5 Takeaways: Saquon Barkley Goes Off & More From Season-Opening Win for Eagles

The Eagles Week 1 win over the Green Bay Packers was perfect for sports radio. They won 34-29 and are 1-0. But it was a sloppy victory that saw the Eagles turn the ball over three times, so there are plenty of legitimate criticisms to be made. 

Here’s five *mostly* measured takeaways from Week 1 for the Eagles. 

1. It Didn’t Take Long For Saquon Barkley To Make His Presence Felt

As Saquon Barkley lined up in the backfield behind Jalen Hurts in the first quarter of Friday’s game, it was still hard to believe the former No. 2 overall pick is now an Eagle. In the first game of a three-year/$37.5 million contract that guarantees him $26 million, Barkley lived up to the hype. 

No. 26 scored the first touchdown of the season for the Eagles early in the second quarter, catching an 18-yard pass from Hurts: 

https://twitter.com/OnPattison/status/1832224065345421557?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Later in the quarter, Mekhi Becton and Cam Jurgens combined to part the red sea, with Barkley bursting through the hole for an 11-yard touchdown rush: 

https://twitter.com/OnPattison/status/1832229164910276920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Barkley made it a trifecta in the third quarter, rushing for a two-yard score just a few plays after Reed Blankenship picked off Jordan Love in Green Bay territory: 

https://twitter.com/OnPattison/status/1832249240363336081?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Barkley ran for 104 yards and scored three total touchdowns in his Eagles debut. He also fell on a fumbled snap late in the fourth quarter. 

Nick Sirianni, Kellen Moore and the Eagles will have an interesting balance to strike this season between getting the most out of the immensely-talented Barkley, while making sure a player who has had his fair share of injuries is healthy when January comes around. 

2. The Field Quality Was Unacceptable

It’s not sour grapes to say that the field quality at State Farm Stadium in Phoenix hurt the chances for the Eagles to win Super Bowl LVII, as a dominant pass rush didn’t manage a single sack in a 38-35 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. 

Somehow, the field at Corinthians Arena in São Paulo, Brazil was in even worse shape Friday night. 

https://twitter.com/awfulannouncing/status/1832229892156751872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Virtually every time a player cut or hesitated in the first half, you held your breath. Here were some of the most glaring moments that the surface produced. 

– First Quarter: Packers’ wide receiver Christian Watson slipped in the end zone and wasn’t able to catch a third-and-five pass from Love for a touchdown, forcing Green Bay to settle for a field goal. 

– Second Quarter: Peacock’s broadcast cut back from commercial to show the field judge having his calf examined, seemingly having sustained a lower leg injury on the field. Do you remember ever seeing this before? 

https://twitter.com/BarstoolBigCat/status/1832227547704135884?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Second Quarter: Jordan Love connected with Jayden Reed for a 70-yard touchdown. On this play, Bryce Huff clearly struggled to get his footing as he tried to rush the passer. Maybe C.J. Gardner-Johnson overcommitted in trying to tackle Reed, but the conditions didn’t seem to help his attempt to limit the damage on the play either. 

https://twitter.com/packers/status/1832231145355788681?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Both teams seemed to adjust as the game went along, but the conditions of the field Friday were inexcusable. Given that there’s a full slate on Sunday and no other games scheduled in Brazil this season, we’ll likely all forget about this rather quickly. But hopefully the NFLPA makes a stink about the conditions, because they weren’t even close to up to par and put players on both teams in harm’s way. 

3. The Eagles Lost The Aesthetics Battle

Is there a more classic look in the NFL than the Packers’ green jerseys, mixed with yellow pants and yellow helmets? The Las Vegas Raiders, Chicago Bears and Dallas Cowboys can all make their respective arguments, but Green Bay has a strong case. 

Compare that to what the Eagles wore in Week 1, debuting a new uniform combination. None of the three items in the look were new, but the black helmet had never been worn with the white jersey/black pant combination that the Eagles have mixed in since the start of the 2021 season. Hopefully, this is one and done. The white jersey and black pants already looked bad together. The black helmet made it worse. 

https://twitter.com/Eagles/status/1832201687236509917?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

The black helmet was introduced in 2022 to go with the all-black uniform that the Eagles wear as an alternate. It was replaced as an alternate helmet by the Kelly Green lid in 2023, but the Eagles evidently got permission to add a third helmet to the rotation in 2024. I’d argue it’s just not a very good looking helmet. It just looks like a worse version of the midnight green helmet, and you have to squint to realize it’s black since midnight green is already a dark shade. The contrast of the midnight green helmet looks better with the all-black uniform, but the black helmet is passable with it. It just flat out looks out of place with the white jersey. 

On another uniform note, the wordmark that the Eagles introduced in June of 2022 made its regular season debut on the jerseys this evening. It was also featured in the end zone for the Eagles. This isn’t an original take, but it’s a major downgrade over its predecessor, as you can see in this image of the midnight green jersey from Uni Watch. 

4. A.J. Brown Is As Good As It Gets

Brown’s second season with the Eagles ended in bizarre fashion. He seemed disillusioned with the offense down the stretch of the season, and ultimately missed a loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Wild Card round with a knee injury. 

There was some speculation entering the offseason that Brown might seek a change of scenery. Instead, the Eagles rewarded him with a three-year/$96 million extension, a pact that guaranteed him $84 million. 

As Brown raced into the end zone for a 67-yard touchdown on the second play from scrimmage in the third quarter, you were reminded of why the Eagles made sure their star receiver was happy in the offseason: 

https://twitter.com/OnPattison/status/1832240140049121410?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Brown finished the night with five catches for 119 yards, quite the start to his third season in Philadelphia. Perhaps after having to settle for Second-Team All-Pro selections in each of his first two seasons with the Eagles, Brown will get over the hump and earn a First-Team nod in 2024. 

5. What Was Jalen Hurts Doing On The First Drive Of The Fourth Quarter?

If you’re looking for scalding, prisoner-of-the-moment Eagles takes, On Pattison will not be your site. The original plan was to not have a Hurts point here, because he’s so overanalyzed. Every Eagles game does not need to be a referendum on Hurts, especially when he did have some nice moments to help salt away a victory. 

But what in the world was Hurts doing on the first drive of the fourth quarter? We can’t not talk about that. 

Shortly after nearly throwing an interception on the left sideline, Hurts reared back on third-and-13 and decided to throw the ball against his body into the end zone. Not surprisingly, Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander picked it off: 

https://twitter.com/packers/status/1832254194088399303?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Let’s consider the situation here. The Eagles are up 31-26 early in the fourth quarter. They are on Green Bay’s 14-yard line, and guaranteed a Jake Elliott field goal that would have extended the lead to eight points if nothing opened up on third down. Rather than managing the game, Hurts made a throw that a high school quarterback would get lambasted for, much less a fifth-year pro. 

Hurts was picked off 15 times a year ago, after throwing 15 picks total between 2021 and 2022. He started off the 2024 campaign with two interceptions (and Brown broke up another potential one for Alexander late in the fourth), which is certainly something worth monitoring as the season goes along.