SAO PAULO — “It was sloppy,” said Devonta Smith. He wasn't talking about the caipirinha cocktails. Or the state of the field at the football venue for the first NFL game played in South America. No, the wide receiver was describing what he saw when the Philadelphia Eagles debuted their revamped system under offensive coordinator Kellen Moore.
“It was sloppy,” Smith repeated, “but we handled it well.”
And sure enough, they did, beating the Green Bay Packers 34-29 at Arena Corinthians to move to 1-0. They went up 1-0 despite the quarterback not being ready, despite Cam Jurgens snapping the ball to Jalen Hurts, despite Hurts twice forcing the ball into tight coverage resulting in an interception (once in the end zone), despite Jurgens and Hurts mishandling a last-minute “Brotherly Shove” snap that led to a field goal that gave the Packers one last chance to come back rather than seal the win.
“We're working out the issues,” said Jurgens, who was responsible for two fumbles. “It feels good to be able to work them out and get the win.”
Saquon Barkley saved the team's victory. He pounced on the final fumbled snap and scored three of Philadelphia's four touchdowns. He had 24 carries for 109 yards and two scores, plus two catches, including an 18-yard touchdown on a well-timed wheel route. He signed Barkley to a three-year, $37.75 million contract in the offseason, much to the delight of general manager Howie Roseman, who set a franchise record for annual spending on a running back.
Saquon Freaking Barkley#EaglesFly pic.twitter.com/ZdXg8tLqB0
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) September 7, 2024
“He played a great game tonight,” Hurts said. “We're happy to have him on our side.”
The Eagles haven't wielded a weapon like Barkley since LeSean McCoy. Philadelphia had D'Andre Swift and Miles Sanders in the backfield the past two seasons, but neither running back had the start-stop speed or explosiveness that allowed Barkley to blast deep into the Packers defense for an 11-yard touchdown run and a 34-yard scramble into the open field.
Finally, he got the block. Barkley, who averaged 1.35 yards before contact during his six seasons with the New York Giants, said in training camp that he decided to sign with the Eagles because of Philadelphia's strong offensive line, according to True Media. On that 11-yard score, there was a big gap between Jurgens and right guard Mekhi Becton. Barkley suddenly cut in and the Eagles suddenly led 14-12 with 5:38 left in the first half.
“They prepared me really well,” Barkley said. “I'm just trying to follow my rules. The big thing I want to share is that sometimes I tend to take it too far. And I don’t have to have that mindset, but I let (the offensive line) do their job. And when the time comes to do additional work, we'll be ready for that, too.”
Speaking of “extra stuff,” Moore wasn't limited in deploying the pre-snap motion that was part of his philosophy. “Nobody knows what we're going to do,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said earlier this week, as the Eagles have the NFL's most stagnant 2023 system. By my calculations, the Eagles used pre-snap motion in 47.3% of their games against the Packers.
That included Dallas Goedert swinging left for a one-yard gain, Britten Covey switching from the right to the left side and Hurts passing to Goedert in the space Covey filled for four yards, and AJ Brown stepping from the slot right behind Goedert to face off against Jair Alexander. Brown's double move. — Outside, inside — That left him open along the sideline. Hurts passed to Brown in stride, and the receiver weaved through the Packers secondary for a 67-yard score.
Brown's 23.8 yards per reception (five catches, 119 yards) was his highest average since Week 16 of the 2022 regular season. Hurts was able to find Brown in key third-down situations facing heavy rushing. On third-down and eight of Philadelphia's fourth drive (Barkley's first rushing touchdown), Hurts quickly threw the ball to Brown just before being destroyed by a defender for the 20-yard conversion. According to TruMedia, Hurts completed 6 of 7 passes for 91 yards and an 18-yard touchdown to Barkley while facing a Packers blitz.
It was a promising sign for a system in which Hurts was more responsible for pre-snap protection calls and instructions to receivers that they were “hot” on blitzes. Hurts was sacked twice, the second time appearing to drag just before halftime, and a promising two-minute drive ended with a 38-yard field goal by Jake Elliott, leaving the Packers down 19-17 by halftime.
“I thought our pass protection was pretty good today,” Jurgens said. “I thought we did a good job. We'll watch the film and see how it went, but it felt good. We've got weapons on the outside. I thought we used them well today and played really well.”
The Eagles' defense was also sloppy.
Sirianni fired former defensive coordinator Sean Desai in part because the Eagles allowed the second-most passing yards in the NFL in 2023. The Eagles thought they could improve their defense by hiring Vic Fangio, the creator of the system. But there were moments when it was unclear that nothing had changed at all. Jordan Love completed 17-of-34 passes for 260 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, and caught a 70-yard touchdown pass to Jayden Reed in an apparent broken coverage to give them the lead at halftime. Safety CJ Gardner-Johnson, a free agent signing to bolster the back end, made a missed tackle that could have saved a score.
Apparently, Gardner-Johnson was receiving criticism from fans by the time he returned to the locker room.
“Any fans that have something to say, come out and tackle with us. Get it on the news,” Gander Johnson said. He turned to his left and found Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie. “Jeffrey, tell the fans. Every fan that says they can tackle. Every fan that says they're bad at tackling, I invite them. I'll bring you in with A.J. Brown and see if you can tackle. You all know it's not that easy.”
Lurie just laughed.
Reid Blankenship, red-faced, didn't object and continued with his postgame interview. Sure, there were some coverage breakdowns, Blankenship said. Sure, they didn't do exactly what they “did in practice.” But with the Packers down two in the third quarter, Blankenship tucked Love's pass down the seam for the game-changing interception. Blankenship said Love appeared to be about to throw a pass to Reid along the sideline, but when Gardner Johnson cut off that option, he returned to the middle of the field.
Safety Reed Blankenship made a game-changing interception by intercepting a Jordan Love pass down the seam (Pedro Villela/Getty Images)
“So that was an expected moment,” Blankenship said, “but it wouldn't have happened without him doing his job on the back end.”
It's hard to immediately guess where the breakdown was on Reed's 70-yard score. The Eagles were playing a dime, with six defensive backs designated for third-and-10-like passing scenarios. Second-round rookie Cooper DeJean and veteran Avonte Maddox appeared to be covering the short zone in the slot. Gardner-Johnson was the deepest safety, but was at least surprised to see Reed running alone to the right hash.
“It's the hardest sport because it involves all 11 players,” Gardner-Johnson said. “If all 11 players aren't on the same page, a lot of things can happen. That doesn't mean I'm the worst player in the world. If I was, the owners would have fired me. We have to understand the game. As young players, we're finally getting better now. We understand how to play together and excel in all aspects of the game.”
Rookie cornerback Quinion Mitchell proved to be a reliable starter in his pro debut. Love tried a deep pass to the No. 22 pick early in the first quarter, but Mitchell smashed the ball out of Christian Watson's hands. Mitchell then stretched out to the side and deflected another pass from Love near his sticks.
Mitchell played entirely on the outside, an interesting development considering Fangio has been keen to have rookies play the nickel throughout training camp. Mitchell played the outside cornerback position in the base package, then switched to the nickel during preseason games. Maddox, however, started in the nickel position against the Packers. That arrangement may not be sustainable. Maddox was targeted on consecutive plays by Love, first drawing pass interference and then scoring a touchdown on the next play.
The absence of Isaiah Rodgers may have played a role. He played primarily as an outside cornerback during training camp while Mitchell played the nickel. Rodgers was suspended with a hand injury. When asked if Rodgers' absence influenced the decision, Sirianni said, “It's still our competitiveness, and I'm keeping it secret.” Using Maddox at nickel also raises the question of whether the Eagles were confident that cornerback Kelly Ringo could execute the game plan in the nickel package.
With an increased focus on his CEO role in 2024, Sirianni has 10 days to fix his sloppiness before the Eagles host the Atlanta Falcons on Monday, Sept. 16. The 43-year-old is now 4-0 in regular-season starts.
“I'm excited to continue moving forward,” Sirianni said. “We're going to have some tough conversations about what went well and what didn't, but I'm happy for the guys and we're going to come out of this game even better.”
(Top photo: Pedro Villela/Getty Images)
