close
close

first Drop

Com TW NOw News 2024

5 Lessons from the Packers’ Season-Opening Loss to the Eagles
news

5 Lessons from the Packers’ Season-Opening Loss to the Eagles

  1. Another promising drive ended in a missed field goal, which also cost him dearly.

By the end of the third quarter, the Packers were down five points and had to settle for another field goal, with rookie Brayden Narveson missing the ball from 43 yards out, wide of the right post.

That only added to the points the Packers left on the field in a game that was tight all game. Narveson’s third goal in four attempts in the fourth quarter made it a two-point game at 31-29 when the miss looked like a big one.

“We had a lot of opportunities that we didn’t capitalize on, and when you don’t capitalize on them, you get beat,” LaFleur said. “The red zone was a big problem tonight. Last year I thought we were pretty good there, but tonight we got destroyed there.”

  1. Penalties certainly didn’t help.

A total of 17 players were present for the game (10 against Green Bay, seven against Philly), excluding waived or compensatory players.

On offense, the Packers had a couple of damaging holding calls, as well as an offensive pass interference and several pre-snap violations. On defense, untimely fouls at the end helped the Eagles kill nearly the final eight minutes of the clock when the Packers needed the ball back.

“There’s a lot of cleaning up to do,” LaFleur said. “Definitely a sloppy game for us. There were some unusual things we did as a staff, honestly, that trickled down to our players.

“Guys fought hard, but it was sloppy. It seemed like every time we had a drive-stopping penalty on offense. We won a few, but a lot of penalties.”

  1. Ultimately, the Eagles simply had too much firepower.

The teams traded chances, with Jayden Reed (four catches, 138 yards) scoring on a 33-yard end-around run and a 70-yard catch-and-run pass for the Packers, while AJ Brown (five of 119) made a 67-yard touchdown reception for the Eagles.

After a slow start, Josh Jacobs began to open the playing field for the Packers, finishing with 80 yards, but Saquon Barkley had 109 yards on the ground with two TDs for Philly, plus a receiving touchdown.

QB Jalen Hurts threw for 278 yards (20 of 34) to Love’s 260 yards (17 of 34), but more importantly, the Eagles simply threw too many long drives — three of more than five minutes of possession, the last more than seven — and the Packers missed too many tackles in the debut of new coordinator Jeff Hafley’s defense.

“They had their way with us,” LaFleur said. “I expected more from our pass rush tonight, and when we did press, it looked like a lot of times guys weren’t covered.

“We made some mistakes, in the run game we made some holes that Saquon ran through and got big gains. You can’t do that against a good football team.”

Both teams struggled with traction on the slippery field, leading to many missed tackles, but LaFleur stressed that this was true for both clubs.

In the end, the exuberant audience of 47,236 people was wildly entertained.

“I thought the atmosphere was great,” LaFleur said. “A lot of credit to the fans tonight. They showed up. It was an incredible setting.

“I’m just disappointed that we didn’t take the opportunity to come here, show who we are and play our best football.”