Eagles take care of business and beat the sloppy Packers, 22-10, in a wild-card game to advance in playoffs

A few dozen pieces of green confetti floated around Lincoln Financial Field as the Eagles wrapped up a playoff win.

En route to a 22-10 win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, the Eagles got the band back together on offense and played the hits. They used Saquon Barkley early and often, dominated on defense, and used their star power on the perimeter for a few timely plays in a wild-card round victory.

Here’s our instant analysis:

Jalen Hurts’ return to the lineup after missing the last two games of the regular season in the concussion protocol didn’t show early signs of rust, but perhaps they were there.

Hurts started the game with six consecutive completions, which included a touchdown pass to Jahan Dotson on the Eagles’ opening series, but had seven straight incomplete passes shortly thereafter in a stretch that lingered until late in the third quarter.

After the game, the quarterback wouldn’t use his layoff as an excuse for the game, instead saying he needed to see the film.

“It was execution, it was rhythm,” Hurts said. “We’ve got to find our rhythm early in the game. I think first and foremost our defense played their tails off and created turnovers. I think ultimately, when you have those opportunities, you’ve got to take advantage of them, and that starts with me.”

Hurts’ touchdown pass to Dotson came as a result of excellent pass protection. According to Next Gen Stats, Hurts had 6.75 seconds to pick out Dotson from 11 yards out, which is the longest time to throw from a clean pocket in the NFL this season.

For most of the game, though, Hurts was much more effective when he didn’t hang onto the ball for extended periods. Especially as the Packers began sending blitzes to combat the Eagles’ stout offensive line, Hurts was forced to evade pressure or throw the ball away on a sequence of snaps that stalled out the team’s third drive and led to a dry spell for the offense.

The group regained its footing late in the third quarter with a few quick completions, including a screen pass to Dallas Goedert on the perimeter that led to a 24-yard touchdown on the catch and run. It was Hurts’ second touchdown pass of the game and gave the Eagles a 16-3 lead going into the third quarter.

Overall, Hurts turned in an uneven performance but delivered when the offense needed him to in his return to the lineup. He finished 13-for-21 for just 131 yards and two touchdowns, but the win will outshine the numbers nonetheless.

“As an offense, we struggled a little bit,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “I don’t think we had the game we wanted to have on offense, but Jalen I did think did a lot of good things.”

Jordan Love tested Darius Slay deep. Slay passed the test.

Matched up with Packers receiver Dontayvion Wicks on a go route at the start of the second quarter, the veteran cornerback ran with Wicks stride-for-stride. Benefiting some from a poorly placed pass from Love, Slay came up with the interception with a basket catch for the first postseason pick of his career.

The Eagles’ second interception of the night came courtesy of Zack Baun late in the second quarter. Dropping into zone coverage, the All-Pro linebacker pulled off a leaping grab to intercept the pass intended for Green Bay receiver Malik Heath over the middle of the field.

» READ MORE: Zack Baun and the Eagles defense save the day as Jalen Hurts struggles

After the game, Baun said the pick was on his list of “dream” plays to make and noted he had been given license to stray slightly from his assigned role because of an earned trust to do so by Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.

“It was just trusting my coverage responsibilities and kind of playing free within the system and stealing the back-side dig [route],” Baun said. “It’s been one of my dreams — I have a list of dream interceptions I’d like to make and that was one of them.”

Their third came in the game’s closing moments, with Quinyon Mitchell corralling a desperation heave from Love for the rookie’s first interception.

In a matchup with the only offense in the NFL more run-heavy than their own, the Eagles won the pivotal early-down battle against Packers star running back Josh Jacobs.

Jacobs managed 81 yards on 18 carries, but his final numbers were assisted heavily by a 31-yard touchdown run at the start of the fourth quarter. He finished the first half with just 25 yards on 10 carries and was kept mostly in check as the Eagles offense built a two-possession lead.

They did so with a mixture of defensive fronts, sometimes using Baun as an edge rusher with Jordan Davis at nose tackle and other times relying on Cooper DeJean to help fill the box with fewer players on the line of scrimmage. Second-year edge rusher Nolan Smith was instrumental in both the run defense and the pass rush as well. He finished with seven tackles while also logging two sacks, the first of which came after a well-executed inside rush to get the Packers off the field on third down.

After the game, Sirianni said Smith was one of the players to receive a game ball in the locker room.

“I want my sons to play football like Nolan Smith,” Sirianni said. “Before my kids go out to play any sport, I say, ‘Have fun, play hard, be physical.’ That guy is the definition of those things. He has fun out there, he has fun with his teammates, his teammates love him, and he plays as hard as I’ve seen anybody play. And this dude is a physical, physical guy.

“We’ve seen Nolan grow into this player that was able to do the things that he did today that helped us win a playoff football game. Man, I can’t say enough about Nolan.”

Oren Burks wasted no time setting the tone for the Eagles postseason.

The veteran linebacker and special teams ace forced a fumble by Green Bay return man Keisean Nixon on the opening kickoff with a punishing hit after shedding his blocker. The 29-year-old got an assist from his fellow linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr., who wrestled the loose ball from Nixon as a pile formed around them. The Packers challenged Trotter’s recovery, but the official review upheld the call on the field.

It was Burks’ second forced fumble in the team’s last three games, with the first coming in the Eagles’ 41-7 win against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 17. The 29-year-old signed with the team in the offseason with the expectation to serve primarily as a core member on special teams and finished the regular season with 41 total tackles while playing 71% of the Eagles’ special teams snaps.

“He’s always been a spark for us on special teams,” Sirianni said. “... That was a big-time hit, a big emphasis for us this week because Nixon is a phenomenal football player.”

Nakobe Dean was carted off midway through the second quarter after suffering a knee injury that led to him being quickly ruled out a few minutes after going indoors.

The 24-year-old linebacker was key to the Eagles’ run defense early in the game, managing six tackles — two for losses — before suffering the injury.

“It’s tough, that’s my brother,” Baun said. “That’s a guy that tells me a lot, shows me a lot, and teaches me a lot. That’s tough for this defense and this team. He’s a leader. The ultimate leader, I would say. To see anyone go down, especially him, it really hurts.”

Burks came in for Dean and finished with four tackles on defense along with the forced fumble on special teams.