Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs divulged after Monday night’s 10-7 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles that Philly knew what play Green Bay was running on a crucial fourth down late in the fourth quarter.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Jacobs noted that the Eagles defense made it clear they had diagnosed the play before the ball was snapped, saying, “Fourth-and-1, they called out our play. We ran it like four times, they called it out.”
Jacobs continued by explaining how he felt once he realized that the Eagles knew what was coming, saying, “As a runner, it don’t ever feel good. Whenever they know what we’re doing, it don’t ever feel good because it changed my mind on how I’m going to run the ball if we’re being honest. It makes me guess on what I’m going to do. Obviously, people are smart. If we’ve got code words or whatever, your hear it a few times, you’re going to eventually react to it. That’s football, but it’s never a good feeling.”
The three-time Pro Bowl and one-time First Team All-Pro running back gave even more insight into how the play went down as well, saying, “We called our play. They said, ‘Inside zone. It’s coming right here.'”
With Green Bay trailing by three and 1:30 remaining in regulation, the Packers faced a fourth-and-1, and they opted to give the ball to their bruising running back.
However, newly acquired defensive end Jaelan Phillips blew the play up for Philadelphia, and Jacobs ended up fumbling the ball, leading to an Eagles recovery.
Jacobs explained that the fumble was a result of trying to toss the ball back to quarterback Jordan Love, adding, “At that point, you’re playing backyard football.”
The Packers defense stood tall on the next drive, forcing a turnover on downs, but Green Bay exhausted all of its timeouts and had only 33 seconds left on the clock when the offense got the ball back.
An 18-yard completion from Love to wide receiver Bo Melton at least gave kicker Brandon McManus a chance to end it to overtime with a long field goal, but his 64-yard attempt was nowhere close.
The end result was a home loss for the Packers that dropped them to 5-3-1 on the season and likely left them ruing missed opportunities.
As for the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles, they improved to 7-2 on the year with a hard-fought road win that proved once again that they have a chance in almost any kind of game.
