Philadelphia Eagles vs. Green Bay Packers: An Early Look at Historic Brazil Season Opener

The Philadelphia Eagles knew a month ago that they would open their season in Brazil, and now they have an opponent. Here are five early storylines to the game

Jan 15, 2024; Tampa, Florida, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) runs with the / Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

Perhaps one of the worst-kept scheduling secrets is now official. It will be the Philadelphia Eagles vs. the Green Bay Packers in the first-ever NFL game in South America.

This was the rumor for the past week or so now, though the Cleveland Browns were also reportedly under consideration to open the season on Sept. 6 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The game will be played on Sept. 6, a Friday night, making it the first NFL game on Friday since the opening weekend back in 1970 when the Rams and Cardinals played on Sept. 18 that year.

This game will be played in Sao Paulo’s Corinthians Arena, which also served as a venue for the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

The league announced last month that the Eagles would be going to Brazil and now they know their opponent.

Here’s a way-too-early look at five storylines:

January 20, 2024; Santa Clara, CA, USA; Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10). / Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

QUARTERBACKS

This is a juicy matchup right out of the gate between two of the top quarterbacks in the NFC – Jalen Hurts and Jordan Love.

After two years of sitting behind Aaron Rodgers, Love’s first season as a starter was crazy good. Love threw for 4,159 yards with 31 touchdowns to 11 interceptions. He was at the controls of the Packers’ blowout of the Dallas Cowboys in AT&T Stadium in the first round of the playoffs and nearly engineered an upset of the San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional round.

Hurts didn’t have the same season he did the year before when he was the MVP runner-up and will be out to show that last year’s 1-6 collapse, as well as his 15 interceptions and five lost fumbles are things of the past.

RUNNING BACKS

Philly’s Saquon Barkley and Green Bay’s Josh Jacobs will make their season debuts with their new teams. It will be interesting to see how each running back will shape the offense of their new teams.

XAVIER MCKINNEY

The Eagles had interest in signing the free-agent safety, but they weren’t going to go as high as the Packers, who gave him a four-year deal with $68 million to make him the third-highest safety in terms of average annual value at $17M per year.

Philly rebounded nicely, though, and brought back Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, giving him a three-year deal worth $33M, which is $6M less than Green Bay will pay McKinney.

BROTHERS MATCHUP?

Max Melton is considered a Day 2 pick, moist likely a second-round selection, in the draft later this month, and the Eagles have done their homework on the Rutgers cornerback.

Max’s brother, Bo Melton, was a seventh-round pick of the Seattle Seahawks in 2022. The receiver came out of nowhere in last year’s homestretch for Green Bay, making 15 catches for 211 yards and one touchdown during a three-game winning streak to get into the playoffs.

Of course, there’s always the possibility that the Packers will reunite the brothers and select Max before the Eagles have a chance to, provided Philly wants to.

HISTORY

In the present, this is a difficult opening matchup for the Eagles, and it is their home game. It has added importance since it is an NFC matchup and could be a factor into whatever tiebreakers may come into play in terms of the p layoffs and/or playoff seeding.

In the past, these two teams opened the season against each other in 2010 at Lincoln Financial Field. Kevin Kolb started but was knocked out early with a concussion thanks to a hit from Green Bay linebacker Clay Matthews.

Michael Vick relieved and threw for 175 yards, ran for 103, but it wasn’t enough to rescue the Eagles from a 27-20 defeat. Kolb started just six more games for Philly.