Packers Underdogs for Brazil Showdown Against Eagles
The Green Bay Packers will kick off their 2024 season in Brazil against the Philadelphia Eagles. The early line has been set.
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers are underdogs for the historic season-opening game in Brazil against the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Eagles are 1.5-point favorites at FanDuel Sportsbook for the Week 1 showdown between presumptive Super Bowl contenders.
The Packers and Browns were the finalists to play Philadelphia in this game. The Eagles preferred to play the Browns in Brazil so they could use their homefield advantage for the big NFC battle against the Packers. Helped by its notorious fans, Philadelphia is 13-4 in regular-season home games the past two seasons.
The game will feature two of the best young quarterbacks in the NFL with Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts and Green Bay’s Jordan Love.
Hurts was runner-up for NFL MVP in 2022 and was a Pro Bowler last season, when he threw for 3,858 yards and 23 touchdowns and rushed for 605 yards and 15 more touchdowns.
Love was one of the league’s breakout stars in 2023. He threw for 4,159 yards and finished second in the NFL with 32 touchdown passes.
While Love had played a bit here and there, his unofficial NFL debut came in a loss at Philadelphia in November 2022. With Aaron Rodgers on the sideline due to injured ribs, Love played the final two series. He finished 6-of-9 passing for 113 yards and one touchdown. He led the Packers to 10 points to keep them in the game.
Hurts, however, threw for 153 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 157 yards. He led the Eagles’ unstoppable offense. Their final five possessions ended with a touchdown, touchdown, field goal, field goal and clinching first down.
The final score: 40-33, for a total of 73 points. Can the teams’ new defensive coordinators – Jeff Hafley for Green Bay and Vic Fangio for Philadelphia – do better? The over/under in Brazil is 48.5 points at FanDuel.
Obviously, a lot will happen between now and Sept. 6. That includes the NFL Draft in two weeks. Like the Packers, bettors expect the Eagles to use their first-round pick on an offensive lineman.
The preparation for Week 1 will begin on Monday with the start of the offseason program.
“We’ve just got to work,” guard Elgton Jenkins said at the start of the Tailgate Tour this week. “This offseason, I feel like guys did what they’re supposed to do. Everybody’s in the right headspace. They want to come to OTAs, build camaraderie as a team, and just ball, for real. That’s all it takes. Putting in that work and making sure you’re ready to compete on Sundays.”
The full NFL schedule has not been released. Last year, it was rolled out on May 11.
This will be Matt LaFleur’s sixth season as Green Bay’s coach. Rather incredibly, he has not had a Week 1 home game. That six-year streak is the longest in the NFL.
The NFL Draft is set for April 25-27
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