Eagles and Packers heading to Brazil for their season opener

Green Bay (10-9) vs. Philadelphia (11-7) at Sao Paulo, Brazil

Friday, 8:15 p.m. EDT, Peacock

BetMGM NFL Odds: Eagles by 2

Series record: Packers lead 28-18

Last meeting: Eagles won 40-33 in Philadelphia on Nov. 27, 2022

Packers offense: overall (11), rush (15), pass (12), scoring (12)

Packers defense: overall (17), rush (28), pass (9), scoring (10)

Eagles offense: overall (8), rush (8), pass (16), scoring (7)

Eagles defense: overall (26), rush 10), pass (31), scoring (30)

Turnover differential: Packers even, Eagles minus-10

Packers player to watch

RB Josh Jacobs. The 2022 All-Pro could have a heavy workload in his Packers debut. The Packers placed RB AJ Dillon on injured reserve last week, and rookie RB MarShawn Lloyd has been limited in practice this week with a hamstring injury. That could put more of a burden on Jacobs, who signed with the Packers after spending his first five seasons with the Raiders. Jacobs had an NFL-leading 1,653 yards rushing in 2022 but tailed off last year, as he ran for 805 yards and gained just 3.5 yards per carry.

Eagles player to watch

QB Jalen Hurts. Just how will the QB stack up in his first game under new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore? The franchise quarterback, Hurts is entering his fifth year and has thrown for 11,764 yards and rushed for 2,503 yards. Hurts and coach Nick Sirianni’s relationship has come under scrutiny. Hurts has offered only lukewarm endorsements of Sirianni, at best, and the duo hasn't spent much time together on the field during training camp. Part of that is Sirianni’s development into a CEO-type of coach who has tried to oversee more aspects of the team during practice rather than just the offense. How Hurts responds if the going gets tough could decide Philadelphia’s season.

Key matchup

Packers passing game vs. Eagles pass defense. Packers QB Jordan Love will try to pick up where he left off last year, while the Eagles pass defense looks to bounce back from a poor season. Love threw 21 touchdown passes and only one interception during a nine-game stretch that included an upset of the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC wild-card playoffs. He will be throwing to a deep receiving group featuring Jayden Reed, Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks. The Eagles allowed 4,296 yards passing last season. Only the Washington Commanders gave up more yards through the air.

Key injuries

Dillon will miss the entire season for the Packers because of a neck injury. The Packers also have placed TE Tyler Davis (shoulder on injured reserve). … Packers DL Arron Mosby didn’t travel to Brazil because of a personal matter. … Eagles LB Devin White (ankle) has been ruled out for Friday’s game.

Series notes

Although the Eagles won the previous meeting between these teams in November 2022, that game marked a big step in Love’s development. Love entered that game in place of an injured Aaron Rodgers in the second half and went 6 of 9 for 113 yards, including a 63-yard touchdown to Watson. … These two teams have split their past four meetings. … The Packers have scored at least 27 points in each of their past five matchups with the Eagles. … This is the seventh time the Packers have opened a season against the Eagles. The Packers have gone 5-1 the previous six times they’ve opened against the Eagles.

Stats and stuff

This marks the first regular-season NFL game in South America. It also marks the first time the NFL has played a Friday night game on the season’s opening weekend since Sept. 18, 1970, when the St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Rams faced off on a Friday. … The Packers are opening the season away from Lambeau Field for a sixth straight year. … The Packers are 59-41-3 in kickoff weekends. The only teams with better kickoff weekend winning percentages are the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos, who are both 40-23-1. … Last year, Love became the third quarterback to have at least 4,000 yards passing and 32 touchdown passes in his first season with multiple starts. The others were Kurt Warner (1999) and Patrick Mahomes (2018). … Love’s 32 touchdown passes last season ranked second in the league, behind the 36 from Dallas’ Dak Prescott. … Doubs and Reed each had eight touchdown catches for the Packers last year. … Green Bay’s Keisean Nixon has been an All-Pro kickoff returner each of the past two seasons. … The Eagles are coming off a 2023 season in which they started out 10-1 but won just once more the rest of the season. … The Eagles’ 2023 season ended with a loss to Tampa Bay in the NFC wild-card round. The Packers fell at San Francisco in the divisional playoffs. … Sirianni is the first coach in Eagles history to reach the playoffs in each of his first three seasons with the team. … Hurts accounted for 38 total touchdowns (23 passing, 15 rushing) last season to rank second in the league to Buffalo’s Josh Allen, who accounted for 44. … A.J. Brown’s 106 catches last season were the most by any Eagles wideout ever. The previous record was held by Eagles teammate DeVonta Smith, who had 95 in 2022. … The Eagles have won seven of their past eight season openers. … The Eagles have two new coordinators this year in Moore (offense) and Vic Fangio (defense). The Packers made Jeff Hafley their new defensive coordinator. … The Eagles will be playing their first international game since beating the Jacksonville Jaguars 24-18 in London in 2018, while the Packers’ previous international game was a 27-22 loss to the New York Giants in London in 2022.

Fantasy tip

The uncertainty surrounding the running backs behind him assures that Jacobs should get plenty of carries Friday, which makes him worth having in your lineup.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

The Associated Press