September 07, 2024

Handing out 10 awards from the Eagles-Packers game

The Eagles are leaving Brazil 1-0 after holding on for a 34-29 win over the Packers.

By Jimmy Kempski
PhillyVoice Staff

Kirby Lee/Imagn Images

DeVonta Smith was clutch against the Packers.

For the fourth straight season the Philadelphia Eagles have gotten out to a 1-0 start, with an entertaining Week 1 win in Brazil over the Green Bay Packers. As always, win, lose, or tie, we hand out 10 awards.

1) The 'Hat Trick' Award 🏒: Saquon Barkley

Barkley had a headline-grabbing Eagles debut, rushing 24 times for 109 yards, and two TDs. He also caught 2 passes for 23 yards, including this 18-yard TD reception:

HURTS TO SAQUON FOR THE @EAGLES FIRST TD!

📺: #GBvsPHI on Peacock pic.twitter.com/WeEql9w1Ed
— NFL (@NFL) September 7, 2024

In case you missed the Giants' offseason version of Hard Knocks early this summer, GM Joe Schoen seemed hellbent on getting Barkley off of his roster. You can re-live how Barkley became a free agent here.

It's a long season and Barkley has to prove that he can stay healthy, but after one week holy hell did the Giants' plan for Barkley age horribly.

2) The 'Wait, Was That a Linebacker Doing Good Things?' Award 😲: Zack Baun

In his Eagles debut, Baun started at linebacker, and he had 15 tackles and two sacks, including the game-clincher.

ZACK BAUN GAME-CLINCHING SACK‼️#FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/S25OmcQAtd
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) September 7, 2024

Baun was all over the field Friday night.

The other starting linebacker, Nakobe Dean, had a bad moment when he dropped what would have been a sure pick-six, which was followed immediately thereafter by a Packers 70-yard touchdown. That was a 14-point swing. You have to make the most of those opportunities when they present themselves.

But otherwise, I liked what I saw from Dean, who looked fast and physical, most notably on a big hit in the third quarter.

Wow what a hit by Nakobe Dean pic.twitter.com/QzpdpY4n9V
— Shane Haff (@ShaneHaffNFL) September 7, 2024

Dean recognized the screen, got to the running back in a flash, and laid the wood. The dropped INT aside, the Eagles' linebackers had encouraging performances.

3) The 'Closer' Award ☕: DeVonta Smith

Smith's stat line (7-84-0) won't wow anyone reading the box scores tomorrow or win fantasy football owners their week, but he made two enormous plays on the Eagles' final offensive drive, helping bleed about 7 and a half minutes off the clock. The first was a 16-yard completion on 2nd and 13.

Excellent run after catch by DeVonta Smith pic.twitter.com/iD7tqqr6qv
— Shane Haff (@ShaneHaffNFL) September 7, 2024

Smith is already a great route runner with elite body control, but he also gobbled up yards after the catch all night, slithering through Packers tackles. If he can get yards after the catch consistently like he did Week 1, he's going to be a big problem for opposing defenses all season.

The second big play was an 11-yard reception that all but put the game on ice.

DeVonta Smith. Always reliable.

📺: #GBvsPHI on Peacock pic.twitter.com/iIw8UOZtIh
— NFL (@NFL) September 7, 2024

Before that play, the commentators said that the Eagles shouldn't throw the ball again, which frankly would have been an extraordinarily cowardly and unintelligent strategy. It was 2nd down, with 2:10 left on the clock. If the Eagles ran it, the Packers would have used their last timeout. Then you run it again, and the clock is stopped at the 2 minute warning. Then assuming you don't get a first down on those two runs, you kick the field goal and the Packers get the ball back with just under two minutes to go.

Credit Nick Sirianni and Kellen Moore for dialing up the aggressive, winning call.

4) The 'Gamebreaker' Award 💥: A.J. Brown

Brown is so good.

AJ Brown maxed out at 21.05 MPH here. His fastest top speed since his rookie year, via @NextGenStats. pic.twitter.com/Vx4BZFkpau
— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) September 7, 2024

Brown outweighs Jaire Alexander (23) by 30 pounds, and he ran away from him for the score. Stud.

5) The 'Training Camp Stats Don't Mean Jack' Award 🎁: Jalen Hurts

Hurts had some good moments in this game and he made some clutch throws on the Eagles' final offensive drive, but he also made some really bad decisions.

His first possession INT in the middle of the field was ill-advised.
He threw a slant to a clearly covered Brown, who had to play defense to prevent an INT.
He threw what should have been a pick-six, but Keisean Nixon couldn't hang onto the ball.
On the next play, Hurts made a horrid decision, throwing across his body into the end zone, where Alexander camped under it and made the pick, shown below:

Jaire Alexander picks it off in the end zone!

📺: #GBvsPHI on Peacock pic.twitter.com/k77NxlCZjV
— NFL (@NFL) September 7, 2024

Throw that away and take the eight-point lead.

Hurts made good decisions all summer long, avoiding throwing an INT in the first 15 practices of training camp, and then in a real game he started recklessly chucking the ball around like 2020 Carson Wentz.

On a side note, Hurts was much better when the Eagles had pre-snap motion than when they didn't.

Jalen Hurts was significantly more effective as a passer when the play featured motion, completing 15 of 21 for 212 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Without motion, Hurts finished 5 of 13 for 66 yards and 2 interceptions.#GBvsPHI | @Eagles pic.twitter.com/eKfUG8BnPv
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 7, 2024

So, you know, they should keep doing more pre-snap motion. #Analysis.

6) The 'Rethink the Preseason' Award 🤔: Nick Sirianni

The Eagles turned it over on each of their first two possessions, giving the ball to the Packers in the red zone each time. The first was the aforementioned first Hurts INT. The second was on a shotgun snap from Cam Jurgens that Jalen Hurts wasn't expecting. Last year in Week 1 the Eagles' offense came out very sloppy against the New England Patriots, and Sirianni said during his postgame press conference that he would perhaps rethink playing starters in the preseason. They didn't, and the team was sloppy out of the gate once again.

When they don't play starters at all in the preseason next year, you can be certain that the Eagles' 4-0 record in Week 1 games will be cited.

7) The 'Bailout' Award 🛟: The defense, early on

The defense bailed the offense out after those two initial turnovers, holding the Packers to field goals on both ensuing drives. Without those stops, maybe this game would have gone sideways right off the bat.

The defense surrendered 29 points, and they weren't perfect by any stretch, but they made enough plays, holding Jordan Love to 17 of 34 passing (50%).

8) The 'Gamechanger' Award 🔄️: Reed Blankenship

The turning point of the game might have been Reed Blankenship's INT of Love with about 6 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. He read the route, trusted what he saw, and made a great play.

Read by Reed!

📺: #GBvsPHI on Peacock pic.twitter.com/fYmrdw184S
— NFL (@NFL) September 7, 2024

The Eagles would score a TD on the ensuing possession.

9) The 'Sãodfather' Award 🌱: The slippery field

Is it really THAT hard to find a playing surface that doesn't make NFL football games resemble Disney On Ice? How is this still happening after the Eagles-Chiefs Super Bowl debacle?

10) The 'Huge Win' Award 🏦: The Eagles

The Eagles now have a head-to-head win — and thus a tiebreaker — over an NFC contender, and they have also banked a win toward their overall NFC record. This was a huge win against a good, up-and-coming team, with three straight games against the awful NFC South — Falcons, Buccaneers, and Saints — to follow.

They also have an extended layoff until their next game Week 2, which is on Monday Night Football against the Falcons.

Follow Jimmy & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @JimmyKempski | thePhillyVoice

Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports

Add Jimmy's RSS feed to your feed reader