Eagles-Packers takeaways: New secondary bends, doesn’t break; new offense helps Hurts; Baun’s voyage

SÃO PAULO, Brazil — The Eagles boarded their lengthy flight home from Brazil with a 1-0 record.

Here’s what we learned from the illuminating season-opening victory:

As the Eagles defense shed its pads in the Corinthians Arena home locker room late Friday night, C.J. Gardner-Johnson thanked his teammates on the defensive line for stemming the tide.

The team’s 34-29 win featured a disjointed performance throughout the roster, but especially from the defense, as the secondary and defensive front seemingly took turns attempting to carry each other. The final stats suggest as much; the Packers averaged 7.8 yards per rushing attempt and rang up 414 yards in total offense.

» READ MORE: Eagles receiving duo A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith deliver down the stretch vs. Packers

Aside from a litany of Packers penalties, the difference for the group came in the pivotal moments. Green Bay converted just three of 11 third-down attempts and went 1-for-4 in the red zone.

“That’s what saved us in the game,” Eagles cornerback Darius Slay said. “... We were really good in practice against our high-powered offense in the red zone, and it’s showing now.”

To not need saving, though, the Eagles will have to better embody one of the foundational principles of new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s system and limit explosive plays more effectively. The defense gave up nine plays of 18 yards or longer Friday night, including five plays that went for more than 25 yards.

Considering the emphasis Fangio and head coach Nick Sirianni place on limiting explosives, the lack of solidity on the back end is one of the most surprising things from the opener.

Slay said missed tackles were the main culprit for the big plays; Gardner-Johnson had a whiff in the open field against Packers receiver Jayden Reed on a 70-yard touchdown catch a few series after Zack Baun failed to get the receiver on the ground on a 33-yard rushing touchdown off an end-around.

“It’s first game in Brazil, emotions high, a lot of sudden change and situations,” Gardner-Johnson said. “So we’re not worried about explosives.

“As a back end, we all have to communicate.”

Watching back on the Eagles’ offensive performance, it becomes apparent just how much Kellen Moore’s new system compensated for some poor decision-making from quarterback Jalen Hurts.

Hurts had an uneven start to the 2024 season — somewhat reminiscent of the way he finished last season — with three turnovers partially as a result of forcing deep shots to A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, even if it meant putting the ball in harm’s way. Hurts’ first of two interceptions came on a shot up the seam to Smith, who was well-covered underneath by Green Bay linebacker Quay Walker. Safety Xavier McKinney was lurking over the top and jumped the ill-advised pass from Hurts, who wasn’t able to step into the throw as the pocket collapsed in front of him.

The second was even more head-scratching because of the game situation and the nature of the mistake late in the fourth quarter. Hurts rolled to his right and made the cardinal sin of throwing across his body to the middle of the field late, which resulted in Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander coming down with the floater. One play earlier, Hurts was nearly picked off by Keisean Nixon when targeting Jahan Dotson in the flat.

Hurts had his share of well-placed throws and pivotal plays as well, but it’s important to note just how many of them came from new, creative looks that Moore implemented over the summer. According to Next Gen Stats, Hurts was 15-for-21 for 212 passing yards and two touchdowns when the Eagles used pre-snap motion and 5-for-13 for 66 yards and two interceptions from static offensive sets.

» READ MORE: Eagles stats: Moore motion, less Huff, and a head-scratching decision highlight a win over the Packers

Some of Hurts’ best completions came from well-designed plays. Brown’s 67-yard touchdown catch came after motioning out just before the snap and beating Alexander with an out-and-up double move. Barkley’s 14-yard catch off a wheel route was set up by Dotson motioning across the formation, vacating the space for Barkley to work up the sideline against a linebacker. Hurts’ 25-yard completion to Smith was another example of creative play design, having Hurts fake an underneath pass to Will Shipley motioning toward the sideline to occupy the underneath corner long enough to free up Smith in the intermediate area of the field.

It’s far from an indictment to say Hurts’ best moments were a product of a well-designed offensive system. In fact, it likely should be considered a relief for the Eagles, compared to the way things looked during the their collapse last year. Moore is the type of play-caller who can identify answers throughout a game, especially with the Eagles’ collection of talent. If Hurts can protect the football and return to 2022 form, the offense’s potential goes through the roof.

» READ MORE: The new Jalen Hurts is the same as the 2023 version in the Eagles’ opener, but shows glimpses of positive change

The Zack Baun experiment Fangio has been fostering all summer is starting to make plenty of sense.

Getting his first extended game action as an off-ball linebacker for the Eagles, the fifth-year veteran who arrived as a free agent from New Orleans this offseason was the standout performer in the team’s front seven.

Baun signed with the Eagles this offseason seemingly expecting to move to an outside linebacker role similar to the one he played at Wisconsin, but the former third-round pick spent the offseason working into the rotation of off-ball linebackers in Fangio’s scheme.

Against a Packers offense that has earned a reputation for putting linebackers in a bind with play-action and pre-snap motion, Baun’s 15 total tackles and two sacks both led the Eagles defense.

He also was instrumental in Reed Blankenship’s third-quarter interception. Dropping into zone coverage, Baun picked up Packers tight end Luke Musgrave as he worked up the seam and stayed tight enough in coverage to force an errant throw from Packers quarterback Jordan Love within reach of a diving Blankenship. Between that and the game-sealing sack as time expired, Baun said he proved to himself that he’s capable of sticking as an off-ball linebacker.

“I don’t know if I had anything to prove,” Baun said. “I think I was proving it to myself, like I know I can do this, and I know I’m a baller. I know I can go out there and do a lot of different things. I proved it to myself. I’m not on Twitter, rarely on Instagram, so I don’t know what people are saying, but I proved a lot to myself tonight.”

As strong as Baun’s Eagles debut was, edge rusher Bryce Huff’s was about as strange.

The 26-year-old who signed a three-year, $51.1 million contract this offseason played just 30 of the Eagles’ 67 defensive snaps and logged just assisted tackle in that time. Perhaps an injury led to Huff’s limited playing time — second-year edge rusher Nolan Smith played one more snap than Huff after a quiet training camp — but his lack of production alone is a surprise.

Few positions were affected by the slick field conditions more than the edge rusher groups on both sides and Huff did slip trying to get around the edge early in the game. Sounding the alarm after one game is almost never a worthwhile endeavor, but Fangio’s explanation for Huff’s usage will be interesting once the Eagles return to the NovaCare Complex.

Up, Quinyon Mitchell: The first-round rookie played exclusively on the outside in his NFL debut and was more than ready to meet the occasion. Mitchell plays with an edge and looks like he belongs, just a handful of months removed from playing in the Mid-American Conference.

Down, Avonte Maddox: With Isaiah Rodgers sidelined with a hand injury, Maddox played as the primary slot corner in the Eagles’ nickel packages to facilitate Mitchell sticking on the outside. The Packers eventually tested Maddox with success on a touchdown drive in the third quarter. If Rodgers is going to miss extended time, it might make sense to give Cooper DeJean a look as the nickel cornerback alongside Mitchell and Slay.

Up, Mekhi Becton: Becton did some nice things in his first regular-season game as a guard, showing the combination of power and movement skills that made him a first-round pick in the 2020 NFL draft. Becton’s highlight block came midway through the fourth quarter when he got up to the second level and pancaked Packers linebacker Isaiah McDuffie, but he had a handful of impactful blocks and operated well in space. Becton was instrumental in clearing the way for Barkley’s first rushing touchdown along with Cam Jurgens.

Down, the kickoff return unit: Perhaps the Eagles’ coaching staff shouldn’t have gone so vanilla with the kickoff return reps this summer. Kenneth Gainwell had two returns that came up short of the 30-yard line, the first coming after he struggled to field a squib kick from Brayden Narveson and the second coming as he returned a kick deep in the end zone only to reach the 23-yard line.