Admin September 6, 2024
It will be the second game of the NFL season following the Baltimore Ravens v Kansas City Chiefs season opener on Thursday night. It will also be the first of five international games set to take place during the 2024 NFL season.
Both teams made it to the postseason in 2023 with the Eagles finishing as the fifth seed with an 11-6 record, whilst the Packers finished as the seventh seed with a 9-8 record.
Both sides had mixed fortunes during the regular season with Green Bay hitting hot form towards the end of the campaign, winning six of their last eight games to take the final playoff spot. On the other hand, the Eagles started the season 10-1 before they fell into a slump, losing five of their last six games.
Philly’s disappointing end to the season also spilled into the playoffs losing in the wildcard round 32-9 to the fourth-seed Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Packers, however, continued their impressive form into the playoffs by beating the Dallas Cowboys 48-32 at the AT&T Stadium before testing the first-seed San Francisco 49ers to their limit but ultimately losing out 21-24. The Packers had taken a 21-14 lead into the fourth quarter against Kyle Shanahan’s men but were outscored 10-0 in the final quarter by the eventual Super Bowl runners-up.
Team news
Philadelphia Eagles
Eagles linebacker Devin White will miss Friday night’s game after suffering an ankle injury. The Eagles are otherwise healthy with no other DNPs from Wednesday’s training before flying to Brazil.
Green Bay Packers
The Packers also have a relatively clean bill of health with defensive lineman Arron Mosby the only exclusion due to a personal matter.
Players to watch
Saquon Barkley –
Dynamic running back Saquon Barkley swapped teams but not divisions this offseason. The 27-year-old left the New York Giants to join the Eagles in free agency.
Barkley will be looking for a fresh start after only hitting the 1,000 rush yards mark once in the past four seasons.
The Eagles will be hoping that Barkley can rediscover the form that saw him voted to two Pro-Bowls in 2018 and 2022.
The former Giant rushed for 962 yards on 247 attempts last term, tallied six rushing touchdowns and caught 41 passes for 280 yards and four touchdowns.
The Packers quarterback signed a $220m four-year contract extension with Green Bay in July, the deal tied Love with Joe Burrow and Trevor Lawrence as the highest annually paid quarterbacks in the NFL with all three averaging $55m per year. With that, the pressure mounts on Love to consistently deliver excellent performances in a Packers jersey.
Love did impress for the Packers last season throwing for over 4,000 yards in his first full season as a starter, he rushed for 247 yards and found the endzone four times. He also threw 32 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions.
Head-to-head
The Packers and the Eagles have lined up across from each other 46 times with the Packers leading series 28-18.
The Packers also led the series in total points scored, with their tally of 971, beating out the Eagles’ 802 points when playing against each other.
The Eagles, however, did get the better of Green Bay the last time the two franchises faced off.
The Eagles won the game 40-33 in 2022. Jalen Hurts and Miles Sanders both rushed for over 140 yards that day with the latter finding the endzone twice. Hurts only threw for 153 yards but he played a cleaner game than his opposite, then Packers QB Aaron Rodgers, who threw two interceptions.
Jordan Love came into the game for Rodgers and completed six of nine passes for 113 yards and a touchdown.
Where and when
The game emanates from Sau Paolo Brazil, with the two teams set to face off at the Corinthians Arena.
The action gets underway on Friday night (September 6) from 8:15pm ET for fans in the US. Whilst fans in the UK will have to wait up until the early hours of Saturday morning (September 7) with the game getting underway at 1:15am.
How to watch
The game will be broadcast live by Sky Sports NFL in the UK and by Peacock in the US.