It’s tough to follow up a 55-14 win with a similar level of mastery of your opponent and the Packers fell short of doing so on Sunday.
Instead of winning by 41 points, they had to settle for winning by 33 points this time. The Packers throttled the Eagles 53-20 at Lambeau Field to keep up their scorching play at home and improve their record to 7-3. That’s the same record as the Lions, who beat the Packers in their first matchup of the season and will be on the other side of the field come Week 17. That game will take place at Lambeau, which was a house of horrors for the Eagles on Sunday in every phase of the game.
Aaron Rodgers completed 22-of-35 passes for 341 yards and three touchdowns, the Packers run defense never let LeSean McCoy get going, Julius Peppers and Casey Hayward had second half touchdown returns off turnovers and Micah Hyde returned a punt for a touchdown in the first half. The game was totally out of reach by the time the Eagles found any footing and the Mark Sanchez lovefest from last week will likely be replaced by concerns about what his three turnovers mean for future outings.
They have also now lost three games on the road to playoff contenders in the NFC -- they beat the Colts in Indy in Week Two -- and have fallen into a tie with the Cowboys for first place in the NFC East. They visit Dallas on Thanksgiving Day and will need to buck that road trend to keep a solid hold on a spot in a crowded playoff picture.
There are no such questions for the Packers, who have continued to make the early season worries about their chances this season look like one of the world’s great overreactions. It’s only the third time since the 1950’s (and the third time in the last three years) that a team has scored 50 points in back-to-back games. Both the Seahawks, who did it in 2012, and the Broncos, who did it last year, advanced to the playoffs and that’s increasingly looking like where the Packers are headed this season.