Packer Central

Live Updates: Eagles Beat Packers 34-29

The Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles will kick off the 2024 NFL season in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Friday night. Follow along all night for updates.

Bill Huber

Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) prepares to take a snap during the first quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) prepares to take a snap during the first quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – In the NFL’s historic debut game in South America, the Green Bay Packers will face the Philadelphia Eagles on Friday night in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Follow along for all the updates as the Packers, who believe they are Super Bowl contenders, take on the Eagles, who reached the Super Bowl two years ago.

Final Score

Eagles 34, Packers 29

The Eagles ran out most of the clock before adding a field goal. After a 33-yard completion to Jayden Reed gave the Packers a glimmer of hope, Jordan Love was twisted awkwardly on the second-to-last play of the game. The game ended with Malik Willis getting sacked by Zack Baun before he could unleash a Hail Mary.

Click here for the early story.

Fourth Quarter

Eagles 31, Packers 29 (7:52 remaining)

After Jaire Alexander’s interception, Josh Jacobs ran for 32 – he broke a tackle for an additional 19 yards – and Jordan Love hit Jayden Reed for 26 on third-and-5. The drive stalled, again, in the red zone. Love threw too high to Romeo Doubs on third-and-5. Brayden Narveson booted a 26-yard field goal to make it a two-point game.

Eagles 31, Packers 26 (12:53 remaining)

Jaire Alexander saved the day. With the Eagles in position to at least make it an eight-point game, Alexander intercepted a pass from Jalen Hurts to A.J. Brown in the back of the end zone. Saquon Barkley’s 33-yard run and back-to-back completions of 11 yards moved the ball to Green Bay’s 11. The Packers stiffened, though. Hurts was stuffed on a keeper and Keisean Nixon dropped what might have been an 85-yard pick-six before Alexander’s interception.

Third Quarter

Eagles 31, Packers 26 (17 seconds remaining)

The Packers needed an answer, and Josh Jacobs finally got rolling, but were forced to settle for a field goal. Brayden Narveson’s 43-yard field goal hit the right upright.

Eagles 31, Packers 26 (4:26 remaining)

Reed Blankenship intercepted Jordan Love to set up the Eagles at Green Bay’s 24. Saquon Barkley bludgeoned the Packers with three consecutive overpowering runs to put the Eagles back in front. Barkley’s third touchdown of the night came on a 2-yard run.

Love is a woeful 10-of-23 following the interception. After holding on Rasheed Walker made it second-and-11, Love tried to float one over the middle to Luke Musgrave. But linebacker Zack Baun was in great position, which made it a nearly impossible throw. Baun deflected it and Blankenship made a terrific interception.

Packers 26, Eagles 24 (7:21 remaining)

Another punt. On third-and-2, linebacker Isaiah McDuffie ignored the play-action fake and pressured Jalen Hurts into an awkward throwaway.

Packers 26, Eagles 24 (8:48 remaining)

What a horrendous series by the Packers, who had been rolling. A pair of illegal-shift penalties sandwiched a terrible pass by Jordan Love to Jayden Reed, which would have gained a first down, and an off-target pass from Love to Romeo Doubs, which might have gained a first down.

Packers 26, Eagles 24 (10:26 remaining)

A punt! Rashan Gary batted down a pass on first down and sacked Jalen Hurts on third down for a three-and-out punt.

Packers 26, Eagles 24 (11:55 remaining)

On third-and-1, the Eagles were flagged for a pair of penalties, including a ticky-tack roughing-the-passer penalty on Zack Baun to give the Packers a first down. On the next play, Jordan Love connected with Tucker Kraft for a gain of 29 that included 23 yards after the catch. Later, on third-and-9, the Eagles had a well-designed blitz in the face of Love but cornerback Avonte Maddox grabbed Dontayvion Wicks for a 13-yard penalty and first-and-goal at the 2. On the next play, Love hit Christian Watson against Maddox for the go-ahead score.

Eagles 24, Packers 19 (14:09 remaining)

That didn’t take long. On the second play of the half, Jalen Hurts went deep to A.J. Brown, who absorbed a collision from Jaire Alexander, caught the ball at the 41 and accelerated from Alexander for a 67-yard touchdown.

The Eagles have scored on four consecutive possessions, those early turnovers a distant memory.

Halftime

Packers 19, Eagles 17

In his halftime interview, coach Matt LaFleur lamented the team’s lack of consistency. It was an all-or-nothing half for the Packers, but it was good enough to lead at the break.

Jordan Love was 7-of-14 passing for 130 yards. Jayden Reed had a 70-yard touchdown catch and a 33-yard touchdown run.

Josh Jacobs has six carries for just 4 yards. Dontayvion Wicks had two drops. The Packers went 0-for-2 in the red zone and were guilty of six penalties.

After a slow start that included an interception and a botched shotgun snap, Jalen Hurts was 14-of-22 passing for 154 yards.

Second Quarter

Packers 19, Eagles 17 (0:00 remaining)

On third-and-7, Hurt hit tight end Dallas Goedert on a short crossing route. Javon Bullard, trying to avoid receiver A.J. Brown’s pick, slipped, which allowed Goedert to gain 21. Later, on fourth-and-3, the Eagles turned down a 51-yard field goal, and Hurts found DeVonta Smith between Javon Bullard and Isaiah McDuffie for 7. One play later, a dump in the flat to Kenneth Gainwell gained 10 to the 14 when Eric Stokes and McDuffie missed tackles, resulting in 14 yards after the catch. The Packers stiffened, though, and Jake Elliott booted a 38-yard field goal at the end of the half.

Packers 19, Eagles 14 (5:11 remaining)

The Packers were in a bit of trouble. On first down, Jordan Love slipped on his dropback and almost threw a pick-six to linebacker Nakobe Dean. On second down, Love fired one downfield to Luke Musgrave, who was double-teamed. On third-and-10, Love stepped up in the pocket and found Jayden Reed streaking across the middle of the field. Reed caught the ball at the 38, slipped C.J. Gardner-Johnson’s tackle attempt at the 30 and coasted the rest of the way for a 70-yard touchdown.

Eagles 14, Packers 12 (5:34 remaining)

Saquon Barkley scored untouched on an 11-yard run to put the Eagles back in front. Quay Walker had a chance, it seemed, but Barkley cut right past him. On third-and-8, Jalen Hurts took a big shot from blitzing nickel defender Keisean Nixon and hit A.J. Brown short of the marker. However, Jaire Alexander slipped on the slick turf, which allowed Brown to gain 20. One play later, DeVonta Smith found a hole in the zone for a catch-and-run gain of 25.

The Eagles will get the ball to start the second half, so this will be a big possession for the Packers.

Packers 12, Eagles 7 (10:16 remaining)

Jayden Reed scored on a 33-yard run to put the Packers in front. Emanuel Wilson and Josh Myers had big-time blocks, and Reed slipped Zack Baun’s tackle around the 22. The extra point made it 13-7 but the Eagles were offside. Coach Matt LaFleur sent the offense back on the field but Josh Jacobs was stuffed on a run from the 1.

The listless Packers offense got a spark from Emanuel Wilson. After Dontayvion Wicks dropped what would have been a 20-yard gain to midfield – his slip at the top of the route didn’t help – Wilson ran for 14 (with 6 additional yards after breaking a tackle) and 18 (when Tucker Kraft, Elgton Jenkins and Rasheed Walker led the way and Sean Rhyan pulled).

Wilson has three carries for 37 yards; Jacobs has six carries for 4 yards.

Eagles 7, Packers 6 (12:38 remaining)

On second-and-11, Jalen Hurts faked the handoff to Saquon Barkley and took a couple steps to his right. Then, he threw the ball across the field to Barkley, who was a step beyond Isaiah McDuffie. The throw was perfect, just over McDuffie and beating safety Xavier McKinney for an 18-yard touchdown. The Eagles converted a third-and-1 on Hurts’ 8-yard completion to DeVonta Smith and fourth-and-1 when TJ Slaton jumped offside. On the next play, Slaton was driven off the ball on a double-team block as Barkley gained for 12.

First Quarter

Packers 6, Eagles 0 (3:01 remaining)

The Packers extended their lead on another disappointing scoring drive. How about eight plays for 8 yards? Starting at their 13 after another Eagles turnover, Josh Jacobs broke a tackle on fourth-and-2 to give the Packers a first-and-goal at the 3. Green Bay – the No. 1 goal-to-go team in the NFL last year – went nowhere. Offensive pass interference on Romeo Doubs moved the ball to the 13. A dump-off to Tucker Kraft moved it to the 5, but Jordan Love had to throw it away on third down and missed Christian Watson on fourth down. Watson was breaking free on a crossing route but was shoved by C.J. Gardner-Johnson. Brayden Narveson made the 23-yard field goal.

Packers 3, Eagles 0 (7:06 remaining)

On third-and-6, Cam Jurgens’ shotgun snap hit an unsuspecting Jalen Hurts on the arm. Devonte Wyatt pounced to give the offense the ball at Philly’s 13.

Packers 3, Eagles 0 (8:26 remaining)

The Packers struck first but it was a bittersweet accomplishment. Starting at the Eagles’ 19 after Xavier McKinney’s interception, the Packers went nowhere. On first down, Zack Baun blitzed untouched around left tackle Rasheed Walker for a sack. Unnecessary roughness gave the Packers a first down at the 12, but it didn’t matter. Josh Jacobs was stuffed on first down and Walker was flagged for holding on second down. On second-and-20, Dontayvion Wicks dropped a pass over the middle. A third-down screen set to Josh Jacobs set up a 31-yard field goal by Brayden Narveson.

Packers 0, Eagles 0 (10:46 remaining)

The Packers’ primary starting safeties had zero interceptions last season. On the third play of the season, the team’s big free-agent acquisition, Xavier McKinney, delivered his first big play. On third-and-15, Hurts tried to float one up the seam to DeVonta Smith. Quay Walker’s coverage was excellent and McKinney swooped inside of them for the pick. His 16-yard return gave the Packers the ball at the Eagles’ 19.

Packers 0, Eagles 0 (11:40 remaining)

The Packers elected to take the ball but stalled just outside of scoring position. Jordan Love completed a third-and-6 with a 19-yard completion to Romeo Doubs, who made a terrific all-hands catch on a low pass. On the next third-and-6, Love hurried the offense to the line and threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Jayden Reed, who caught the ball just outside the 10 and broke two tackles. However, in a rarity, both teams were flagged for having 12 men on the field. The Packers turned a timeout on the re-do, and Josh Myers didn’t snap the ball coming out of the break. Daniel Whelan’s punt went out of bounds at the 10.

Go Pack Go! (Vai Pack Vai!)

The vibe for the trip to Brazil has been vastly different than the trek to London two years ago to face the Giants.

Coach Matt LaFleur didn’t hide the fact that he didn’t like having to play a game overseas. Did it impact the performance? Perhaps not, but he’s been singing a different tune this year.

A cynic might point out that the Packers were the big beneficiaries of getting to play the Eagles in Sao Paulo rather than Philadelphia. Regardless, he was upbeat all week in week and gracious in his press availability on Thursday.

After greeting everyone with a hearty “Bon dia!” – “Good day” in Portuguese – LaFleur continued:

“Our experience down here has been nothing but positive. … The food, the people, everybody’s been A-plus. It’s been a positive experience for us and we’re looking forward to tomorrow. Hopefully, all our Brazilian fans will show up tomorrow and be cheering on the Green and Gold and, hopefully, it’s a homefield advantage for us. It’s been a great experience for us thus far.”

Quarterback Jordan Love seemed genuinely excited, too.

“It’s an awesome opportunity to play the first-ever NFL game here. I know there’s a lot of fans over here in South America. It’s awesome to be live here in front of you guys. I’m very excited. We said it the other day – this is the Brazilian Super Bowl here, so we’re going to make it a great game for you guys.”

Packers Captains

Coach Matt LaFleur is going with weekly captains rather permanent captains. So, for Week 1:

Josh Jacobs’ Debut

The two big fish in the free agent pond of running backs were Josh Jacobs, who won the NFL rushing title with the Raiders in 2022, and Saquon Barkley, who led the NFL in total yards as a rookie in 2018.

Jacobs signed with the Packers and Barkley signed with the Eagles.

“He’s a hell of a back,” Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, who matched up against Jacobs five times while he was head coach of the Broncos, told reporters in Philadelphia this week. “He’s a hard runner. He’s got good contact balance. He’s a good pass blocker when they need him to be. He can catch the ball. He’s really one of those all-around good backs in the league but really excels with the ball in his hand.”

After a monster 2022 season in which he was the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year with league-leading totals in rushing yards, rushing yards per game, total touches and total yards, Jacobs was one of the more ineffective backs in the NFL in 2023.

With Green Bay, he’ll run behind a better offensive line and be supported by a better passing game, which should give him a chance to regain his status as one of the best backs in the NFL.

“It helps me a lot,” Jacobs said of the improved supporting cast. “It makes my job easier because I’m not facing heavier boxes all the time. It also makes my job easier because any given play these guys can create a big play. It makes it a lot harder to defend. When you have a special quarterback like Jordan and the way that he plays and the throws that he’s able to make, I think it all goes hand-in-hand with everything.

“I’m just excited. Honestly, I’m excited to see these guys work. I’m excited to see the dawg. I’m excited to see the intensity when the game comes. When we get hit, how do we respond? Things like that, that’s what I’m excited to see.”

Don’t Bet Against LaFleur

For those who care about such things, the Packers are 2.5-point underdogs.

According to Evan Abrams of The Action Network:

- Packers coach Matt LaFleur is 53-37 against the spread over five seasons. He’s the second-most profitable coach against the spread, trailing only the Lions’ Dan Campbell.

- As an underdog under LaFleur, the Packers have covered 22 of 32 times.

- In the first three weeks of the season, LaFleur is 13-2 against the spread.

- The Eagles have lost seven in a row against the spread, the longest spread skid in the league.

Packers-Eagles Inactives

MarShawn Lloyd is out. Emanuel Wilson will play.

What Channel for Packers-Eagles?

Kickoff is set for 7:15 p.m. The game will air exclusively on Peacock, though fans in the Green Bay and Milwaukee TV markets can watch on WGBA Channel 26 and WTMJ Channel 4, respectively.

Here’s the TV/streaming/radio info along with a six-pack of notes.

Rookie Defensive Backs

Ready or not, both teams will start a rookie in the secondary.

For the Packers, it will be second-round safety Javon Bullard.

“A lot of it is dependent on what you’re asking guys to do and what they’re capable of handling,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “You never want to put a guy in a position that you haven’t put him through in practice. So, I think that’s important.

“And I would say everybody’s got a different learning curve. Some guys pick it up a little bit faster than others. I can only speak to our guys in terms of I think that we’ve got some pretty good, what we call ‘FBI’ guys — football intelligence.””

Fourth-round safety Evan Williams, a practice-field star, could earn a role, as well.

“I thought they had a good camp,” defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said of Bullard and Williams. “I thought it was solid. Really smart guys, very instinctive. They picked up on everything really quick. I thought (position coach) Ryan Downard did a great job with those safeties; a lot of extra meeting time to get them sped up.

“They made a lot of plays, whether it was in the run game, the pass game. They showed us their versatility, and I think they’ll just keep getting better and better. I never want to judge a guy on how he plays in the first game. We just need to keep building their confidence and keep them going. But I appreciate and am proud of how all those guys work. They’re tough, they’re smart, they love football and they showed their physicality in those preseason games, which was fun to see.”

For the Eagles, it will be first-round cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, who proved to defensive coordinator Vic Fangio “pretty quickly” that he was up for the challenge.

“We did play him at nickel early on and he did fine in there,” Fangio told reporters in Philadelphia this week. “I do think for him personally it would be good to lock in at one spot, because even though we’ve been very happy with his development and his learning abilities, he still is a rookie. I do think if he can get comfortable at one spot, it would be to his benefit. But we may not be able to do that.”

With veteran Isaiah Rodgers out due to injury, Mitchell figures to start at cornerback and then move into the slot in nickel situations.

Winning Coaches

Packers coach Matt LaFleur and his NFL season-opening counterpart, Nick Sirianni, are two of the best coaches in the NFL.

LaFleur ranks 11th in NFL history with a .675 winning percentage. Of the 10 coaches ahead of him, seven are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Two other Hall of Famers, Paul Brown and Tony Dungy, are right behind.

Sirianni has a .667 winning percentage. That’s the best in franchise history, and leaps-and-bounds better than Doug Pederson (.531), who won a Super Bowl, the future Hall of Famer Andy Reid (.583) and Hall of Famer Greasy Neale (.594).

More Green Bay Packers News

Friday’s pregame transactions | Four crucial matchups | Latest on Tucker Kraft | Packers-Eagles three reasons to believe | Packers-Eagles three reasons to worry | NFC North power rankings | Narveson two-stepped his way to Green Bay | Packers-Eagles final injury report | Packers-Eagles: How to watch | Three reasons for optimism | Three reasons for disappointment | Picking every game (and Super Bowl) | Consensus power rankings | Stokes healthy, smiling | Another new running back | Watson “ready to rock” 

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.