Things go from bad to worse in Brazil

Packers fall to the Eagles 34-29

The Green Bay Packers lost their season opener in Brazil but may have lost much more than that after star quarterback Jordan Love had to leave the game with what appeared to be a serious injury.

The Packers have plenty to work on but all of it fades in importance behind the status of their starting quarterback for the rest of the season.

Gut Reactions: Packers fall to the Eagles in Brazil

CHTV co-founder Aaron Nagler chats with Packers fans worldwide after a disappointing, and possibly very costly, opening season loss.

Packers Game 1 Recap | Eagles 34 Packers 29

The Packers had three trips to the red zone resulting in 3 field goals which ended up costing them the game. The refs were main characters in the plot penalizing the Packers 10-71 yards including some questionable calls on the Eagles' last drive that kept it afloat. The Packers won the turnover battle 3-1 and had a timely interception by CB Jaire Alexander in the fourth quarter, but the Eagles responded after the Brayden Narveson field goal made it 31-29 with a 16-play 7:25 drive leaving only 27 seconds left for the Packers to try and pull off a miracle-in-Brazil.

The Packers' defense created two early turnovers against the Eagles (first time Packers had two takeaways in in first quarter of an opener since 2007). The Packers' offense stalled in the red zone as they unfortunately had to settle for two field goals, which proved to be costly.

Eagles 34, Packers 29: Game Balls / Lame Calls

The Packers traveled a long way just to get waxed in Brazil, and they mostly did it to themselves in a game that was more lopsided than the score would suggest. Opening games are always wonky, especially with a new defensive system and brutal travel to unfamiliar territory with slick turf. Still, despite a couple of explosive plays to Jayden Reed, it was a parade of penalties, poor tackling and mental errors that ruined any chance of staying with a rejuvenated Eagles team and its major addition, Saquon Barkley.

Of course, none of this will matter if Jordan Love's injury in the last seconds of the game is serious. It certainly looked bad as he writhed in pain and had to be helped off the field after getting tackled trying to scramble out of the pocket to keep the desperation drive alive. As of this writing there was no official information available on the injury. One report quoting a doctor who watched the video speculated it is a high-ankle sprain. It’s hard to imagine this season amounting to anything if Love is out for a lengthy period of time.

In any event, it will be a long and depressing flight home for the Packers, who can only contemplate what could easily have been a 1-0 start to a season with sky-high expectations. We can only hope and implore the gods for some good news on Love’s health.

Here are some Game Balls and Lame Calls from Brazil. 

Packers Snap Counts - Week One, 2024

The Packers elevated Ellis Merriweather from the Practice Squad. Although active, Merriweather and Andre Dillard did not play. The inactive players were Brenton Co\x, Arron Mosby, Malik Heath, MarShawn Lloyd, Travis Glover, and Kadeem Telfort. The Packers elected not to elevate Sean Clifford.

Take a look at who played how much in the Packers Week 1 game against the Eagles.

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