Saquon Barkley scored three touchdowns in his Philadelphia debut, leading the Eagles to a 34-29 victory over the Green Bay Packers on Friday night in the NFL’s first game in South America.
Packers quarterback Jordan Love limped off the field on assist after being injured with 6 seconds left. Reserve Malik Willis was sacked by Zack Baun on the final play of the game, preventing him from launching a Hail Mary from the Philadelphia 47.
Barkley rushed for 109 yards and scored on an 18-yard catch and runs of 11 and 2 yards. Barkley played six seasons with the New York Giants before Philadelphia gave him a three-year, $37.75 million contract with $26 million guaranteed.
He became the first player to score three touchdowns in his Eagles debut since Terrell Owens in 2004.
Jalen Hurts was 20 of 34 for 278 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions for the Eagles. AJ Brown caught five passes for 119 yards, including a touchdown of 67 yards.
Green Bay’s Jayden Reed scored on a 33-yard jet sweep and a 70-yard reception for the longest touchdown completion of Love’s career. Reed caught Love’s pass inside Philadelphia’s 40 and made a move around the 30 that fanned safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson.
Reed became the first player to have a touchdown catch of 30 or more yards and a touchdown run of 30 or more yards in a season opener since Hall of Famer Jim Brown did so for the Cleveland Browns against Washington in 1963.
Reed also had an apparent 38-yard touchdown reception on the opening drive that was wiped out because both teams had 12 men on the field. He finished with four catches for 138 yards.
Love completed 17 of 34 passes for 260 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.
