When you allow an offense to convert 71 percent of its third downs, you’re going to lose.
It’s just that simple.
The Packers converted 10 of 14 third downs Monday night — they were actually 10 of 12 at one point before essentially calling off the dogs — on their way to a way-too-easy 27-13 win over the Eagles at the Linc.
Their 71 percent conversion rate on third down is highest against the Eagles in 21 years.
“It’s very tough to win the game when we stay on the field for the majority of the game,” cornerback Leodis McKelvin said.
“It’s hard to win games when you can’t get off the field. It’s hard to win games when you are playing bad technique. It’s hard to win games when it becomes 3rd-and-5 and you jump offsides. We just beat ourselves overall from the front line to the back end.”
Of the Packers’ 10 third-down conversions, eight were 3rd-and-5 or less. They also converted a 3rd-and-10 and a 3rd-and-12.
NFL
The last time the Eagles allowed a team to convert 71 percent of its third downs was Sept. 24, 1995, when the Raiders — with Jeff Hostetler at quarterback — went 9 for 11 on third down in a 48-17 win at Oakland Coliseum.
That game was notable becaue the Eagles took a 17-0 lead in the first quarter, then the Raiders scored the last 48 points. Randall Cunningham was benched at halftime and never started another game for the Eagles.
(That remains the only game in NFL history a team led by 17 points after the first quarter and lost by 31 or more.)
The last time the Eagles allowed a team to convert 70 percent of its third downs in Philadelphia? NFL third-down stats have been kept since only 1990, and it hasn’t happened since then.
So this is uncharted waters.
“A lot of the third downs were 3rd-and-short, so they were able to get rid of the ball real quick when we tried to pressure,” Malcolm Jenkins said.
“We had a couple third-down penalties. And then they just flat-out made some plays. A couple like where Jalen Mills breaks it up and it falls into Jordy Nelson’s hands, so it was just a rough day.”
Aaron Rodgers was 9-for-10 for 94 yards and a 105.8 passer rating on third down.
The Packers ran the ball on four third downs, converting the first three. The final one came in the final seconds and they didn’t even try to convert it.
“We converted third downs, that was the key,” Rodgers said. “We were right on third down the entire game. Odd game with the number of possessions. Six true possessions and a couple kneeldowns. I mean, that’s really rare. We had sustained drives, which was great. We punted once. The offensive line dominated I felt like. No sacks. We did a good job of getting us some rushing yards.
“But again, third downs were the key for us. We started fast. We hit our first six and that obviously helped us take the lead and give our defense some confidence.”
The Eagles actually came into the game ranked fourth in the NFL in third-down defense at 35.2 percent.
Rodgers and the Packers, in three nightmarish hours, knocked them down to 13th place at 38.9 percent.
There were only two times in the game's first 57 minutes that the Eagles legitimately stopped the Packers on a third down. One was a 3rd-and-10 near midfield with 4½ minutes left in the second quarter, when Rodgers completed a seven-yard pass to James Starks, who was stopped three yards short of the sticks by LB Nigel Bradham. The other was a 3rd-and-3 midway through the third quarter, when Rodgers threw incomplete.
“We normally excel at third down,” Bradham said. “Just pretty much we didn’t get them in enough 3rd-and-longs. We were always in 3rd-and-short and that made it easy for them.”
Green Bay’s 71 percent third-down conversion figure is second-best this year in the NFL behind the Eagles’ 77 percent in their loss to the Giants (10 out of 13).
It’s the Packers' third-highest figure in the last 25 years.
"They had a really good game plan," Fletcher Cox said. "He was picking the ball up and throwing it. They made more plays than we did."