Eagles-Packers Final Score: 10 things learned from Philadelphia's loss to Green Bay

The Philadelphia Eagles are 7-3 after being beaten by the Green Bay Packers, 53-20. (Recap).

Here are 10 things to be learned from this game. There is a lot to discuss, and it isn't pretty, so let's get right to it.

1) Complete team loss

The Eagles had gone 12 straight games without losing by more than five points heading into Lambeau. Even when they lost, they usually had something to hang their hats on. In Philadelphia's losses to the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals, the team could say that they were only a few play(s) away from winning. This wasn't the case in Green Bay. The Eagles failed in all phases. It's impossible to blame the loss on one specific area/player. There's plenty of blame to be shared.

2) Aaron Rodgers is really good

So this isn't exactly news as much as it is just a reminder, but I'll say it anyway: Aaron Rodgers is really good. Especially when he's at Lambeau. The Green Bay Packers have looked nearly unstoppable at home this season. Rodgers threw for 341 yards and three touchdowns on 22/36 passing against the Eagles. His season total is now at 28 touchdowns to just three interceptions (hey, that's one more touchdown and one more interception than Nick Foles' total in 2013). For as much as the Eagles failed, the Packers deserve credit for playing a great game on their end.

3) Bright spot: Jordan Matthews

There aren't many positive takeaways from this game, but Jordan Matthews did have himself a nice game. Aside from a drop on a pass that was barely within reach, Matthews looked real solid out there yet again. He finished with 107 yards and one touchdown on five receptions. His touchdown catch was encouraging because he caught it short of the goal-line and showed good effort to break through contact in order to score.  Over the last two weeks, Matthews has recorded 12 receptions for 155 yards and three touchdowns, becoming the third Eagles rookie ever to have back-to-back 100-yard games.

4) Badley Fletcher

Did you see what I did there? Yeah, I changed "Bradley" to "Badley", you know, because Bradley Fletcher was bad against the Packers. Pretty clever, right? Actually, no. But it's true, Fletcher had a bad game. Jordy Nelson has been on fire this season, as has Rodgers, and Fletcher couldn't do much to stop him. Cary Williams didn't have a great game either. The Eagles cornerbacks are what they are. They're not flat out terrible; they're capable of some good performances. But they're not good either. They're up and down. They're both No. 2 cornerbacks at best. It's not good to have two No. 2 cornerbacks.

5) Lackluster Sanchize

Mark Sanchez didn't have a great game. I don't think he was terrible, but he certainly wasn't great. He made some good throws. But he also turned the ball over twice and the pick-six throw to Julius Peppers was just awful. Sanchez finished at 26/44, 346 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions, 80.3 rating. Sanchez alone is hardly the reason the Eagles lost to the Packers. But he certainly didn't help.

If you want to turn this into a Nick Foles versus Mark Sanchez thing, well, I don't know why. The Eagles were NOT winning this game with Foles out there the way he had been playing this year. And even if Foles were playing like his 2013 version, I really doubt that would have been enough to out-match the Packers.

If the game told us anything about Philadelphia's quarterback situation, it's that the long-term answer is still very much unclear.

6) Good teams get blown out

Sounds weird, but it's true. JasonB made a really good point in the comments. I'm just going to copy and paste what he wrote.

Doesn't make this ok or better

But the fact is that basically every contender has gotten blown out this year (mostly on the road). These same Packers, the Broncos, Cardinals, Patriots etc… All of them.

As long as the Eagles don’t just crumble from a bad loss, which nothing we’ve seen in the past 2 seasons under Chip Kelly would lead us to believe they would, this is really just going to be a really bad weekend that every team has had this season. There aren’t any dominant teams this year.

Packers are a great team at home. They’re not special on the road. The Eagles may very well be the same thing. They’ve destroyed teams at home and had some tough losses on the road. That’s just what the league is this year.

7) Josh Huff struggles yet again

Another poor game for Josh Huff. The rookie receiver dropped a pass and looked like he was responsible for allowing the punt returned by Micah Hyde. Huff has seriously struggled this season. I would argue now is not the time to give up on him, despite the struggles. I really thought he was a good player coming out of Oregon and I thought he made a lot of sense for the Eagles. Perhaps Huff won't start clicking until Year 2. Perhaps he won't start clicking at all if he keeps these mistakes up. In any case, he really needs to find a way to turn things around.

8) The run game just isn't there

The Eagles offensive line was healthy but the run game still isn't overly impressive. LeSean McCoy finished with 88 yards on 23 carries for an average of 3.8 yards per touch. McCoy's longest run was only 13 yards. The team collectively finished with 109 yards on 31 attempts for an average of 3.5. A lot of Philadelphia's success in 2013 was based on the run. They just haven't had nearly the same amount of success this year. For a run-heavy team not to be able to rely on their identity, well, that seems frustrating for them.

9) Hot and cold pass rush

The Eagles could not get any pass rush going against Green Bay. That was kind of a surprise. Maybe it was Rodgers' hard count that slowed the rushers from getting off to a good jump. Maybe it was the poor playing surface at Lambeau which caused a number of Eagles players to slip. Or maybe it's because the rushers just didn't play well. In any case, this was a team that finished with nine sacks on Monday night. For them to register no "real" sacks against Rodgers was a bit of a surprise. The only time Rodgers was "sacked" was when Connor Barwin downed him after a high snap went over his head and the quarterback recovered by diving on the ball. Rodgers gets rid of the ball quick at times, yes, but there were also a number of other times when Green Bay's protection was flawless and Rodgers had a ton of time to throw.

10) Perfect time for a disheartening loss

It's never good to lose, of course, but the Eagles have a good opportunity to soon forget this loss when the lowly Tennessee Titans come to Philadelphia next Sunday. If the Eagles can find a way to rebound in Week 12, they'll be 8-3 heading into their first match-up against the Dallas Cowboys.

This season is far from over. It's up to the Eagles to show they put Sunday's loss in the past, move forward, and get back to their winning ways.