Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles dethroned Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs by pulling off a commanding Super Bowl LIX win. With Jordan Love under center, the Green Bay Packers hope to emulate that kind of run in the 2025 NFL season.
However, they don’t seem to have many believers. Former offensive lineman Damien Woody, for instance, doesn’t see the Packers as a true threat for the Eagles next year. In fact, he believes that Love might be what holds Green Bay back.
“I don’t know if the Packers are actually sold on Jordan Love with the way they ran the football and the volume in which they ran the football last year. So, even with Myles Garrett, I don’t look at them as the team that competes with the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC,” Woody said on ESPN‘s “Get Up.”
Woody knows a thing or two about what it takes to win championships, as he boasts two Super Bowl rings to show for it. Both of them came during his time with the New England Patriots. In his eyes, the Packers have to trust more in Love in order to go the distance like Hurts and the Eagles did in 2024.
Packers show belief in Love
However, one could also disagree with the notion that the Packers don’t trust in Love enough. Let’s keep in mind that the franchise used a first-round draft pick to get the Utah State product when Aaron Rodgers was still their quarterback, eventually handing him the reins after A-Rod’s exit.
Love paid that confidence back with an impressive performance in his first NFL season as starter, and the Packers once again proved their committment to the young quarterback by handing him a four-year, $220 million contract extension in 2024.
Love, Packers winless against Hurts’ Eagles in 2024
Things didn’t go entirely to plan last year, with Love struggling to keep up with the level shown in 2023. The Packers still made the playoffs, but their postseason didn’t last long. In the Wild Card, Green Bay lost to the eventual champions.
That was the second time Hurts‘ Eagles beat Love’s Packers in the season. Philadelphia gainned the upper hand with a 34-29 victory in the Week 1 game played in Brazil before claiming a 22-10 win in January.
We’ll have to wait and see whether the Packers prove they can reach the Eagles’ level next year. It won’t be easy though, since every other team in the NFC will be looking to take down Hurts and company in 2025.