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Winners and losers: Eagles beat Packers 34-29 in Brazil Originally appeared in NBC Sports Philadelphia
It’s not how they planned it, but it’s still a win for the team. Eagles.
Philadelphia defeated the Green Bay Packers 34-29 on Friday to conclude the first NFL game in South America, which was played in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Jalen Hurts got off to a rough start with two turnovers, but he rebounded in the second half when Jordan Love and company couldn’t capitalize on them.
The game was decided on the final possession, but newly acquired quarterback Malik Willis, who had to replace an injured Love for the game’s final play, failed to make a throw and was sacked.
Let’s take a closer look at the contest with five winners and losers:
Loser: New York GiantsPhiladelphia’s NFC East rival had to watch its former star running back explode on his new team. Barkley, 27, was the engine of the Eagles’ victory, recording three total touchdowns. He ran for 109 yards on 24 carries for two scores, while also adding 23 yards on two receptions and a touchdown.
If this is the level of production Barkley can consistently achieve, it will make Philadelphia’s offense much more dangerous than it was last season.
LOSER: Quarterback play
Hurts and Love are two of the best quarterbacks in the league, but that wasn’t always the case in this game. Hurts completed 20 of 34 passes for 278 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, while fumbled twice. One of those was recovered by Barkley, while the other was a miscue by Philadelphia’s new center. Hurts also rushed for 33 yards on 13 attempts, so there’s plenty of work to do overall to get him back into form.
Love completed just 17 of 34 passes for 260 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, which also could have been avoided. He benefited from a 70-yard catch-and-run to wide receiver Jayden Reed that left Philadelphia’s secondary exposed. Now all eyes will be on Love’s injury status.
WINNER: Jayden Reed, Packers
While Josh Jacobs took off later in the game, it was young receiver Reed who kept the Packers in the game throughout the first half as both teams kept trading scores.
Reed, 24, took home a rushing attempt for a 33-yard touchdown while catching four passes for 138 yards and a score, which was the aforementioned 70-yarder.
LOSER: Billing conversion
The Eagles turned the ball over three times, and Green Bay only lost one. Two of those were interceptions by Hurts, while the other was the aforementioned fumble. Green Bay should have been able to pull out a close win, but either left too many points on the scoreboard or didn’t score at all.
That was the case with their first two field goals in the first quarter, which came just before Philadelphia scored 17 points in the second period and 14 in the third. That will be an area Matt LaFleur and company will need to improve going forward.
New signing Baun had a strong debut for Philadelphia. Baun, a third-round draft pick in 2020 by the New Orleans Saints, recorded a game-high 15 tackles (11 solo), which included two sacks, two quarterback hits and a tackle for loss. One of the sacks came against Willis on the final play of the game.
Linebacker play was a problem for Philadelphia once its gradual collapse set in last season, but Baun provided some desperately needed steel up the middle.
Reed Blankenship had the interception on Love after jumping a short route.