GREEN BAY – A wave of disappointment hit Josh Jacobs as the Packers running back stood near his locker Monday night and recapped the team's 10-7 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Like its two earlier defeats this season, Green Bay's offense again struggled to generate points and momentum against an Eagles defensive front that consistently played two high safeties.
Jacobs generated 107 hard-earned total yards and scored the Packers' lone touchdown on 26 touches, but it wasn't enough to rescue an offense that punted on its first five possessions before losing a fumble before halftime.
Despite it all, Green Bay still had two shots at game-winning or game-tying drives in the final two minutes, 28 seconds of regulation but fell short on both occasions.
"It's not the end of the world, but it's also some problems we've got to address," Jacobs said. "We're midway through the season. We can't just keep saying, 'Alright, we're going to address it.' We've got to find actual answers to our problems. I honestly don't know what those answers (are), I feel like everybody's got to dig deep and have the belief and give more."
After mustering just 83 total yards on five first-half possessions, the Packers turned the ball over on downs again in the third quarter and punted again to start the fourth before turning up the tempo on a no-huddle drive while trailing 10-0.
Jacobs punched in a 6-yard TD run with 5:49 remaining to cap the 11-play, 75-yard scoring drive and finally put Green Bay on the board.
The Packers' defense got a pivotal stop to give the offense a chance to take the lead, but an odd sequence occurred where Green Bay rushed to the line of scrimmage after tight end Luke Musgrave was tackled a yard short of the first down.
The Eagles' defense called out the draw Green Bay was running, which forced Jacobs to bounce the fourth-and-1 run outside. When that gap closed, Jacobs unsuccessfully tried to pitch the ball back to quarterback Jordan Love and the Eagles recovered the fumble.
"The clock was going down, we kind of snapped it fast, faster than we wanted to, and they made a play," Jacobs said. "I tried to pitch the ball back to Jordan, that's where the fumble came, but at that point, you're playing backyard football, it's fourth down, so that's kind of how it went."
Injuries again took their toll on Green Bay. Center Elgton Jenkins left with an ankle injury and didn't return. Already playing without rookie Matthew Golden (shoulder), the Packers also finished without receiver Romeo Doubs (chest).
Playing in a pinch, receiver/cornerback Bo Melton caught an 18-yard pass from Love to the Philadelphia 46 with six seconds left. Green Bay tried to gain more yardage but was forced to settle for a 64-yard Brandon McManus field goal that was no good.
With Love throwing for just 176 yards on 36 pass attempts, Jacobs and the offensive front know they need to be more successful running against light boxes.
"We should be running the rock," lineman Sean Rhyan said. "Defense's going to know what we're going to do, we've got to get back to they've got to stop us instead of trying to do this or that. It's we're going to call this play, you know we're going to call this play, it's stop us if you can type of deal. So we've got to get back to that."
Jacobs' fourth-quarter rushing touchdown extended his franchise record to nine consecutive home games with at least one rushing TD.
In addition to having a rushing TD in 15 of his last 16 games, Jacobs has registered a rushing TD in eight straight primetime games – the longest streak by an NFL player since the 1970 merger.
There is little consolation in the superlatives, though, after scoring just 20 points in back-to-back home games.
"We gotta figure out the run game to help out everybody else," Jacobs said. "Really all season that's been our weak point. … Everybody gotta buy into straining hard and giving more from the top to the bottom, that's everybody. Until we do that and find out other ways to even scheme things to help guys out and help our offense out, that's just gonna be what it is."
More shuffling: The Packers' offensive line again finished a game with a different starting five than it started after Jenkins left late in the second quarter and didn't return. Rhyan took Jenkins' center spot the rest of the game.
"It just comes down to us," left guard Aaron Banks said. "It doesn't really matter who's out there, we should be able to run the ball, and we should be able to play cohesively together. So we gotta go look in the mirror, we gotta come back and answer."
Coop's punchout: Linebacker Edgerrin Cooper forced his second fumble in three games after punching the ball out from Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts on a first-quarter scramble.
Cornerback Keisean Nixon corralled the loose ball for his first career fumble recovery on defense and returned it 22 yards.
"I just saw the ball and I grabbed it," said Nixon, who also had four tackles and a pass deflection. "It was a hell of a play by Coop. It's a good turnover for us. I think that's four games, four turnovers. We stacking bricks. We just gotta keep getting them."
No panic: Defensive lineman Micah Parsons was asked after the game what message he would send to Packers fans after the team lost back-to-back home games for the first time since 2022.
"I wouldn't panic at all," Parsons said. "The way we just played, we're going to win a lot of football games. So there should be a lot … and this is considered of one of the best offenses in the National Football League. So I would not panic, I wouldn't stress, we're going to win football games, I promise you."
