SÃO PAULO — Jordan Love’s left leg injury wasn’t even the only Green Bay Packers injury on the third-to-last play of the game. Center Josh Myers also missed the final two plays, but told The Athletic after the game that he’s fine.
“I was cramping super bad,” Myers said. “My legs, they were locked out. … I took a set on that play and just fell over basically. I couldn’t go anymore. I was cramping really bad for like the entire second half of the game.
“I got a couple IV bags. I’m all right now.”
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Packers’ season hinges on health of Jordan Love’s left leg: Schneidman
Aside from the injuries to Love and Myers, here are seven other observations from the game.
1. The Packers are paying cornerback Jaire Alexander too much money for him to play like that. The $21 million-per-year man got burned by wide receiver A.J. Brown on an out-and-up double move for a 67-yard touchdown and couldn’t track him down after the catch. He made up for it by intercepting Jalen Hurts in the end zone on a poorly floated ball early in the fourth quarter, but even that play came with a drawback. Alexander danced around in the end zone before taking it out, because he saw an opening up the left sideline. However, he was tackled at the 13-yard line, costing the Packers 12 yards they would’ve gotten if he simply went down in the end zone.
It didn’t matter anyway because Josh Jacobs reeled off a 32-yard run on the first play of the ensuing drive, but coach Matt LaFleur will care more about Alexander’s faulty process than Jacobs’ result to bail him out. Alexander also committed defensive holding with the Philadelphia Eagles facing second-and-12 from their own 28-yard line midway through the fourth quarter and leading by two, gifting them a first down. The 27-year-old tied for a game high with two passes defensed, but even someone as confident in himself as Alexander would tell you Friday was far from his best showing.
AJ Brown displays his combo of speed and strength 😳
📺: #GBvsPHI on Peacock pic.twitter.com/wwysleIvB6
— NFL (@NFL) September 7, 2024
2. Green Bay committed a whopping 10 penalties for 71 yards. There were a couple of costly ones among the bunch, too, like defensive tackle Kenny Clark’s holding infraction that gifted the Eagles a first down late in the fourth quarter while they led by two. The Packers had just stopped Hurts short of the marker on third-and-7, but the Eagles didn’t even need to ponder a fourth-and-1 try from what would’ve been the Packers’ 47-yard line.
Three plays after safety Xavier McKinney picked off Hurts on Green Bay’s opening defensive drive and returned it 17 yards to the Eagles’ 19-yard line, left tackle Rasheed Walker’s hold on second-and-10 from Philadelphia’s 12-yard line set the Packers back 10 yards. They ended up settling for a field goal on the drive and a 3-0 lead. Wide receiver Romeo Doubs’ offensive pass interference penalty on the next offensive drive negated a Christian Watson touchdown catch, and the Packers settled for three points again on a drive they started in the red zone after a takeaway. And how about the Packers having too many men on the field to negate a 38-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jayden Reed on the opening drive (that one ended in a punt)?
“There’s a lot to clean up,” LaFleur said. “It was definitely a sloppy game, I think, from us. There was some uncharacteristic things that we did as a staff, quite frankly, and that trickled down to our players. So ultimately, we’ve all got to look ourselves hard in the mirror and find ways to get better because tonight, obviously, wasn’t good enough.
“I think Week 1’s always — you just don’t know what you’re going to get, you know what I mean? It’s kind of a slop fest. Tonight was certainly that.”
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What we learned from Eagles-Packers: 7 takeaways
3. Speaking of Reed, the second-year receiver was the brightest spot on an otherwise gloomy day for the Packers in Brazil. We spent most of the offseason and preseason talking about the Packers not having a bonafide No. 1 receiver and instead boasting four guys who could fill that role on any given day. In Week 1, it was Reed. He caught four passes for 138 yards and a touchdown, a 70-yard score in which he evaded the tackling attempt of safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson in the open field.
JAYDEN REED LEFT WIDE OPEN FOR THE 70-YARD TD.
📺: #GBvsPHI on Peacock pic.twitter.com/cAvTn5HLLd
— NFL (@NFL) September 7, 2024
Reed also took an end-around 33 yards for a touchdown, proving that the multi-dimensional playmaking ability we saw in his rookie year appears here to stay. According to ESPN Stats & Info, Reed joins Ezekiel Elliott and Herschel Walker as the only players since 1984 to have a 70-plus-yard touchdown catch and 30-plus-yard touchdown run in the same game.
“With this room, it’s any given week,” Reed said. “Anybody can make those plays I made today in the room. We’re very dynamic in that room. I don’t look at it as a wide receiver one thing. I think we all are ones, if you ask me.”
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4. In 2023, the Packers ranked 17th in the NFL in red-zone touchdown percentage, converting just 53.42 percent of their trips inside the opponent’s 20-yard line into six points. On Friday, they struggled once again. McKinney’s interception gave the offense the ball at Philadelphia’s 17-yard line, and the Packers only scored three points. Then defensive lineman Devonte Wyatt recovered a botched snap at the Eagles’ 13-yard line on the next drive, but tight end Tucker Kraft’s holding penalty and Doubs’ offensive pass interference played a large role in the Packers again settling for three points. Midway through the fourth quarter, the Packers had a first-and-10 from the Eagles’ 13-yard line, but they only advanced 5 yards in three plays before the third Brayden Narveson chip shot.
The Packers converted only one of four red-zone trips into a touchdown, a percentage that will have to drastically increase no matter who’s at quarterback for the rest of the season.
“Just execution,” Jacobs said. “A few of the times, we shot ourself in the foot with penalties. When you get down there that many times and you come away with no points, that’s on the offense.”
“I think there was a lot of opportunities that we didn’t capitalize on,” LaFleur added. “When you don’t do that, you get beat. Specifically, the red area was a huge problem tonight. … We got destroyed in that area tonight.
5. The Packers’ kicking game still needs fine-tuning. Green Bay claimed the undrafted rookie Narveson off waivers from the Tennessee Titans while releasing Anders Carlson and Greg Joseph, who both struggled to find consistency this summer. Narveson made his first two field-goal attempts, from 31 and 23 yards, and also made his first two PATs, but then missed a 43-yard field goal off the right upright with the Packers trailing by five late in the third quarter. Reed dropping a ball near the left sideline on the play before didn’t help give Narveson more cushion, but 43 yards is still very makeable for an operation that can’t afford to be as shoddy as it was last season.
6. Green Bay’s tackling left plenty to be desired on Friday night. Last season, according to Pro Football Focus, the Packers ranked 14th in tackling grade. Not great, but not bad. Against the Eagles, it looked bad at times. Alexander slipped on the horrific field surface that snatched up many besides him and, on that particular third-and-8 play, the slip allowed Brown plenty of yards after the catch for an eventual 20-yard gain. Alexander appeared to approach Brown rather aggressively in the first place, which may have caused the loss of footing. Even worse was cornerback Eric Stokes and linebacker Isaiah McDuffie playing matador for running back Kenneth Gainwell, who evaded both of them for a 10-yard gain on a second-and-8 swing pass. On the Eagles’ final drive of the game, Alexander and safety Javon Bullard tried helplessly to bring down wideout DeVonta Smith, who broke both attempts for a 16-yard gain on second and 13.
Stating the obvious postgame, McKinney said, “We missed a lot of tackles today.”
7. From 2019 to 2023, the Packers ranked 31st in rush defense EPA per snap, according to TruMedia. They ranked 13th in that category last season, which shows just how bad they were before that. Against Saquon Barkley and the Eagles’ offensive line (as opposed to the New York Giants’ one last season), the Packers predictably struggled at times. Before the Packers stifled Barkley too little, too late, he took over the game. The Eagles’ high-priced free-agent signing ran 24 times for 109 yards (4.5 yards per carry) and two touchdowns in total, while adding a spectacular 18-yard touchdown catch for the first TD of the game with McDuffie in coverage into the end zone. Not ideal if you’re the Packers, but Barkley and company will make plenty look silly this season. On his 11-yard touchdown run, he could’ve walked in with how glaring his lane was after linebacker Quay Walker appeared to overshoot through the A-gap.
SAQUON BARKLEY AGAIN.
📺: #GBvsPHI on Peacock pic.twitter.com/ooiRMZQYRy
— NFL (@NFL) September 7, 2024
Clark said postgame that the Packers “bottled (Barkley) up pretty good” before he broke the 34-yard run. Yet the Packers allowed gains of 5, 11, 5, 11, 8, 5 and 9 yards on rushes to Barkley before that 34-yarder, then another one of 9 yards after it.
“He’s always been a good back,” edge rusher Rashan Gary said. “Been hitting the holes, and Saquon is Saquon.”
(Photo of A.J. Brown eluding a Jaire Alexander tackle attempt: Brooke Sutto / Associated Press)
