Game Preview: Packers vs. Eagles

There isn’t enough room to list all of the storylines for the 2024 regular-season opener, but let’s give it a try.

The Eagles are making history in Brazil, the NFL’s first game in South America, and beyond all the hype and the Friday night lights and all of the pomp and circumstance, there is a football game to win. And the opponent, the Green Bay Packers, is a legitimate Super Bowl-contending team with a rising star in Jordan Love at quarterback and a plethora of weapons as his supporting cast.

Game 1 is a banger, as the kids say.

The teams are settled in, they’ve gotten accustomed to the surroundings at Arena Corinthians, and they will be ready to go for the unusual kickoff time (Friday, 9:15 PM Brazil time/8:15 in Philadelphia). And with that, some storylines for you to digest …

1. Will the Eagles’ offense hit the ground running (or passing)?

The Eagles didn’t play their starting offense in the preseason games, feeling like that group had plenty of quality reps in practice against the Eagles’ defense and in the joint practice with New England. So, there is a lot of “unknown” here with Offensive Coordinator Kellen Moore providing the first real glimpse of what this offense is going to be about. The idea is to be a multi-faceted, attack-weaknesses, win-in-a-lot-of-different ways offense and the Eagles certainly appear to have the depth of talent across the offensive board to play that way. It is going to be really, really interesting to see how it all works out in the opener. Head Coach Nick Sirianni is 3-0 in openers, and the offense performed well in all three of those games. This game won’t answer every question, of course, but it will provide some concrete evidence of what Moore’s approach will be this season.

2. What does Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio have in store for Green Bay QB Jordan Love?

Green Bay is loaded on offense. Jordan Love is a rising star at quarterback, his receiving corps – led by Christian Watson – is outstanding, and free agent-signee Josh Jacobs is a versatile, game-breaking running back. The Packers have a good offensive line, a sound scheme, and they should have one of the top offenses in the NFL this season.

What does Fangio do to counter the Packers’ power?

Again, we just don’t know.

The defense played well in the preseason, and the starters saw enough action together for Fangio to have a taste of what he has. But a lot of this in the early season is Fangio learning what his players can and cannot do, so expect him to continue to move players on and off the field. Fangio has said he will blitz when the time is right and he will not when the time isn’t right. He doesn’t want to “need” to blitz, which means the Eagles have to do a sound job on first and second down and then get after it on third down with a four- and five-man pass rush.

This is going to be truly fascinating: A great offense against a rebuilt defense headed by one of the great defensive minds in the history of the NFL.

3. Is the NFL’s new kickoff rule going to alter the course of the game?

What did we learn last night from the Baltimore at Kansas City game? Kansas City played keep-away, allowing the Ravens to start at the 30-yard line after each of the six touchbacks. The Chiefs returned two of Baltimore’s offerings, but neither went beyond the 31-yard line. That could be a preview of what’s to come, but, honestly, it is hard to make any statements about what is going to happen. As Eagles Special Teams Coordinator Michael Clay said this week, it is truly “unchartered waters.” And that’s the truth.