TimesFour

PHILADELPHIA — Out of nowhere the game suddenly turned harrowing for the elite Packers, the forgotten quarterback entering this opening Sunday, the freelancing one subbing for the woozy Aaron Rodgers wannabe, had the home team within a touchdown and driving.

Fourth-and-1 from the Packers 42, first play inside the two-minute warning, you just knew whose number the Eagles would call. After all, Michael Vick had already rushed for 103 yards and he resembled the old Michael Vick doing so, ad-libbing in the face of jailbreak, winking by the rushers like a ghost.

But ask any coach: Just because you know something is coming in this league doesn’t mean you can stop it.

Unless, of course, you have Clay Matthews on your side. And beyond the fantastic Rodgers and that potent offense, it is that defense, led by Matthews and his flowing blond locks, that is the reason the Packers just might be the scariest team in the NFC. Matthews shed two blockers, a tight end and a chipping back, and shot through the middle to swallow up Vick behind the line of scrimmage for the game-saving tackle.

Matthews had two sacks and seven tackles on the day, one of them a vicious hit on Eagles new starter Kevin Kolb that ultimately knocked him out of the game with a concussion. It was midway through the second quarter and Kolb had been flushed out of the pocket again on a third and long and Matthews hunted him down, bounty style, driving him headfirst into the turf. Kolb rose quickly, a chunk of dirt stuck to his facemask, and wobbled to his sidelines exercising his chin. The first-year starting quarterback came out for the next series but according to Eagles coach Andy Reid, soon fell ill and so Vick started the second half.

Funny how this game was supposed to be about quarterbacks. About how Rodgers, after that incredible preseason in which he completed 77 percent of his passes with six touchdowns, was going to take his spot next to Brees as the NFC’s best. About how Kolb is going to follow in Rodgers’ footsteps, sitting behind a franchise quarterback for three seasons and forcing a controversial change, ultimately proving all of the critics wrong.

Oh, Rodgers had his moments. He threw a couple touchdown passes, including a beautiful throw to Greg Jennings that gave the Packers a 27-10 lead in the third quarter. He also threw two picks, one of them on an awful decision in the fourth quarter.

But this game was about a defense, about a potentially great one, coached by a great coordinator. Dom Capers actively switched his fronts and confused Kolb in the first half. Three-four. Four-three. Five-two. Kolb finished the day 5 for 10 for just 24 yards and a couple of near picks. The Packers generated pressure all game long, perhaps in the end to their detriment because it allowed Vick to improvise and offer a scare.

On a gray day that matched the mood of the stadium, the Eagles capped a weekend-long celebration of their 1960 team, which accounted for the franchise’s last championship by beating the Packers 17-13. That game took place on a Monday afternoon, the day after Christmas 1960, and marked the only playoff loss for Vince Lombardi. It would, however, begin the ascent of the Lombardi’s Packers. Green Bay would eventually become a town of titles, lifted from the obscure frozen crust of the upper Midwest into national prominence.

Meanwhile, the Eagles are now fifty years into their drought. In 1980, they lost to the Raiders in the Super Bowl and never came close again until Andy Reid — Brett Favre’s quarterbacks coach in Green Bay — came here as head coach eleven years ago.

Behind his own franchise quarterback, Reid got as close as imaginable. With Donovan McNabb pitching to Terrell Owens, the Eagles made it to Super Bowl 39 in 2004 and played the dynasty Patriots to a tie in the first half before faltering in the second half. Four more times in the past decade, they lost in the conference championship game. And while blame could be spread evenly, the quarterback always shoulders the brunt of it, especially when each one of those big games were marred by game-sealing interceptions.

Back-to-back losses to the Cowboys for the division title in the season finale and the first round of the playoffs finally spelled the end of the McNabb Era.

Kolb’s beginning was certainly desultory. But they need to remember in Philadelphia that Rodgers was 6-10 in his first season as a starter, after Brett became a Jet.

The question was asked of course at the end of the game to Reid. Kolb or Vick? Vick or Kolb?

What if? What if?

If Kolb is cleared to play next week against Detroit, is he still the starter?

“Yes,” the coach said, unequivocally.

In Philadelphia, there is no quarterback controversy, like the one that was deemed unholy two years ago in Green Bay.

They forget that now on Lombardi Avenue. The Pack is back