AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith of the Eagles deliver on the home stretch against the Packers

SÃO PAULO, Brazil – Standing in a newly remodeled locker room at Corinthians Arena, normally reserved for athletes in other sports, DeVonta Smith compared the unique experience of playing an NFL game in a Brazilian soccer stadium to his time in Tuscaloosa.

“It felt like college,” Smith said to Jalen Hurts. “It was loud.”

The Eagles won their season opener 34-29, thanks largely to the dynamic trio of Smith, AJ Brown and Saquon Barkley in key moments of the game. While Smith’s memories Friday night were tied to the similarities in volume between the Southeastern Conference crowd and the 47,236 fans in a stadium designed to funnel noise down to field level, there was also the familiar sight of the former Alabama wide receiver coexisting with a litany of talented players in a shootout victory.

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Smith finished the game with seven catches for 84 yards, including two crucial passes on the Eagles’ final drive to keep the offense on the field until the end. Brown finished the game with five catches for 119 yards and a touchdown. His biggest play came in the third quarter when he got past Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander and made a long touchdown catch that gave the Eagles a second-half lead.

“They’re damn good,” Hurts said when asked if Brown and Smith are the best pass-receiving duo in the league. “I would say they’re the best. It’s the way they come to work every day. They care about the little details that they do, and that was evident tonight, in the key moments. They made some big plays that changed the game, and that’s what it’s all about.”

After starting the game with two questionable turnovers, the Eagles offense got going thanks largely to calming running attempts from Barkley and some timely catches from Brown and Smith. Late in the first quarter, Brown caught a slant route pass on third-and-2 for an 8-yard gain, preventing the Eagles from starting the game without a first down on their first three series.

After missing last season with a knee injury that also kept him out of his team’s playoff loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Brown said his early successes helped him find his rhythm again.

“It was really important for me to just get going,” Brown said. “I didn’t play the last playoff game and I was a little lost in thought. I just needed that first tackle to get back into the swing of things.”

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Alexander had Brown as his primary assignment and followed the star receiver for most of the game. The two engaged in a brief shoving duel midway through the second quarter before Brown caught a short pass and blocked Alexander’s tackle attempt before working his way forward and gaining a 13-yard gain.

On the following series, Brown passed Alexander on a double play, worked his way to the sideline, and then cut forward to break free for a 67-yard touchdown.

While Brown’s touchdown helped the Eagles keep up with the Packers in the second half, Smith’s biggest moments were crucial in keeping the tempo going. The 25-year-old made two catches on the Eagles’ final drive behind the posts, the first on a second-and-13 when Hurts found him on a shallow lateral route. Smith ran through two tackles and dropped forward to pick up the first down and force Green Bay into its first timeout of the second half.

Two plays later, Smith tied the game with an 11-yard catch after a slant route, forcing the Packers to take their final timeout while the Eagles ran down the clock with a final drive that lasted 7 minutes and 25 seconds and ended with a field goal.

“Jalen and DeVonta made some great plays,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “This is tough football, four-minute football is tough football.”

“We always want the ball to be in the hands of the offense at the end of the game. That’s been our motto the whole time. Decide the game, don’t give them a chance to achieve anything.”