Penalties and missed opportunities will continue to haunt the Green Bay Packers should a tough Week 1 loss come back to haunt them later in the 2024 season. In the season opener, the Packers fell to the Philadelphia Eagles 34-29 in a game decided at least in part by Green Bay’s inability to capitalize on first-quarter turnovers.

Jalen Hurts turned the ball over twice before the Eagles could pick up a single first down, giving Green Bay two chances to start inside Philadelphia’s 25-yard line. But the Packers managed just six points on those two drives and just nine points off the three turnovers they forced in the game, while Jordan Love struggled with some inaccuracy throughout the game.

Love, however, went down on one of the final plays of the game, attempting to stage a miraculous comeback. As he went to the ground, Love threw the ball back to Josh Jacobs while his left ankle was pinned under multiple defenders. That left backup Malik Willis to attempt a Hail Mary from midfield, but he was unable to clear the ball from midfield and was sacked by Zack Baun as time expired.

Love’s injury looked bad, as he was on the field for a few minutes before limping off with the help of multiple trainers. His status will be crucial to monitor in the coming hours and days, and if the injury does keep him out for an extended period, the team’s backup quarterback situation will come into sharp focus again.

A missed second-half field goal by rookie kicker Brayden Narveson hung in the balance for a while, but ultimately a depleted Packers defense couldn’t get off the field for nearly eight minutes to finish the fourth quarter. Philadelphia ran away with all but 27 seconds of control after taking over with 7:52 left to force the Packers into a furious comeback attempt. Jayden Reed’s killer 33-yard reception sent Green Bay to midfield, where Love was rolled up to seal the game.

Now the Packers must fly back from Brazil with a disabled quarterback and two extra days to prepare for their season opener against the Indianapolis Colts.

Reed was the star of the game for the Packers, scoring once on the ground and through the air. Reed amassed more than 170 total yards from scrimmage and surpassed the century mark in receiving yards by hauling in four passes for 138 yards in the game.

The Packers opened the game on the 35-yard line instead of the 30, when the Eagles punted the ball into the end zone and moved before the ball landed, earning them a 5-yard penalty. Jordan Love went 19 yards on a third-down completion to Romeo Doubs, and appeared to have the Eagles down to 12 a few plays later. Love got the ball quickly and hit Jayden Reed for a 38-yard touchdown, but tight end Luke Musgrave was also late getting off the field, leading to offsetting penalties.

After a punt, the Packers’ new-look defense struck gold on their first chance, when new safety Xavier McKinney read Jalen Hurts’ eyes and intercepted his pass over the middle, giving the Packers their first turnover and an immediate reward for the team’s big free agent acquisition. A holding call on Rasheed Walker put the Packers back in a 3rd-and-long, and Brayden Narveson stepped up to give the Packers an early 3-0 lead with a 31-yard field goal.

Narveson then pinned the Eagles deep with a creative bouncing kickoff, and the Eagles committed their second turnover in two possessions three plays later. Cam Jurgens’ snap came too early for Hurts, and Devonte Wyatt fell on the ball to give Green Bay its second possession, starting deep in Eagles territory. But again a holding penalty put the Packers behind the sticks, and they had to settle for another short Narveson field goal and a 6-0 lead.

Philadelphia finally got their offense going on their third drive, starting at the 30 on a touchback and moving across midfield with a few short passes. A Saquon Barkley run pushed them into the red zone, then hit a wheel route into the front left corner of the end zone to give the Eagles a 7-6 lead despite their early struggles on offense.

The Packers got the offense going behind Emanuel Wilson on the ensuing drive, as he delivered the team’s first explosive runs of the season with gains of 14 and 18 yards to put Green Bay within field goal range. They wouldn’t need Narveson this time, as Jayden Reed ran an end-around for 33 yards to the house for the Packers’ first touchdown of the season and a 12-7 lead. The Packers went within 2 after the Eagles were caught offside on the PAT, but Josh Jacobs was stopped for no gain to keep the lead at five points.

Barkley gave the Eagles back the lead a few minutes later, hitting a drive from 11 yards out into the end zone. That came after Hurts had gotten the passing game going, hitting gains of at least 20 yards to both AJ Brown and Devonta Smith, and it gave the Packers a chance to regain the lead with about five minutes left in the first half.

They needed 23 seconds. On 3rd-and-10, Love advanced into the pocket and found an open Reed, who shrugged off a tackler and went untouched into the end zone for a 70-yard touchdown to put the Packers back ahead, 19-14.

Another 20-yard gain to Dallas Goedert got the Eagles moving, and they reached the edge of field goal range, electing to keep the offense on the field on 4th-and-3 from the 32-yard line after the two-minute warning. Devonta Smith made a tough catch over the middle to move the chains, but a clutch sack by Keisean Nixon on a struggling Hurts forced the Eagles to take their final timeout on 2nd-and-long with 31 seconds left. That forced Jake Elliott onto the field for a field goal to cut the Packers’ lead to 19-17 at halftime.

After the break, Philadelphia quickly struck with another big play. Hurts found AJ Brown behind Jaire Alexander on the right sideline and he hooked into the end zone for a 67-yard score to give the Eagles back the lead at 24-19.

The Packers wasted no time getting into the red zone, though. After a roughing the passer penalty was called on Zack Baun, Tucker Kraft made a big 29-yard gain on a drag route over the middle to put the Packers inside the 20. On 3rd-and-9, Avonte Maddox was flagged for pass interference on Dontayvion Wicks, and on the next play, Love found Christian Watson on a slant for a two-yard touchdown and another lead change to 26-24.

Green Bay’s defense finally got a stop on the ensuing drive, with a nice stop in the run game by rookie Edgerrin Cooper before Rashan Gary landed an unblocked sack on Hurts on third down. But the Eagles got a stop as well, aided by a couple of off-target throws from Love. After another Philadelphia punt, the Packers committed their first turnover when Love made a terrible decision to try to lay a soft throw to Luke Musgrave down the seam. Safety Reed Blankenship jumped on the route and intercepted the pass, giving the Eagles the ball deep in Green Bay territory.

A short pass to Devonta Smith and three runs from Barkley put Philadelphia in the end zone again, with Barkley scoring his third touchdown of the game to give the Eagles a 31-26 lead with about four minutes left in the third quarter.

The Packers had a chance to close the gap, but the kicking problems reared their ugly heads again. After Josh Jacobs made a 25-yard run, the Packers had to settle for a 42-yard field goal attempt, but Narveson’s kick drifted to the right and deflected off the right post. Barkley responded with a 34-yard run on the Eagles’ next play to end the fourth quarter.

But instead of the Eagles extending their lead, Jaire Alexander came up with a killer play to keep the game within a touchdown. As Hurts rushed, he threw his body back over the middle of the field, where Alexander picked him off for the Green Bay defense’s third turnover of the day.

Jacobs broke off another big run for 32 yards on the next play before Love hit a wide-open Reed for another huge gain, giving Reed over 100 yards receiving on the day. But once again the Packers had to settle for a field goal after Love was pressured in the red zone, and Narveson scored this time from 26 yards out to pull the Packers within two at 31-29.

Philadelphia then went to work trying to kill as much of the remaining eight minutes as possible and put points on the board. They got an assist from a couple of Packers penalties — both legitimate and questionable — but moved the ball slowly, getting a key first down on a throw to Smith at the two-minute warning with the Packers having just one timeout left. After Hurts fumbled the snap on a sneak from the goal line, the Eagles kicked another field goal to go up by five with under 30 seconds left.

Set Love up for the possibility of a heroic final drive, which was made even more difficult when Keisean Nixon attempted to retrieve the kickoff from the end zone, costing the Packers nearly 15 yards of field position. Love’s pass to Reed brought Green Bay to midfield, but then disaster struck. With Love under pressure, he lateraled the ball back to Jacobs, who stepped out of bounds to run out the clock. But the quarterback’s left ankle was twisted under the body of defensive tackle Jalen Carter, and he ended up on the turf in severe pain for several minutes before being helped off the field.

Malik Willis came onto the field to throw the ball to the endzone, but he couldn’t get it away. A quick, incomplete throw to Doubs on the sideline led to a final attempt. Instead of throwing the ball into the field, he held on to it and was tackled by Baun, ending the game.

All eyes are now on Love’s left ankle. The backup quarterback situation has been shaky at best for the Packers, but if Love is missing even once, this team will be in a huge bind early in the season.

The Packers fly home on Saturday and play again next Sunday, when they host the Indianapolis Colts in Week Two.