September 06, 2024
There's actual NFL football tonight, and the Eagles get underway against the Packers tomorrow all the way down in Brazil.
Most will be streaming the first real look at Saquon Barkley and the revamped Eagles from home. Those making the trip? They'll definitely be in for a unique football setting and what should be a solid matchup between two NFC contenders, they just won't be able to tweet about it apparently.
Anyway, as always a new Eagles season brings another run of week-by-week predictions from the PhillyVoice staff. Here's how we're feeling for Week 1...
TV: Peacock, NBC10 (Noah Eagle, Todd Blackledge, Kaylee Hartung)
RADIO: 94.1 WIP (Merrill Reese, Mike Quick)
| Sportsbook | Spread | Money Line | Total O/U |
| DraftKings | PHI -2.5 | GB +120 PHI -142 | 48.5 |
| FanDuel | PHI -3 | GB +128 PHI -152 | 48.5 |
| BetRivers | PHI -3 | GB +125 PHI -150 | 49 |
| BetMGM | PHI -3 | GB +125 PHI -150 | 48.5 |
| Bally's | PHI -3 | GB +125 PHI -150 | 49 |
The Packers are young and exciting, but they were also wildly inconsistent in 2023. They beat good teams like the Rams, Lions, and Chiefs during the regular season, and in the playoffs they wrecked the Cowboys and nearly knocked off the 49ers. They also lost to the Falcons, Raiders, Broncos, and Giants. They showed that they can hang with the big boys, but can also go slumming with the NFL's doormats.
They went 9-8 last season, and only got into the playoffs on the strength of a tiebreaker over the Saints and Seahawks. But obviously what they did in the playoffs was eye-opening. At times Jordan Love looked like the second coming of Aaron Rodgers (the quarterback, not the weirdo conspiracy theorist), and other times he looked like a clueless rookie. Surrounding Love is the youngest roster in the NFL, by far.
This is a very hard team to predict heading into 2024.
The Eagles, meanwhile, are difficult for many to wrap their heads around as well, after starting 10-1 a season ago, and then absolutely crapping the bed in spectacular fashion down the stretch.
Heading into 2024, star players are littered all over the offense, and the team prioritized fixing their woeful pass defense during the offseason.
I'm picking the Eagles, for two reasons:
I think the Eagles escape Brazil with a narrow win, something like 29-28.
I am taking the Eagles based on the talent, and the impressive play I saw from the first team offense and defense in training camp. There is a lot of Packers buzz, and they are going to be true contenders, but I think this is going to be a sloppy, low scoring game that turns on a fluke turnover. I think the Eagles ballhawk defense will create it and they'll score just enough to leave South America victorious.
The vibes are off. 2024 will see greater heights for the Eagles than 2023, but losing a "home" game off the bat and facing a team that was absolutely rolling to end last season is a bit daunting. If this game were being played at Lincoln Financial Field, I would lean Eagles, but, alas, everyone is making the trip down to Brazil.
I think no preseason reps is going to show again, and in particular, Jalen Hurts and the offense are going to see the blitz early and struggle with it.
They'll gradually shake the rust off as the game progresses and make a push for a comeback, but they'll run out of time.
I think the Eagles are going to be fine in the long run, but again, no preseason reps plus the fact that I think the Packers are going to be really good this year sets them back out of the gate.
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