Roob’s Observations: Barkley electric in debut, Eagles escape Brazil with win over Packers originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Those 10 hours on an American Airlines Boeing 777 would have seemed like 10 days if the Eagles had lost this one.
Thanks to three Saquon Barkley touchdowns, 119 yards and a long touchdown from A.J. Brown and some timely red-zone defense, the Eagles escaped Brazil with a 34-29 season-opening win over the Packers at Corinthians Arena in São Paulo.
Whew.
They’re now 4-0 in season openers under Nick Sirianni.
Thanks no doubt to the brutal travel, lots of new pieces in new places and a slippery field unfit for NFL play, it was an ugly game at times. But the Eagles found a way and battled for 60 minutes in a way that they were unable to do when last year ended.
Here’s our 10 Instant Observations from a heart-stopper 5,000 miles from Philly.
1. There were so many points in this game where the Packers seemed to have all the momentum and looked like they were on the brink of putting the game away, and every single time the Eagles showed tremendous resilience and either got a clutch 3rd-down stop or a big offensive play to regain momentum. Those two early red-zone stops, Barkley’s circus TD catch, Reed Blankenship’s clutch interception, more terrific red-zone defense midway through the fourth quarter after the Packers drove down to the 8. This was one of those games where things just kept going wrong, but it’s such an encouraging sign that the Eagles still found a way to win when they committed three turnovers, were called for seven penalties, gave up touchdowns of 33 and 70 yards and didn’t get a sack from their edge rushers and fell behind four separate times. This is one of the better teams the Eagles will face this year. To get out of there with a win is truly impressive.
2. Reed Blankenship doesn’t get enough credit for what a ball hawk he is. That 3rd-quarter interception off Jordan Love – a guy who rarely throws…
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Author : NBC Sports Philadelphia
Publish date : 2024-09-07 03:51:12
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