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 a 6-0 lead at the end of the first quarter and a 19-17 lead at halftime, the Packers were unable to pull out the win in the second half as the Eagles took control and held on until the end.
Here are some key reasons why the Packers lost the season opener:
Red Zone
The Packers scored 1 of 4 touchdowns in the red zone. Twice in the first quarter, the Packers had to settle for short field goals after gaining possession and moving the football inside the 20-yard line. Later in the fourth quarter, the Packers had a chance to take the lead, but the drive stalled at the 8-yard line and Matt LaFleur again had to settle for a field goal. Scoring just 16 points from four red zone trips isn’t nearly good enough. Penalties were crucial in negating the first two red zone opportunities. Speaking of…
Punish
The Packers committed 10 penalties for 71 yards. A touchdown pass from Jordan Love to Jayden Reed was nullified by compensating penalties on the opening drive, and a false start by Zach Tom forced the Packers to punt on fourth down. A holding penalty on Rasheed Walker led to 1st-and-20 after a Xavier McKinney interception. After a fumble recovery, Tucker Kraft was penalized for holding, and Romeo Doubs was penalized for blatant offensive pass interference. On a third-quarter drive, the Packers were penalized for two illegal shifts. The decisive penalties came late and were questionable. Jaire Alexander was penalized for holding, turning 3rd-and-12 into 1st-and-10, while Kenny Clark was penalized for holding on a pass rush on third down – allowing the Eagles to march down the field and kick a field goal with 27 seconds left.
Takeaways in points
The Eagles converted their interception of Jordan Love into seven points. The Packers, meanwhile, converted three turnovers into just nine points. The Packers had a +2 advantage in turnovers and still lost. To their credit, the Eagles played excellent defense after two turnovers in the first quarter put the Packers ahead inside the 20-yard line. What could have been a 14-0 lead became only a 6-0. Fighting for the ball is so often the key to winning, but only if you can convert the turnovers into game-winning points.
Lack of pressure
Jalen Hurts was sacked twice but only hit five times. Matt LaFleur sounded disappointed with his pass rush after Friday night’s loss. One of the defense’s sacks came on an impromptu rush by Keisean Nixon as Hurts tried to break out of the pocket. The other was a third-down sack by Rashan Gary. On too many critical downs, Hurts had time to throw the football out of the pocket. The Eagles averaged 8.2 yards per pass attempt and had four different players with a pass reception of 18 or more yards. Among defensive linemen, only Gary (two) had quarterback hits on Hurts.
Lost points
The Packers missed a 43-yard field goal and a two-point conversion from the 1-yard line was stopped short. That’s five points. The Packers lost by five points. Brayden Narveson made three field goals, but his 43-yarder bounced off the right post in the second half, costing three points. In the first half, Matt LaFleur went for an extra point attempt after an Eagles penalty to score two more, but Josh Jacobs was stopped. When you add the lost points to the red zone mistakes, it’s amazing the Packers even scored 29 points.
Saquon Barkley could not be held back
For the third straight game against the Packers, Barkley rushed for over 100 yards and scored multiple touchdowns. For his first touchdown, Barkley beat Isaiah McDuffie and made a fantastic catch in the end zone. Later, Quay Walker lost his lead and Barkley had an easy walk 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 lead. Overall, Barkley finished the game with 132 yards and three touchdowns.
Jaire Alexander vs AJ Brown
Alexander had his hands full with Brown, who finished with five catches for 119 yards. The big play was a 67-yard touchdown where Brown ran past Alexander to give the Eagles the lead early in 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 set up third-and-8 on the Eagles’ next touchdown drive. Alexander finally managed an interception of Hurts in the scramble drill, but he lost his matchup against Brown.
