For the third time in four years, the Green Bay Packers dropped their season-opener, falling to the Philadelphia Eagles, 34-29, Friday.
Not ready for prime time.
Same old song and dance.
Call it what you will, the Green Bay Packers gave another disappointing performance in a season-opener and fell to Philadelphia, 34-29, in São Paulo, Brazil Friday.
Green Bay’s defense under Jeff Hafley didn’t look any better than the one Joe Barry left behind. The offense couldn’t finish in the red zone. And for the third time in four years, the Packers dropped their season-opener.
Making matters even worse is quarterback Jordan Love left the game on the final series and had to be helped off the field. The injury appeared to come to Love’s knee and possibly ankle.
Here’s the good, bad and ugly from the Eagles’ win over the Packers:THE GOOD
JAYDEN REED: There’s been a remarkable amount of wasted energy spent wondering who the Packers’ No. 1 receiver is.
“I want to vomit every time I hear ‘No. 1 receiver’, to be honest with you,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said this summer. “It drives me crazy. I feel like we’ve got a bunch of ’em.”
Perhaps.
What’s becoming apparent, though, is second-year man Jayden Reed is certainly No. 1 caliber.
Reed had a 33-yard touchdown run and a 70-yard TD reception in the first half alone. And he finished the game with four catches for 138 yards and 171 total yards.
Last season, Reed had 10 total touchdowns (eight receiving, two rushing) and broke the single-season receptions record by a Packers rookie with 64.
Right now, it looks like Reed will be even better in 2024.
“I think there’s so many things you can do off of all the reverses and sweeps we do with J-Reed,” Love said earlier this year. “I think that adds another layer for the defense to think about, have to study throughout the week.”
TAKE IT AWAY: The Packers won the turnover battle, 3-1.
Safety Xavier McKinney and cornerback Jaire Alexander had interceptions. Defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt recovered a fumble.
But the Packers couldn’t take advantage and scored just nine points off those three turnovers.
YOUTH SERVED: For the second straight year, Green Bay began the season with the NFL’s youngest roster with an average age of 25.
