Key Takeaways from Eagles Vs Packers
Fans were treated to an absolute gem of a game in Eagles Vs Packers. The highly anticipated matchup for the opening week of the NFL season in Brazil had fans of both teams on the edge of their seats. Each offense played very well, and the defenses made some excellent plays, but overall, they could not stop one another from scoring. Love completed 17 of his 34 passes, 260 yards, two touchdown passes, and one interception. He made some perfect throws but looked rusty and could not repeatedly hit his receivers on target. His one interception was not a good read, and he almost threw another interception a couple plays later. Love's touchdown passes to Jayden Reed and Christian Watson were great. His opponent, Jalen Hurts, completed 20 of his 34 passes, threw two touchdown passes, two interceptions, one fumble lost, and one fumble recovered. Hurts had a great touchdown pass to Saquon Barkley and another long touchdown pass to AJ Brown. However, his interception to Xavier McKinney and Jaire Alexander had people shaking their heads at how bad his decision-making was. Each quarterback played a decent game, leaving fans wanting more from both.
The running backs Josh Jacobs and Saquon Barkley had two entirely different games. Jacobs seemed he could not gain a yard sometimes, making fans nervous. His backup, Emmanuel Wilson, played very well against the Eagles, which did not help matters. Jacobs finished the game with 16 carries for 84 yards and no touchdowns. While Saquon took over the game, rushing for over 109 yards on 24 carries with three touchdowns. He caught a great touchdown pass from Hurts and rushed for two more while helping the Eagles win over the Packers. It will be interesting to see how each running back progresses throughout the season. Jacobs can build on a solid second half, and Saquon could help the Eagles on their Super Bowl quest.
The defenses both had their respective moments of good and evil. The Packers’ defense made some fantastic interceptions, got pressure on Hurts, and really rallied around each other. They had their bad moments, too, when they missed many open-field tackles either by slipping or getting juked and allowed the 70-yard touchdown pass to AJ Brown and another touchdown pass to Saquon. The run defense was my main concern going into this game, and they did not help me feel any less apprehensive about it. The defense allowed Saquon to run all over them, and there seemed no difference between Jeff Hafley and Joe Barry's run defense plans. The defense clearly has improved, and it felt like fans could watch with hope they could make stops, which is much different than last year's defense, where fans could only pray. The Eagles had solid moments, too, picking off Jordan Love, getting pressure on him, and stopping multiple drives from becoming touchdowns. The Eagles stopping the Packers on their first two drives that ended in field goals were the deciding factors in who won this game. The defense also looked incompetent at times, giving up massive touchdowns to Jayden Reed and Christian Watson and allowing third-string running backs to gain colossal yardage.
Some things never change. Throughout the game, there was hope the new kicker, Brayden Narvseon, could erase the Packer's ghosts of the past and help them finally have a competent special team. This was not the case, as he doinked a field goal off the post and brought back memories of Anders Carlson. The field goal miss could have helped the Packers keep a lead and change the game's outcome.
Love had a scary injury in the game's final seconds, and fans can only hope that he is alright. The last few seconds show how vital a competent quarterback was to a team when Malik Willis came in, threw an incompletion, and then took a sack to end the game. It was a nice gesture from Hurts and other Eagles players to check on Love after the game, but it could have been avoided if the play was called dead. The quality of the field they played on was atrocious and reminded fans of harmful fields like Metlife Stadium and FedEx Field. Hopefully, Love did not suffer a season-ending injury, and Hurts can take this game as a learning experience. If Hurts is putting up these stats against good teams like the Packers, imagine how he might struggle against defenses like the Ravens, Chiefs, or 49ers.
