Week 1 is here! With little to go on in terms of how this matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers might go, lets instead look back at the last several matchups between these two and see if history tells us anything.

Lets start with some basic numbers:

The Overall Series

The Green Bay Packers lead the series 28-18

The Last Five: 3-2

Most Notable: 2022, Eagles 40 – Packers 33

Like 2007, when Aaron Rodgers stepped in for an injured Brett Favre, this game changed the course of Packers history. With Rodgers dealing with lingering injuries, and the game seemingly out of reach, this happened:

Brian Gutekunst and Matt Lafleur have both cited this as when they knew that Jordan Love could be the guy at QB for the Packers. Rodgers would proceed to go on to a 6-3 record vs the Cowboys. Given the parallels between the start of both careers, perhaps Love begins his own domination of the NFC East opponent that put him in the spotlight.

With the winning record both overall and over the last five matchups:

Advantage: Green Bay Packers

2023 Regular Season Record

Green Bay: 9-8

Philadelphia: 11-6

Notable Games:

Week 11, Packers 23 – Chargers 20

You could argue that the following week beat down of the Detroit Lions was far more impressive. This game however marked the turning point not only of the ’23 season, but possibly the next ten seasons. Jordan Love threw for over 300 yards, and Green Bay proceeded to go 6-2 for the remainder of the season.

Week 13, 49ers 42 – Eagles 19

This game was the beginning of the end for Philadelphia’s 2023 campaign. After getting absolutely demolished by the Niners, Philly would proceed to go 1-5 to end the year. This culminated in an embarrassing loss to a Tampa Bay team in the playoffs solely by virtue of playing in the NFC South.

Despite the two game advantage Philly had last year, both teams entered the playoffs as wild cards. I’ll get into why these records may be a bit deceiving, but from a strictly numerical standpoint Philadelphia comes away with the advantage here.

Advantage: Philadelphia Eagles

Week 1 Records (’19-’23)

Philadelphia Eagles: 4-1

Green Bay Packers: 3-2

On it’s face this would seem to be in favor of the Eagles, but lets put these numbers under the microscope. The Eagles opponents over those five games combined for a record of 30-53. The Packers opponents on the other hand combined for a record of 44-39. It would seem that both teams come into the season ready to play

Notable Games:

2021 Week 1, Packers 3 – Saints 38

I bring this game up only to note how much of an outlier it was, Green Bay followed this game up with 7 wins. They would finish the season 13-4 and win the NFC North. Please bear this in mind if Green Bay drops the ball on Friday as well.

Advantage: Even

2024 Offseason Vibes

This is where we move away from the strictly analytical and more into the general feeling these teams created with their offseasons.

Despite a rough start to the Jordan Love era, the Packers finished their season 6-2. They blew out a good Dallas team in Love’s first playoff game ever before dropping a close game against the eventual NFC Champion 49ers.

Coming off that Green Bay had the opportunity to load up in the draft with 11 picks, and additionally brought in two big name free agent signings with Xavier McKinney and Josh Jacobs. Jordan Love got paid, missing only a few days of practice, and the team escaped the preseason with no serious injury.

Green Bay is leaving the post season absent any notable drama at all, with an intact coaching staff, and a healthy roster. You couldn’t ask for a better start to a season then this.

Philadelphia on the other hand could serve as a sort of dark mirror to Green Bay’s season. The team started 10-1 before the wheels came completely off. It seemed as though teams had figured out Philly’s offense, and between injuries and subpar play the defense couldn’t help balance that out.

The Eagles lost maybe the best center in football with Jason Kelce retiring. They brought in Kellen Moore to try and revamp the offense, with QB Jalen Hurts claiming that “95% of the offense is new”. Speaking off coaching, there’s also been reports of a less than ideal relationship between HC Nick Sirianni and Hurts.

So. On one side you have a team that coalesced as the ’23 season progressed, leaving QB drama behind and bringing back the same staff into 2024. On the other you have a team that completely fell apart, installing a new offense, amid tension between QB and HC.

Advantage: Green Bay Packers

Final Prediction

Season openers can be tricky games to predict. Add in an overseas element and it gets even more confusing. With that being said, if Green Bay wants to make it where they want to go this year, this is the type of game you shouldn’t lose.

Green Bay Packers 23 – Philadelphia Eagles 17