Packers fans are furious after opening fumble might’ve been recovered by Green Bay
By Scott Rogust
The Green Bay Packers entered the playoffs with a regular season-ending loss to the Chicago Bears, in a game in which wide receiver Christian Watson tore his ACL and quarterback Jordan Love suffered a right elbow injury. Not an ideal situation for Green Bay, as they take on a dominant Philadelphia Eagles team in the Wild Card Round.
On Sunday, the Packers couldn't have gotten off to a worse start.
The Packers received possession to start the game. On the opening kickoff, returner Keisean Nixon was hit hard by Eagles linebacker Oren Burks, causing a fumble. After a pile-up, the referees determined that the Eagles had picked up the fumble and would start the game in the red one.
However, upon review, it clearly looks like Nixon had recovered the fumble, even as the players began piling on to get the rumble. Even so, the referees determined that the Eagles did recover and was a fumble by the Packers.
Packers fumble. It looks like Nixon has control of the ball while on the ground and then the ball was taken from him. Refs reviewed and said Eagles got the ball pic.twitter.com/hRxJpnhz8U
— Rate the Refs App (@Rate_the_Refs) January 12, 2025
Packers fans livid over official review of Keisean Nixon fumble in Wild Card Round matchup
To make matters worse for Packers fans, they watched Saquon Barkley rush for 11 yards on the first play. Two plays later, quarterback Jalen Hurts used all of the time he had in the pocket to connect with Jahan Dotson for an 11-yard touchdown pass, putting Philadelphia up 7-0 early.
Let's say that Pacers fans on social media were not happy whatsoever.
How was that not a clear recovery on the Nixon fumble? NFL officiating already on some bs
— chad leaman (@chadleaman10) January 12, 2025
Not even a single peep of the helmet to helmet on kickoff for the fumble
— Cody Smith (@Cody_TheGiant) January 12, 2025
Philadelphia just flat out did not recover the fumble. That’s egregious on replay, where every single angle showed Nixon with the ball on the ground. Why even have replay if that’s not a play you overturn?
— sam ausloos (@ausloos13) January 12, 2025
Not only did Nixon recover his fumble, but where’s the helmet to helmet call on Burks?
— AVG Cheese- A Packer Podcast (@avgcheese) January 12, 2025
Fumble on a helmet to helmet that’s not called with visible recovery on our end. Eagles ball. SMH.
— Anthony (@ant_berg) January 12, 2025
Not only were fans complaining about the review not overturning the call on the field, but also their belief that Burks should have been called for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Burks. Ultimately, neither happened.
Who knows what could have been if that fumble never happened. Maybe the Packers could have had the momentum instead of the Eagles. Either way, the Packers will need to go toe-to-toe with Philadelphia's stacked offense to have any hope of leaving the city as winners.
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