SÃO PAULO — “It was sloppy,” DeVonta Smith mentioned. And he wasn’t speaking about caipirinha cocktails. He wasn’t speaking about grassland statuses in a football venue within the first-ever NFL tournament in South The united states. Disagree, the huge receiver was once mentioning what was once eye because the Philadelphia Eagles debuted their remodeled machine beneath offensive coordinator Kellen Moore.
“It was sloppy,” Smith repeated. “But we responded well.”
Certainly, they did. They’re 1-0 next their 34-29 victory over the Inexperienced Bay Packers at Area Corinthians; in spite of Cam Jurgens snapping the ball to Jalen Hurts when the quarterback wasn’t able; in spite of Hurts two times forcing the soccer into large protection on passes that ended in selections (one in spite of everything zone); in spite of Jurgens and Hurts mishandling a last-minute “Brotherly Shove” snap that, rather of securing positive victory, preceded a grassland objective that gave the Inexperienced Bay Packers one final effort at a imaginable comeback.
“We’re working out kinks,” mentioned Jurgens, who took possession of each fumbles. “When you can work things out and still get a win, it’s a good feeling.”
Saquon Barkley stored their pigskin. He jumped on that ultimate fumbled snap. He accounted for 3 of Philadelphia’s 4 touchdowns. He logged 109 yards on 24 carries and two rankings, plus two catches, together with an 18-yard landing on a well-timed wheel course. He made common supervisor Howie Roseman slightly glad that he poised a franchise file in per-year spending on operating backs by way of signing Barkley to a three-year, $37.75 million trade in within the offseason.
Saquon Freaking Barkley#FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/ZdXg8tLqB0
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) September 7, 2024
“He had a hell of a game tonight,” Hurts mentioned. “I’m happy that he’s on our side.”
The Eagles haven’t wielded a weapon slightly like Barkley since LeSean McCoy. As enough as D’Andre Hasty and Miles Sanders have been in Philadelphia’s backfield the final two seasons, neither operating again possessed the start-stop pace or the that busted Barkley deep past the Packers protection on an 11-yard landing run and a 34-yard scamper into the obvious grassland.
At final, he had blockading. Barkley, who averaged 1.35 yards ahead of touch in six years with the Pristine York Giants, in line with TruMedia, mentioned in coaching camp that he selected to signal with the Eagles partially because of Philadelphia’s ambitious offensive form. There, on that 11-yard rating, was once a tremendous chasm between Jurgens and proper barricade Mekhi Becton. Barkley made one unexpected short, and the Eagles all of sudden led 14-12 with 5:38 left within the first part.
“They did a really good job of just setting up for me,” Barkley mentioned. “I just try to stick to my rules. That’s my big thing to share is, you know, sometimes I can tend to try to do too much. And I don’t have to have that mentality, but I let (the offensive line) work. And when it’s time to do extra stuff, I’ll be ready for that too.”
Talking of “extra stuff,” Moore wasn’t limited from deploying the pre-snap motions that’d been a part of his philosophy. Eagles schoolteacher Nick Sirianni, whose 2023 machine was once probably the most stagnant within the NFL, had mentioned previous this presen that “no one really knows what we’re going to do.” By means of my rely, the Eagles old pre-snap movement on 47.3 p.c in their performs in opposition to the Packers.
That integrated Dallas Goedert motioning left right into a swing cross by which Goedert won 1 court. That integrated Britain Covey switching from huge proper to huge left and Hurts hitting Goedert for a 4-yard acquire within the area Covey as soon as crammed. That integrated A.J. Brown temporarily stepping from the slot to only past Goedert, related Brown in opposition to Jaire Alexander. Brown’s double travel — outdoor, inside of — left him obvious alongside the sideline. Hurts struck Brown in stride, and the receiver weaved day the Packers’ secondary for a 67-yard rating.
Brown’s 23.8 yards in keeping with reception (5 catches, 119 yards) have been his best reasonable since Age 16 of the 2022 steady season. Hurts controlled to seek out Brown in an important third-down conditions by which he confronted a large speed. On third-and-8 on Philadelphia’s fourth force (Barkley’s first speeding landing), Hurts zipped the ball to Brown for a 20-yard conversion simply ahead of getting demolished by way of a defender. Hurts was once 6-of-7 passing for 91 yards and his 18-yard landing to Barkley presen going through the Packers blitz, in line with TruMedia.
It was once a promising signal for a machine by which Hurts is dealing with extra of the pre-snap coverage yells and designations for which a receiver is “hot” in opposition to the blitz. Hurts was once sacked two times. The second one he looked as if it would draw himself simply ahead of halftime, which restricted a promising two-minute force to surrender just a 38-yard Jake Elliott grassland objective and a 19-17 insufficiency to the Packers on the crack.
“I thought pass protection was pretty good today,” Jurgens mentioned. “I thought we did a good job. We’ll watch film, see how it was. But it felt good out there. We’ve got some weapons on the outside. I think we really used them today and played really well.”
Sloppiness stemmed to the Eagles protection, too.
Sirianni fired former defensive coordinator Sean Desai partially as a result of his machine surrendered the NFL’s second-most passing yards in 2023. The Eagles idea they’d fortify the protection by way of hiring the machine’s author, Vic Fangio. However there have been moments when it wasn’t unclouded there’d been any trade in any respect. Jordan Love, who finished 17-of-34 passes for 260 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, exploited an obvious protection bust by way of hanging Jayden Reed for a 70-yard landing to grasp their halftime top. Protection C.J. Gardner-Johnson, signed in separate company to fortify the again finish, overlooked a take on that would’ve stored the rating.
It seems that, Gardner-Johnson stuck some warmth from the fan bottom by way of the hour he returned to the attic room.
“All them fans that got some s— to say. Y’all get y’all a– out there and come tackle with us. Put that in the news,” Garnder-Johnson mentioned. He grew to become to his left and noticed Eagles proprietor Jeffrey Lurie. “Tell them, Jeffrey. Every fan say they can make a tackle, we’re gonna invite everybody that say we suck at tackling, we’re gonna bring them out there with A.J. Brown and see if they can make a f—ing tackle. Everybody know that s— ain’t so easy.”
Lurie simply laughed.
Reed Blankenship, flushed within the face however now not disagreeing, persisted his post-game interview. Sure, they’d had some protection breakdowns, Blankenship mentioned. Sure, they hadn’t accomplished simply “what we did in practice.” But if the Packers had a shot to journey up two rankings within the 1/3 quarter, Blankenship hawked Love’s throw into the seam for a game-shifting interception. Blankenship mentioned he’d detectable Love build as though he sought after to throw to Reed alongside the sideline, however grew to become again to the center of the grassland as soon as Gardner-Johnson short off that choice.
Protection Reed Blankenship picked off Jordan Love’s throw into the seam for a game-shifting interception. (Pedro Vilela / Getty Pictures)
“So, it was one of those anticipation moments,” Blankenship mentioned. “But I couldn’t have done it if he didn’t do his job on the back end.”
It’s tough to right away deduce the place the breakdown befell on Reed’s 70-yard rating. The Eagles have been taking part in dime, their six-defensive again bundle designated for passing eventualities corresponding to that third-and-10. 2nd-round rookie Cooper DeJean and veteran Avonte Maddox looked to be overlaying scale down zones within the slot. Gardner-Johnson was once the inner most protection, however on the very least stuck by way of awe that Reed was once operating unwanted into the suitable hash.
“This is the hardest sport because it includes all 11 guys,” Gardner-Johnson mentioned. “And if all 11 aren’t on the same page, stuff happens. That doesn’t mean you’re the (worst) player in the world. If that’s the case, the owner would’ve let you go. We’ve got to understand that this game right here, we’ve got to understand that as young guys, we’re just now getting good. We’re playing together and we’re understanding we can be dominant in every f—ing aspect of the game.”
Rookie cornerback Quinyon Mitchell evident himself to be a decent starter in his skilled debut. Love examined the Disagree. 22 select on a deep ball early within the first quarter, however Mitchell swatted the ball from Christian Watson’s fondle. After, Mitchell prolonged himself laterally to deflect every other Love cross similar the sticks.
Mitchell performed fully at outdoor nook, a fascinating building bearing in mind Fangio’s prayer all through coaching camp to platooning the rookie at nickel. Mitchell had performed outdoor cornerback in bottom applications, nearest switched to nickel throughout preseason video games. However Maddox began at nickel in opposition to the Packers. The association could also be untenable. Maddox was once centered on back-to-back performs by way of Love, first drawing a cross interference, nearest a landing on refer to play games.
The being lacking Isaiah Rodgers could have performed a task. He’d principally been the outdoor cornerback all through coaching camp when Mitchell performed nickel. Rodgers was once dominated lazy with a hand trauma. When requested if Rodgers’ absence performed into the verdict, Sirianni mentioned, “That’s still a competitive edge that we have that I’ll keep to myself.” Fielding Maddox at nickel additionally raises the query of whether or not the Eagles have been assured Kelee Ringo may just’ve fulfilled the sport plan at cornerback in nickel applications.
Sirianni, who has additional embraced his CEO-type position in 2024, has 10 days to shed the sloppiness ahead of the Eagles host the Atlanta Falcons on Monday, Sept. 16. The 43-year-old schoolteacher is now 4-0 in regular-season openers.
“Excited to continue to move on,” Sirianni mentioned. “We’ll have some tough conversations about what went right and what went wrong, but pleased with these guys and we’ll get better from this game.”
(Govern photograph: Pedro Vilela / Getty Pictures)
