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Reed single-handedly kept the Packers in their first game of the season,
We’re continuing our journey through the Green Bay Packers’ top 10 plays of the 2024 season as voted on by APC staff with play #8 in our countdown (check out #9 here). It’s opening day in Brazil, and the young Packers are facing the eventual Super Bowl champs.
Both teams entered the season with high hopes. The Packers were looking to take a step forward after a narrow loss to the 49ers in the 2023 playoffs, while the Eagles were looking to return to Super Bowl form via a completely revamped secondary, and an upgrade from Matt Patricia to Vic Fangio.
The Packers struck first with two short Brayden Narveson field goals to go up 6-0 (the first of which came just after the #10 play on our countdown). The teams then alternated rushing touchdowns with Saquon Barkley recording the first two of his three on the day, split by a 33-yard scamper by our hero for this episode, Jayden Reed. After Reed’s 33-yard score the Packers went for two and failed, which put them into a 14-12 deficit upon Barkley’s second score. With 5:34 remaining in the second quarter, the Packers started their fifth drive of the game from their own 30-yard line. Love missed Josh Jacobs short on first down, followed by a miss on a deep shot to Luke Musgrave, bringing up third and ten.
To this point, the scoring had been fast and furious, and if the Packers missed out on a scoring opportunity, it could bury them. They were still fairly deep in their own territory, and punting would have given the Eagles decent field position to build on their two-point lead.
The Packers were also set to kick off in the second half, and giving the Eagles a chance for the double up with a lead already in hand would have been too much to overcome. The Packers needed to pick up this first down and keep the drive going, or things could have gotten ugly.
Watch the play here!
This is Matt LaFleur at his absolute best. And to be fair, it’s also CJ Gardner-Johnson at his absolute worst. The Packers come out in 11 personnel, playing a tight formation with Tucker Kraft and Christian Watson to the right, and Jayden Reed and Romeo Doubs to the left. Everyone is inside the numbers.
With six seconds left on the play clock, Watson goes in motion and no Eagles follow, signaling zone coverage. The Eagles are in dime, with Nakobe Dean as the lone linebacker. As this was the first game of the season, the Eagles had not yet discovered the pass-coverage brilliance of linebacker Zack Baun nor fully integrated rookie Cooper DeJean into coverage schemes, though DeJean is on the field here in the short right area of the zone.
The Eagles rush four and force Love from the pocket, as he...
