The Philadelphia Eagles are moving on.

Still, the Eagles’ 22-10 victory over the Green Bay Packers was more suspenseful than it needed to be. 

After the Packers fumbled the opening kickoff and Jalen Hurts threw an 11-yard touchdown to Jahan Dotson to take an early 7-0 lead, I thought the Eagles were in good position for a big win. At the very least, I thought they would score more than 22 points, especially after how quickly they scored.

But that wasn’t the case.

The win caused more stress than it should have. It was more difficult than it should have been, but the Eagles, like most of the season, got the job done. It’s hard to complain a lot after a win to keep your Super Bowl aspirations alive. But, let’s be honest, the defense won that game. I always defend Hurts, but he was average Sunday. I expected him to be a little rusty after he had only played in 12 snaps from Week 16 until the start of Sunday’s game. But Hurts has to be more accurate and make smarter decisions, like knowing when to throw the ball away, if the Eagles want to make that trip to New Orleans. 

The missed opportunities to possibly blow the game wide open, especially in the first half, bothered me. After the Eagles scored off the special teams fumble recovery, which was arguably the biggest play of the game, the defense forced a punt. The Eagles had the ball near midfield on third-and-5, and Hurts threw a short pass to Saqoun Barkley for no gain, and the Eagles had to punt. First off, punting was not the issue there. You can’t score on every drive. However, it was the play call. The Eagles needed five yards, and a short pass to your running back was not the right call there. 

After Jake Elliott’s field goal to extend the Eagles lead to 10-0, Jordan Love threw an interception. Darius Slay almost looked like the intended target on that play, catching the ball and pulling it in as he stepped out of bounds. It was an epic play that gave the Eagles a chance to either take a 13-0 or 17-0 lead. However, Hurts and the offense again were forced to punt. After Brandon McManus missed a field goal on the ensuing drive, the Eagles again were forced to punt. With 45 seconds remaining in the first half, Zach Baun picked off Love, setting the Eagles up at midfield and, you guessed it, the Eagles were forced to punt again. 

The Eagles could have had a resounding lead at halftime, but they failed on the many opportunities the Packers gave them. The defensive performance was just dominant, and that was the difference. The Packers are a good team with a strong running back in Josh Jacobs. So, when the offense was struggling to score points, the defense held their own, like the unit has for most of the season. But the offense just can’t get things cooking early. It’s been that way for a majority of the season. These slow starts are going to hurt the Eagles. Maybe not against the Rams or Vikings, but definitely against the Lions or Chiefs or Bills or Ravens.

The Eagles got the second-half kickoff with a chance to make up for those missed opportunities, but they punted again. However, the Eagles did get points on their next three drives, including a Elliott’s 32-yard FG after the defense forced a turnover on downs. 

Hurts seemed to play a lot better in the second half. Through seven series, Hurts only had 29 passing yards, 11 of which came on Dotson’s TD pass. Hurts was missing open receivers and taking needless sacks. He held onto the ball for too long at times. Hurts could not extend drives, and the offense just looked lost. But he did turn it around and finished with 131 yards, two TDs and an 111.4 passer rating. Still, he has to be better. The passing game has to be better. I’m confident Hurts will be, but the year will be in jeopardy if the passing game isn’t better, especially against a team like the Lions, if Detroit and the Eagles make the NFC Championship game, which is a very good possibility.

But off that, the biggest thing about Hurts is his ball security. He started off the season with a ton of turnovers, but he only has a few since Week 5. Hurts is taking much better care of the ball. He is not putting it in harm’s way, and that matters even more in the playoffs. Just look at Baker Mayfield. He fumbled the ball late in the game against Washington, leading to a Commanders’ TD. That was a big turning point in that game, and Washington ended up winning. I am glad Hurts is taking care of the ball, but he needs to be a lot better with his throws next week. Again, I believe he will. That rust he had from not playing in a few weeks is gone. He will get in a full week of practice now. Hurts will be fine next week. The last time the Eagles lost with Hurts starting a full game was over three months ago. Hurts knows how to win. The Eagles know how to win. It’s that simple. 

This was the hardest draw a No. 2 seed could get. The Packers were no joke this year, and the Eagles showed them who the better team was. But the Eagles’ dominant defensive performance is the main reason they are moving on. The Packers’ offense averaged 27 points per game and were top-five in yards, points and rushing yards per game. Slay, Baun and Quinyon Mitchell each made an INT off a quarterback who had not picked off in almost two months. Nolan Smith led the way with two sacks. Before Sunday, Love had only been sacked 14 times all season. 

It’s amazing because this defense is so young, yet the unit is one of the best in the league. All the credit goes to Vic Fangio. The defense does not let opposing offenses do what they planned for. It really is awesome ro watch. They are so fast and make such an impact. Green Bay could not get anything going offensively. In a game the defense needed to step up even more, they did. They essentially carried the Eagles to the Divisional Round. Hopefully the defense keeps this up. The unit hasn’t shown us any signs of slowing down, minus the fourth quarter of the Washington game. But aside from that, the Eagles defense hasn’t given us any reason to doubt them.

However, they suffered a major loss Sunday. Nakobe Dean suffered a knee injury and left the stadium with a brace and on crutches. NFL.com Insider Ian Rapoport reported Dean’s injury was a torn patellar tendon, so Dean could potentially miss the start of next season. Dean was second on the Eagles this season in tackles (128) behind Baun (151). He was amazing up front, and was fast off the ball. Not having Dean for the rest of the playoffs is a massive and heartbreaking loss.

Whether they play the Rams (Kyren Williams) or the Vikings (Aaron Jones), stopping those running backs will be extremely tough without his presence. Dean was so fast off the ball and got to those pass-catching running back. Dean attack screens out of the backfield.

If the Eagles do go up against the Lions, Jahmyr Gibbs would be even more of a challenge. Dean handled communication between plays, so that is going to be hard to replace. Baun is expected to take on that role, but helping to pass along play calls isn’t exactly easy to do, especially in the playoffs. Hads Baun done that before? Also, the Eagles don’t have exactly a ton of depth at linebacker. Oren Burks and Jeremiah Trotter Jr. are the next man up, and they are no Nakobe Dean. It’s a massive loss, and could arguably be extremely detrimental to a defensive unit that has done so well this season. It’s heartbreaking. It’s a shame.

Lastly, it was great to see Elliott make three of his field-goal attempts. We all know he struggled a bit this year. Off that, he still missed an extra-point attempt Sunday. I am sorry, but that cannot happen in the playoffs. What if we need that point? The Hurts to Dallas Goedert touchdown, which was simply an amazing catch-and-run by the standout tight end, extended the Eagles’ lead to 16-0. 

After Elliott missed the extra point, the Packers scored to cut the deficit to 16-10. Lucily the Eagles got a field goal on the ensuing drive to go up 19-0, but imagine if they didn’t? What if the Packers defense stopped the Eagles, and Love marched down the field and gave the Packers a 17-16 lead? Elliott can’t miss kicks right now. It was one thing during the season, but it cannot happen in the playoffs. Period.