Green Bay Packers have a painful history with the Eagles

Every game from here on out is a must-win for the Green Bay Packers if they hope to make the playoffs. It will be no easy task on Sunday night when they travel to face the NFC’s best team, the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Packers have won the last three meetings at Lincoln Financial Field.

Winning in Philadelphia was not always the case for the Green Bay Packers, however. The Packers thumped the Eagles 49-0 in 1962. The franchise did not win in Philly again until 2010.

The Green Bay Packers also suffered two of the toughest losses in franchise history in the city of brotherly love.

1960 NFL Championship Game loss to the Eagles.

The Green Bay Packers were the worst team in the NFL in 1958. They finished 1-10-1 under head coach Ray McLean. The Packers replaced McLean with the great Vince Lombardi.

In 1960, Lombardi turned the Packers around from a laughing stock to contenders. The Packers finished 8-4 thanks to the great play of legends such as Bart Starr, Paul Hornung, and Jim Taylor. That was good enough to win the NFL Western Conference.

The Eagles won the NFL Eastern Conference title and a matchup against the Green Bay Packers at old Franklin Field in Philadelphia.

The Packers were able to rack up 401 yards of offense. The Eagles did a good job of keeping Green Bay out of the endzone. Starr found Max McGee for a seven-yard touchdown pass to go up 13-10 in the fourth quarter.

Philadelphia responded with a touchdown drive to go up 17-13.

Starr tried to engineer a winning drive but ran out of time when Taylor was tackled at the Eagles’ nine-yard line as the buzzer sounded.

Bud Lea of the Milwaukee Sentinel wrote this about the loss:

"Time ran out on the Cinderella Packers Monday.The team which rose from rags to riches under the driving leadership of Vince Lombardi ended its most successful season in 15 years nine yards away from the biggest prize in the world of football – the National League championship.The Eagles won this 28th title game, 17-13, on a slippery Franklin Field turf as 67,325 held their breath because the Packers were on the move – from their 35 to the Philadelphia nine when the “bell” saved the Eagles."

That was the only playoff loss for the Green Bay Packers during the Lombardi era. Green Bay would win five titles with Lombardi running the Packers.

The 4th and 26 game.

The Green Bay Packers were riding high after beating the Seattle Seahawks in the Wild Card round. Brett Favre was playing with a heavy heart after his father, Irv Favre, passed away in December 2003.

The Packers and Favre took on the top-seeded Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field in the 2003 Divisional Playoff round. Favre got the Packers out to an early 14-0 lead as he connected with Robert Ferguson for two touchdown passes.

The Eagles tied the game in the fourth quarter but the Pack got the lead back on a Ryan Longwell field goal.

Philadelphia got the ball late in the game for one last drive to tie or win the game.

It looked like the Packers’ defense was going to stall the drive and seal a stunning victory. On the Eagles final drive of regulation, Green Bay’s defense forced two incompletions and sacked quarterback Donovan McNabb.

The Eagles faced 4th and 26 to keep the drive going or it was the ballgame if Green Bay’s defense could get one more stop.

It is a down and distance that will forever make every Packers fan stomach turn in knots after McNabb found Freddie Mitchell to convert for a first down.

McNabb had time to locate Mitchell and the soft coverage allowed Freddie to pick up the 26 yards. The drive continued and David Akers made a field goal to send the game into overtime.

Favre threw one of the worst interceptions in his career in overtime and Akers kicked the game-winning field goal to send the Eagles to the NFC Championship Game.

The Green Bay Packers finally won a playoff game in Philadelphia in the 2010 Wild Card round.

The Green Bay Packers barely got into the playoffs. Once in, Aaron Rodgers led the Pack to the Super Bowl.

On their way to winning the franchise’s 13th title, Green Bay had to go through the Eagles in Philadelphia.

Aaron Rodgers threw for three touchdowns and Tramon Williams secured victory with a late-game interception.

The Packers also beat the Eagles in the regular season that year for the franchise’s first win in the city in nearly two generations. They then finally won a playoff game in Philadelphia. Three games later Green Bay brought the Vince Lombardi trophy home.