Two NFC juggernauts will clash in exotic Brazil on Friday night, as the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles meet in the first ever NFL regular season game held in South America. Kickoff is set for 8:15 PM EST on September 6th at Arena Corinthians in São Paulo and the game will be nationally televised exclusively on Peacock in the United States. In Canada, the game will also be broadcast on TSN.
Oddsmakers opened this game up with the Eagles listed as three-point favorites. The spread has narrowed slightly after early betting, as Philadelphia is available at -2 on many sportsbooks. However, Green Bay can still be found at +3 in some spots, so it is definitely worth shopping around to find the best line available. The total for this matchup is 48.5 points. Click here for a full look at the Week 1 NFL odds and for more links to our individual game previews.
Green Bay Packers Hope to Build on Impressive 2023-24 Campaign
There certainly was a lot for Green Bay fans to get excited about last year, as QB Jordan Love led the Packers to a very solid 9-8 record during the regular season en route to a surprise 48-32 route over the heavily favored Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Wild Card Round. While there certainly were some growing pains to begin the year, Love looked like a different quarterback down the stretch, reeling off three straight clutch wins to punch his ticket to the postseason. Overall, the young star threw for 4,159 yards and 32 touchdowns in his first full regular season as a starter.
Love will have to get used to a new face leading the backfield in 2024-25, as Green Bay and longtime RB Aaron Jones parted ways in the offseason. In his place, workhorse Josh Jacobs will look to bounce back after a tough season in the desert. Jacobs and the rest of the anemic Las Vegas Raiders offense struggled to maintain much consistency last year, but a change of scenery should do wonders for his output on the ground. At the very least, he will be running behind a much more talented offensive line.
At receiver, the Packers boast a ton of depth with Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, Romeo Doubs, and Dontayvion Wicks all returning on offense. The latter three played critically important roles down the stretch after Watson was in and out of the lineup due to injury for the majority of the season. Reed led the way in the regular season with almost 800 receiving yards, while Doubs exploded in the postseason with 10 receptions for 234 yards and a touchdown in only two games.
Green Bay was slightly above average defensively last season, holding opponents to an average of 335.1 total yards per game. While they were relatively stout against the pass (206.8 yards allowed per game) they did struggle at times against the run, surrendering an average of 128.3 yards per game on the ground.
Philadelphia Eagles Aiming to Regain NFC East Supremacy
The Eagles 2023-24 regular season was extremely polarizing, as they completely collapsed down the stretch after roaring out to an impressive 10-1 start through their first eleven games. Despite having only one loss on their record overall heading into December, Philadelphia then proceeded to lose five out of their final six games before losing the NFC East crown to Dallas. Things didn’t get any better in the Wild Card Round, as they were badly outplayed on both sides of the ball by the surging Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a lopsided 32-9 beatdown.
QB Jalen Hurts continued to show why he is a perennial MVP candidate throughout last season, throwing for 3,858 yards and 23 touchdowns while also adding 600+ rushing yards and 15 touchdowns on the ground. Both of his favorite wideout targets are back, as A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith combined for almost 2,500 receiving yards and 14 total touchdowns to lead the way for the Eagles receiving corps in 2023-24. The biggest addition to the roster during the offseason was clearly RB Saquon Barkley, as the longtime Giants star left New York for greener pastures in the City of Brotherly Love after signing a three-year, 37.75 million dollar contract in March.
Philadelphia boasted a formidable run defense last season, holding opposing ground attacks to an average of just 103.4 rushing yards per game. However, they did struggle to slow down teams through the air, getting torched for an average of 252.7 yards per game which was second worst in the entire NFL. The Eagles hope that new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and an entirely new scheme will provide a quick turnaround for a secondary that was atrocious against defending against the pass in both the regular season and the playoffs.
Free NFL Betting Predictions and Pick: Packers +3
I’m more than happy to take the points in this particular spot, as I think Green Bay could easily win this game outright. While Philadelphia will likely settle in after a disastrous second half of the season in 2023-24, there still might be some growing pains in the early going as the team adjusts to a new defensive coordinator as well as a new offensive play caller in Kellen Moore. The Eagles will also be without fan favorite Jason Kelce, who finally walked off into the sunset after announcing his retirement in early March.
Philadelphia has been less than impressive against the spread dating back to early 2023, going just 7-9-2 ATS overall and 6-7-2 when favored. Green Bay, on the other hand, were a very solid 8-2 ATS in games against opponents with equal rest which is certainly applicable here in the season opener. Ultimately, Love should find a way to move the ball down the field in a humid game environment against a team that is still in search of a new identity after such a dramatic implosion. Take the Packers to cover!
