Saquon Barkley Lifts Eagles To Season-Opening, 34-29, Win Over Packers In Brazil

The former New York Giants RB was superb, scopring three touchdowns and running for 109 yards to help Philly overcome a three-turnover night from Jalen Hurts.

Sep 6, 2024; Sao Paulo, BRA; Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) celebrates after a touchdown against Green Bay Packers linebacker Isaiah McDuffie (58) during the second quarter at Neo Quimica Arena. Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Saquon Barkley wasted little time making good on the investment the Eagles made in him with a three-year contract for nearly $40 million in the offseason.

The running back scored three touchdowns, one an 18-yard catch the other two on runs of 11 and 2 yards to spark a 34-29 win over the Green Bay Packers in the season opener in Sau Paolo, Brazil.

Barkley ran for 109 yards on 24 carries. It was his 18th 100-plus-yard game of his career. Only Terrell Owens scored three TDs in his Eagles debut. In six seasons and 74 games with the New York Giants, Barkley had only one game with three touchdowns.

He’s 1-for-1 with the Eagles, and the Eagles are 1-0 despite some poor decision-making by Jalen Hurts, who turned the ball over three times with two interceptions, including one in the end zone. He also had a fumble, but that may have been more on center Cam Jurgens who snapped the ball before Hurts appeared ready.

Hurts then nearly coughed the ball up again the final seconds at the 1-yard line, fumbling the snap in an attempted tush push. Barkley fell on it and Jake Elliott kicked a 21-yard field goal with 27 second to go to account for the final score.

Credit the defense for holding the Packers to just field goals despite getting the ball at the Eagles’ 19 on the first turnover and the 13 on the second.

TURNING POINT

Reed Blankenship interception. The Eagles were trailing 26-24 midway through the third quarter when saftey Reed Blankenship undercut a throw from Jordan Love to make the Eagles’ first interception of the season to give the Eagles the ball at Green Bay’s 24. On the fourth play from there, Barkley scored his third touchdown of the night to give the Eagles the lead for good.

Sep 6, 2024; Sao Paulo, BRA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) scrambles during the first half against the Green Bay Packers at Neo Quimica Arena. Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

STUDS

Saquon Barkley. Just a phenomenal debut.

Zack Baun. The Eagles linebacker was all over the field. He had 15 tackles and ended the game with a sack of Malik Willis – who entered after Jordan Love limped off with six seconds left suffering a lower leg injury. Baun had two sacks.

A.J. Brown. The receiver had five catches for 119 yards and a 67-yard touchdown to start the second half, turning a throw into a long run, outracing Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander to the end zone.

DeVonta Smith. He had seven catches for 84 yards, none bigger than on the Eagles’ final drive that led to Elliott’s 21-yard field goal when he made grabs of 16 and 11 yards to get the Eagles inside the 10.

Nick Sirianni. The Eagles head coach is now 4-0 in season openers and all of them have been on the road.

Kellen Moore. The offense didn’t look stale after a slow start. Moore’s unit will be fun to watch this season. On the TD drive that gave the Eagles a 14-12 lead in the second quarter, Moore designed a nice play where Hurts fakes a throw to the motion man in the flat, then hit DeVonta Smith, wide open, for a 25-yard gain. On the next play, Moore had two running backs on the field – Barkley and Will Shipley. The play went to Barkley for a 5-yard catch.

DUDS

Jalen Hurts. Two turnovers on the first two possessions of the season? Not good, not good at all. His first was an interception on a late throw down the middle that Xavier McKinney picked. The other may have been on center Cam Jurgens sapping the ball before Hurts was ready. It went down as a fumble for the QB, though.

Hurts had 20 turnovers last year as the Eagles finished with a minus-10 in turnover/takeaway department and already had two after one game. Hurts shook it off though and played well after the dreadful start.

Jalen Carter. The defensive tackle had a roughing the passer penalty then jumped offsides on a PAT to allow the Packers to go for two points. Though the Josh Jacobs run failed, there’s no excuse for being offsides on a PAT try.

CJ Gardner-Johnson. Did the safety have any idea what he was doing on the 70-yard TD too to Jayden Reed? It didn’t look like it. He was out of position on a third-and-10 throw and after trying to recover and whiffing on the tackle, Reed was off to the races.

Nakobe Dean. Where was he on Reed’s 33-yard TD run? The linebacker also dropped an easy catch that would have been an easy pick-6.

NFL. The field was as slippery as the Super Bowl surface was two years ago between the Eagles and Chiefs, and the NFL officiating crew was a flag-happy bunch, ruining the fans’ experience on the first foray onto South American soil.

MEANINGFUL STATS

First-quarter field position. The Eagles’ first two drives started at the 10 and 16, the Packer had two drives that started at the Eagles’ 19 and 13 after two Hurts turnovers. The defense stood tall both times and forced the Packers to settle fir short field goals.

First down. The Eagles first one of season came with 1:34 to play in the opening quarter on a quick slant to A.J. Brown.

FINAL THOUGHTS

-Cooper DeJean’s role can’t be developed quick enough. He was on track to start in the slot until his hamstring injury cost him three weeks of camp. Avonte Maddox did not distinguish himself with his play in the slot, perhaps because he spent summer playing mostly safety.

-There was no pressure from the edge rushers Josh Sweat, Bryce Huff, or Nolan Smith. And the defensive tackles weren’t much better in the run game. Hopefully, for the Eagles, it was just terrible field conditions.

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