Newly-acquired Jaelan Phillips wasted no time making his mark for the Philadelphia Eagles as he produced two of the biggest plays of the night on debut in his team's 10-7 victory over the Green Bay Packers.
Phillips recovered a fumble by Jordan Love to thwart a Green Bay scoring opportunity in the final minute of the first half and helped make a fourth-and-one stop late in the fourth quarter. It was his first outing for the champions since arriving via a trade from the Miami Dolphins.
Jalen Hurts threw a 36-yard pass to DeVonta Smith with 10:35 remaining for Philadelphia's only touchdown, giving the Eagles a 10-0 lead. Green Bay's lone touchdown came on Josh Jacobs' six-yard run with 5:49 left.
Brandon McManus' attempt at a game-tying, 64-yard field goal as time expired fell several yards short.
Green Bay's second straight loss dropped the Packers (5-3-1) to third place in the NFC North, behind Detroit and Chicago. The Packers, who had the NFC's best record before their 16-13 loss to Carolina on November 2, would have the conference's seventh and final playoff seed if the regular season ended now.
A defensive struggle that featured the first halftime tie of the season had a serious lack of big plays until the Eagles (7-2) delivered a one-two punch early in the fourth quarter.
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Philadelphia led 3-0 and faced third-and-7 from its own 23 when Saquon Barkley caught a pass five yards behind the line of scrimmage, made a spin move past cornerback Carrington Valentine and burst upfield for a 41-yard gain.
On the next play, Smith made a leaping catch in the end zone over safety Evan Williams.
Barkley finished the night limited to just 60 yards on 22 carries.
"We have huge sparks," said Barkley, who was limited to 60 yards on 22 carries. "With the type of talent we have on this offense and on this team, two to three plays, it's just crazy. (In) two to three plays, we can go downfield and score."
After cutting the lead to 10-7, the Packers had a couple more opportunities in the closing minutes.
One drive ended when Jacobs fumbled while getting stuffed on fourth-and-one from Green Bay's 44 with one-and-a-half minutes remaining. Phillips and Reed Blankenship teamed up on the stop.
Green Bay had one last chance with 27 seconds left from its own 36 after the Eagles threw a long incompletion on fourth-and-six rather than punting or attempting a long field goal into the wind.
An 18-yard completion from Love to Bo Melton got the Packers beyond midfield, but McManus couldn't convert what would have been the longest field goal in team history.
The Packers couldn't get a measure of revenge against the defending Super Bowl champions.
Philadelphia had beaten Green Bay twice last season, including a 22-10 victory in the wild-card round of the NFC playoffs.
During the offseason, the Packers proposed banning the tush push that Philadelphia has used so effectively in short-yardage situations over the last few years. The measure was supported by 22 of the NFL's 32 teams, two votes shy of the three-quarters majority needed for passage.
The Packers actually executed the first quarterback sneak of the game, and Love didn't need a push to convert a fourth-and-one. Philadelphia answered with a tush push that gave Hurts a three-yard gain on third-and-one.
There weren't many other successful plays by either offense for much of the night.
This was the first NFL game to be scoreless at halftime since December 10, 2023, when both the Minnesota Vikings' 3-0 win over the Las Vegas Raiders and the New York Jets' 30-6 triumph over the Houston Texans had no first-half points.
Philadelphia finally broke through when Jake Elliott's 39-yard field goal capped the Eagles' opening series of the second half.
The Super Bowl champion Eagles next face the Detroit Lions in a potential NFC Championship Game preview in Sunday Night Football in Week 11, live on SportNews NFL from 1.20am in the early hours of Monday. Green Bay meanwhile visit MetLife Stadium to face the New York Giants, who just fired head coach Brian Daboll.
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