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Eagles' season ends vs. Packers

The Eagles' offense had 1 minute, 45 seconds to go 66 yards and save their season.

But they couldn't do it.

Michael Vick got them down to the Packers' 27 yard line with under 50 seconds to go, but threw his only interception of the game as Green Bay cornerback Tramon Williams outjumped Riley Cooper to end it.

The truth is that the game was lost long before that play. Here are some reasons why the Eagles lost. You can add your own. I have to run down to the press conferences, but will be back with much more.

David Akers entered the game having hit 25 of his last 27 field goals. But his two misses Sunday were costly. Akers missed from 34 and 41 yards. If he hits those two, do the Eagles win? Maybe.

* I thought that if the Eagles could limit the Packers' big plays, they'd have a great chance of winning. At halftime, Aaron Rodgers was averaging just 6.2 yards per attempt and he had not completed a pass to a wide receiver longer than 12 yards. The Packers were still up 14-3. Overall, Rodgers hit on just one pass of 20 yards or more.

Clay Matthews abused Winston Justice. That doesn't put Justice in select company. Matthews does that to a lot of offensive linemen, but the Eagles knew what they were going up against and failed to neutralize him. In the fourth quarter, Andy Reid pulled Justice in favor of King Dunlap.

* The Eagles' defense gave up three long drives of 10, 12 and 11 plays. Green Bay finished 8-for-13 on third down. That being said, if you would have told Eagles fans before the game that the defense would give up 21 points, they probably would have accepted that.

* DeSean Jackson, who was injured in the first half and missed some time, did not have a catch until the 8:45 mark of the fourth quarter.

* The Eagles' run defense, which had been pretty good all season, looked bad against James Starks. Starks carried 23 times for 123 yards, averaging 5.3 yards per attempt.

* The Eagles, meanwhile, never got their run game going as LeSean McCoy averaged just 3.8 yards per carry.

* The reality is that the Packers were probably just better than the Eagles. We'll dissect the game to death this week, but that's the truth. Now we face an uncertain offseason, both league-wide and for the Eagles. For the second straight year, they saw their season come to an end in the first round of the playoffs.

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