Week 1: Packers-Eagles Preview, Props, Prediction

Philadelphia hasn’t lost a game in September since 2021 and is 3-0 in season openers under coach Nick Sirianni.The Eagles will try to extend that success in a different hemisphere in Friday night’s unprecedented Week 1 date with the Green Bay Packers in Sao Paulo, Brazil, the first NFL regular-season game in South America.”It’s going to be good for us to go play in a neutral site and handle the different things that pop up in the NFL,” Sirianni said.”… There are things you can’t control. What we can control is our effort, we can control our attitude, we can control our core values, and we’re going to focus on that this week.”ODDS & TRENDSThe Eagles are consensus 2.0-point favorites. That includes at BetRivers, where they have been backed by 70 percent of the spread-line bets and 67 percent of the money.Philadelphia’s -136 moneyline has been event more popular, drawing 72 and 67 percent of the action, respectively.The public is expecting a high-scoring clash, with 74 percent of the money backing the Over at 49 points.PROP PICKSaquon Barkley Anytime TD (-137): The Eagles’ new featured back reaching the end zone at least once on Friday has been the most wagered-on prop for this game at the book, drawing 5.0 percent of all bets and 8.7 percent of all money. Barkley scored 10 total touchdowns in 14 games last season for the Giants, whose offense was hit hard by a season-ending injury to quarterback Daniel Jones.Barkley also leads all players on both teams by a wide margin, drawing 33 percent of the money at DraftKings to be the first player to score a touchdown Friday night.THE NEWSPhiladelphia won its first eight games and started 13-1 in 2022 en route to advancing to Super Bowl LVII. The Eagles won their first five contests and started 10-1 last season before losing in the wild-card round.Green Bay is coming off its fourth playoff appearance in five seasons under coach Matt LaFleur. The Packers lost to the San Francisco 49ers on a late Christian McCaffrey touchdown run in the divisional round last season after a wild-card victory over the Dallas Cowboys.It’s a business trip to Brazil for both teams with no time for sightseeing. The Eagles planned to arrive Wednesday night after a 10-hour flight, hold a walk-through at Corinthians Arena on Thursday and fly straight back to Philadelphia after Friday night’s game.”We’re professionals,” Eagles receiver A.J. Brown said. “We’re down there to win a football game. We’re not down there to see the city, do all this other stuff. This is not a vacation. This is a football game.”The Packers arranged a 10-hour direct flight leaving from Green Bay on Wednesday morning and, as the “visiting” team, they held their walk-through Thursday at the Corinthians soccer club’s training ground.”It’s not going to be anything crazy that we’ve never done before, and I would expect the same from Philly,” LaFleur said. “… I’ve only talked to our guys about the Philadelphia Eagles, and what we need to do.”A massive mural of starting quarterbacks Jalen Hurts of the Eagles and Jordan Love of the Packers adorns the side of a building in downtown Sao Paulo, but the spotlight in the stadium will be on the running backs.Barkley, a two-time Pro Bowl selection, joined Philadelphia after six seasons and more than 5,000 rushing yards with the division-rival Giants.

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