The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Green Bay Packers 34-29 in a game that will be remembered for a poor playing surface and a critical injury to quarterback Jordan Love.
The NFL’s first foray into South America should be considered successful. At times the play was sloppy, but overall, this was an exciting back-and-forth encounter by two of the league's strongest rosters.
Sloppy But Exciting
Throughout the first quarter, it appeared that neither side had shaken off that preseason rust. The Eagles had two turnovers to end their first two drives, with Jalen Hurts throwing an interception into triple coverage followed by a fumble from a bad snap. The Packers couldn’t capitalise on either of these, settling for two field goals against a stout Eagles run defence.
However, after a slow start, an offensive explosion took place with touchdowns being scored in each of the next four possessions. Following a slip on his first carry that cost his side five yards, Saquon Barkley followed that up with two first-half touchdowns, appearing to have settled in fast to his new surroundings. For the Packers, receiver Jayden Reed mirrored Barkely, with a receiving and a rushing touchdown himself, which saw the Packers enter the half up 19-17.
The second half picked up where the first half left off with the teams exchanging quick-fire touchdowns. From then on, the scoring died down, with the Eagles scoring the game's final touchdown as Saquon Barkley completed his debut hat trick (insert image of Joe Schoen looking at his phone).
Following late offensive struggles from both sides, the Eagles took a stranglehold of the game, running down the last 7 minutes before extending their lead by five. This left the Packers with 27 seconds on the clock, needing to go the length of the field in need of a touchdown. It was on that final drive that left Jordan Love’s season hanging in the balance.
On the final drive, Love managed to get his team into position for a hail mary attempt before getting his leg rolled up on by Jalen Carter who was trying to bring the Quarterback down. At the time the injury looked pretty bad with Love writhing in pain, but we won’t know the full story until the team fly back to Green Bay. If Love is out for a significant amount of time then Green Bay will have to turn to their backup Malik Willis who they acquired by trade from the Tennessee Titans this offseason.
Underwhelming Quarterback Play
While the potential to lose out on Love for a significant amount of time is a crushing blow to the Packers, his play wasn’t stellar against the Eagles. Neither quarterback covered themselves in glory as they both struggled with accuracy, giving the defences plenty of chances to force turnovers.
While the stats will show that Love threw only one interception, it would have been much worse if the Eagle's defence could come down with the ball. The most egregious of which came in the second quarter when linebacker, Nakobe Dean, failed to capitalise on a misjudged pass to Josh Jacobs. What should’ve been a pick-six was followed by a long touchdown pass to Jaylen Reed on broken coverage, encapsulating the tight margins that change the outcomes of matchups.
Hurts’ had a more punishing stat with two interceptions and two fumbles in a game that showcased his strengths and weaknesses. For a quarterback as athletic as Hurts, it’s surprising to see his struggle when playing out of structure. When playing in structure he’s capable of making the right reads and delivering with accuracy, but the mistakes occurred when he was forced to improvise.
Talent Overwhelms
Luckily, the Eagle's offence is strong enough that he rarely has to. AJ Brown and Devonta Smith both had impressive games with Brown scoring a long touchdown and Smith making clutch plays late. The addition of Saquon Barkley at running back and Kellen Moore as the teams OC should only make things easier for Hurts.
The Packer's new addition at running back, Josh Jacobs, had a slower start than his Eagles counterpart. He looked slow and sluggish when compared to his backup, Emmanuel Wilson, but he began finding his feet as the game wore on.
Neither defence covered themselves in glory, especially in the secondary, as both sides gave up their fair share of long plays. They could consider themselves fortunate that both QBs were having accuracy issues, otherwise the game could’ve been a lot higher scoring.
The Eagles will be the happier of the two defences. Third-year defensive tackle, Jordan Davis showed himself to be formidable against the run, while rookie Quinyon Mitchell displayed the athleticism that got him drafted in the first round. Meanwhile, free agent pickup, Zach Baun, had himself a game, as the linebacker made several splash plays including the game-ending sack.
One concern that many Eagles fans will have concerns the future of the tush push. What was a surefire play last season only succeeded once on three attempts against the Packers. With the loss of Jason Kelce to retirement many feared that the play would be negatively affected, and so far, those fears appear to have come to fruition.
Mixed Emotions
Ultimately, the Eagles will be ecstatic that they could leave Brazil with a win following a game where they escaped being punished for the errors that they’ve made. Their roster's overwhelming talent is enough to plaster over any cracks that may appear and if Hurt can play a clean game then the sky’s the limit. They just need to ensure that Nick Sirianni doesn’t let his emotions get the better of him and lose the locker room as he did towards the end of last season.
For the Packers, the health of Jordan Love is all that matters. They showed that they could hang in with one of the best teams in the league, even though they weren’t perfect themselves. But if they’re resigned to playing Malik Willis under center for a significant amount of the season, then their division aspirations, let alone Superbowl ones, will be in tatters.
