SAO PAULO, Brazil − This wasn’t as crisp and clean as a Brazilian soccer game in the World Cup.
But the Eagles will certainly take it. After a horrific start in which the Eagles turned the ball over twice, Jalen Hurts and the offense got going, beating the Green Bay Packers 34-29 in a shootout at Corinthians Arena on Friday night.
There were seven lead changes in the game, the first-ever NFL game in South America.
“I think how we responded as a team, we all experienced some adversity, but we all dug deep, dug deep and kept pressing forward,” said Hurts, who threw an interception and fumbled on the Eagles’ first two possessions.
“It’s all things that you can control. We’ll continue to find our rhythm as a football team. It’s always good to be able to figure it out with a win.”
No doubt, Brazilian fans, used to low-scoring soccer games, certainly had a lot to cheer about, and they did, dancing and singing throughout the game, thoroughly entertained by what they were seeing, whether they understood it or not.
It was believed that 90% of the fans in attendance were Brazilian fans, mixing in with the few thousand Eagles and Packers fans.
That is, when they weren’t dumbfounded by turnovers and holding penalties.
Hurts, who threw one interception through 16 training camp practices, ended up throwing two on Friday.
But Hurts was also brilliant at times, throwing a 67-yard touchdown pass to AJ Brown and an 18-yard TD to Saquon Barkley on a wheel route.
In all, Hurts completed 20 of 34 passes for 278 yards with 2 TDs. He helped close out the win with the Eagles holding the ball for 7 minutes, 25 seconds as Jake Elliott kicked a 21-yard field goal with 27 seconds left.
“We came out, we had some adversity early in the game,” Hurts said. “Definitely could have avoided some of those things. I put us in a bad spot as a team. In the end, we made some crucial plays to extend drives, crucial plays down the field, crucial plays on defense.”
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The defense had to secure that win.
That’s because Packers quarterback Jordan Love completed a pass for 33 yards to Jayden Reed at midfield with 10 seconds left. Then Zack Baun hit Love hard and forcing a fumble. Josh Jacobs picked up the ball and ran out of bounds with 6 seconds left.
Love was hurt on the play, and Malik Willis was sacked by Baun to end the game.
Finally, the Eagles could exhale.
“You got to treat it like if we lost,” Barkley said. “You can kind of get caught up in details when it’s a win. When you win, everything feels and seems better. We got to go lock in on that, watch film, get in meetings, and correct our little things we had.”
Still, Barkley, in his first game as an Eagle, rushed for 109 yards with 23 yards receiving. Brown finished with 5 catches for 119 yards while DeVonta Smith had 7 catches for 84 yards.
It started ominously for the Eagles.
Hurts turned the ball over on the Eagles first two possessions, on an interception and a fumble, each time giving the Packers the ball inside the Eagles’ 20. Each time, the Packers, through their own sloppiness and some clutch defensive plays, had to settle for field goals.
“You know, we couldn’t have played a worse first quarter than we did offensively,’ Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “Defensively, did a great job stepping up. Couldn’t have played a worse first quarter and came back down the field and he hit Saquon with an unbelievable throw.
Then the Eagles got going, as Barkley sandwiched an 18-yard TD reception and an 11-yard TD run around a Packers TD.
That gave the Eagles a 14-12 lead. It was short-lived as Love hit Jayden Reed for a 70-yard TD when he broke CJ Gardner-Johnson’s tackle, then ran in alone over the final 30 yards.
The Eagles trailed by two at halftime when Hurts hit Brown for a 67-yard TD just 51 seconds into the third quarter. Once again, the Packers answered as Love hit Watson from 2 yards out and the Packers led again by 2, 26-24 with 11:55 left in the third quarter.
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Then the defense stiffened for much of the third quarter.
For the Eagles, they turned early to their two rookies, with Quinyon Mitchell starting on the outside and Cooper DeJean getting work in dime packages. Avonte Maddox played nickel, keeping Mitchell on the outside. And Mitchell was tested early, breaking up a potential 37-yard touchdown pass on Green Bay’s first possession.
Of course, Mitchell said he knew that he would be.
“Oh yeah, I’m a rookie,” he said. “They weren’t going at Slay, they were going at me.”
As for the play in the end zone, Mitchell said, “That felt good, just getting the energy and getting my confidence up.”
According to CBSSports.com, Mitchell gave up 5 receptions in 10 attempts, but Love only had a 56 passer rating when targeting Mitchell. Love’s rating was 83.0 for the game.
The Eagles got a much-needed turnover when safety Reed Blankenship stepped in front of Love’s pass for Luke Musgrave and intercepted the ball, giving the Eagles the ball at Green Bay’s 24.
Barkley scored his third TD of the night on a 2-yard run, once again putting the Eagles back in front.
Then the Eagles drained most of the clock before adding a field goal.
“We always talk about putting the game away,” wide receiver DeVonta Smith said. “We always want the ball in the offense’s hands. That was the whole thing, just putting the game away. It was milking the clock.”
And when it was over, the Brazilian crowd, and the Eagles, seemed better for the experience. It was one Barkley said he won’t soon forget.
“I’m the first person to ever score in South America,” he said. “That’s cool. Definitely got to try to get that ball, hang it up or put in my house. The atmosphere, man, it was electric.”
Contact Martin Frank at [email protected]. Follow on X @Mfranknfl, on Threads and Instagram @martinfrank1.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Eagles, Jalen Hurts beat Packers in Brazil as Saquon Barkley shines
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Publish date : 2024-09-07 02:06:00
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