a starting role.

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Clay Matthews starting this game at inside backer. Perry gets start OLB opposite Peppers

— Wes Hodkiewicz (@WesHod) November 16, 2014"

The move has seemingly helped both Matthews and Green Bay. While blowing teams out in consecutive weeks, the linebacker has notched an average of eight tackles and a sack per game, well above his season high.

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Matthews now with 54.5 sacks, moving him past Aaron Kampman to No. 4 all-time on #Packers list.

— Tyler Dunne (@TyDunne) November 16, 2014"

With the combination of a potent offense and a recently vibing defense, the Packers were able to go up early on the Eagles. At home, Green Bay has been able to outscore opponents for a combined lead of 128-6 in the first half of their past four matches, per Jason Wilde of ESPN Wisconsin.

In the last two games overall, Rodgers, the leader of the team, has also been more than impressive early.

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Aaron Rodgers' last two first halves, combined: 36 of 49, 594 yards, eight TDs, no INTs, 153.4 rating. #Packers

— Jason Wilde (@jasonjwilde) November 16, 2014 "

The quarterback did so well that Magic Johnson compared him to NBA Hall of Famer Larry Bird.

By the time he was pulled in the fourth quarter, Rodgers had accumulated 341 passing yards and three touchdowns. The effort also put Nelson and Randall Cobb each over 100 yards in the game, which, according to Ryan Wood of the Green Bay Press-Gazette, has only happened once prior in 2014.

When outside linebacker Julius Peppers returned an interception for a touchdown in the third quarter to put Green Bay up 39-6, it felt like the final blow for the Eagles. The dagger was already in place.

Midway into the fourth quarter, the Packers subbed in backup quarterback Matt Flynn with a platoon of offensive linemen, officially putting the game to rest.

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Matt Flynn in along with Lane Taylor at RG, Gerhart at LG and Tretter at LT.

— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) November 17, 2014"

Now knee-deep back into the playoff hunt, the Packers must maintain a high level of performance to end the season. Next week, they face the 4-6 Minnesota Vikings, who are coming off of a 21-13 road win against the Chicago Bears. The big spotlight game coming up, though, is in two weeks, when they'll face the AFC-leading New England Patriots at home.

Keeping their streak hot will be important, and with people questioning Green Bay's schedule already, the perception of the team could hinge on the game.

Are the Packers equipped to go through the gauntlet of a game, potentially putting them in the lead for the NFC North? Only time will tell, but it's nearly impossible to beat a team that's teeing off like Green Bay has the past two weeks.