The Green Bay Packers were too sloppy and missed too many opportunities in a 34-29 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles to open the 2024 season in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Despite leading 6-0 at the end of the first quarter and 19-17 at halftime, the Packers were unable to get it done in the second half as the Eagles took control and held on late.
Here are some big reasons why the Packers lost the season opener:
Red zone
The Packers were 1-for-4 scoring touchdowns in the red zone. Twice in the first quarter, the Packers settled for short field goals after getting the football inside the 20-yard line via takeaways. Later, the Packers had a chance to take the lead in the fourth quarter, but the drive stalled at the 8-yard line and Matt LaFleur again settled for a field goal. Getting only 16 total points from four red-zone trips isn’t nearly good enough. Penalties were crucial in killing the first two red-zone opportunities. Speaking of which…
Penalties
The Packers committed 10 penalties for 71 yards. A touchdown pass from Jordan Love to Jayden Reed was negated by offsetting penalties on the opening drive, and a false start on Zach Tom forced the Packers to punt on fourth down. A holding penalty on Rasheed Walker set up 1st-and-20 after Xavier McKinney’s interception. After a fumble recovery, Tucker Kraft was flagged for holding, and Romeo Doubs was called for a blatant offensive pass interference. On one drive in the third quarter, the Packers were called for two illegal shifts. The decisive penalties came late, and were questionable. Jaire Alexander got called for holding, turning 3rd-and-12 into 1st-and-10, while Kenny Clark was flagged for holding on a pass-rush on third down — allowing the Eagles to march the field and kick a field goal with 27 seconds left.
Takeaways into points
The Eagles turned their interception of Jordan Love into seven points. The Packers, meanwhile, turned three takeaways into only nine points. The Packers had a +2 advantage in turnovers and still lost. To their credit, the Eagles played terrific adversity defense after a pair of turnovers set up the Packers inside the 20-yard line in the first quarter. What could have been a 14-0 lead was only 6-0. Winning the turnover battle is so often crucial to victory, but only when you can turn the takeaways into game-changing points.
Lack of pressure
Jalen Hurts was sacked twice but hit only five times. Matt LaFleur sounded disappointed in his pass-rush following the loss Friday night. One of the defense’s sacks came on an improvised rush from Keisean Nixon as Hurts attempted to break contain of the pocket. The other was a third-down sack from Rashan Gary. On too many critical downs, Hurts had time to throw the football from the pocket. The Eagles averaged 8.2 yards per pass attempt and had four different players with a reception of 18 or more yards. Among defensive linemen, only Gary (two) had any quarterback hits on Hurts.
Lost points
The Packers missed a 43-yard field goal and had a two-point conversion from the 1-yard line stopped short. That’s five points. The Packers lost by five. Brayden Narveson made three field goals but saw his 43-yarder clank off the right upright in the second half, taking three points off the board. In the first half, Matt LaFleur elected to go for two following a penalty by the Eagles on the extra point attempt, but Josh Jacobs was stuffed short. Combined the lost points with the failures in the red zone, and it’s amazing the Packers even got to 29 points.
Couldn’t contain Saquon Barkley
For the third consecutive game against the Packers, Barkley produced over 100 total yards and scored multiple touchdowns. On his first score, Barkley beat Isaiah McDuffie and made a fantastic catch in the end zone. Later, Quay Walker lost his gap and Barkley had an easy stroll into the end zone. His 2-yard touchdown run came four plays after Jordan Love’s interception. On the final play of the third quarter, Barkley ripped off a 34-yard run when Eric Wilson lost his gap. Overall, Barkley finished with 132 total yards and three scores.
Jaire Alexander vs. A.J. Brown
Alexander had his hands full with Brown, who finished with five catches for 119 yards. The big play was a 67-yard touchdown in which Brown ran past Alexander, giving the Eagles the lead to start the second half. Brown also had a big catch on third down to extend Philadelphia’s first touchdown drive, and he beat Alexander on a catch-and-run for 20 yards to pick up 3rd-and-8 on the Eagles’ next touchdown drive. Alexander eventually got an interception off Hurts in the scramble drill, but he lost his matchup against Brown.
