Week 5 Preview: Philadelphia Eagles (1-3) at Carolina Panthers (3-1)

The Philadelphia Eagles travel south to Charlotte, North Carolina to take on the somewhat surprising 3-1 Carolina Panthers. The Birds are coming off of a tough loss to one of the best teams in football, the Kansas City Chiefs.

 

The Eagles defense couldn’t stop a nosebleed for the second straight week. Offensively, Jalen Hurts and the fellas were efficient in moving the football and didn’t punt once. However, the red zone struggles continued with three field goals inside the 20 and a couple of touchdowns called back due to penalty. As much as it could just be due to growing pains with a young team, it’s hard not to question the discipline, or lack thereof.

 

It feels like every time a play goes in the Eagles favor, we find ourselves checking the score bug waiting for that annoying little yellow “flag” icon. Is there a bigger buzz kill in the world of sports than that stupid little “flag” icon?

 

The Eagles lead the league with 44 penalties through four weeks. I’m no math whiz, but 11 penalties per game is #notgreat as the kids say. Perhaps even more concerning is the fact that the team with the second most penalties, Tampa Bay, has ten less than the Eagles do. So yeah, however bad you though the penalty situation was, it’s even worse.

 

Who Has The Advantage? Eagles O vs. Panthers D

 

Passing Game vs. Panthers Secondary

This is the heavyweight battle within the battle. The Eagles have the 9th best passing attack in the league. The Panthers, led by their young studs in the defensive backfield, have allowed the second fewest passing yards in the league. Despite giving up 36 points a week ago as a whole, they only allowed 188 passing yards to a high-flying Cowboy aerial attack.

 

While yes, Jalen Hurts did bounce back in a big way last week with 387 yards and two tudders, that Chiefs defense is horrendous. Not taking anything away from Hurts or any of the Birds receivers, but this Panthers defense poses a much bigger threat. Carolina’s second-year safety Jeremy Chinn is a special player. He’ll be flying all around the field Sunday.

 

The Eagles receivers and tight ends likely won’t have a significant advantage in their matchups. The young Eagles receivers, who have played well so far, face their biggest test of the season. Tight ends Dallas Goedert and Zach Ertz will have a tough time getting open against a great linebacker unit that will feature Temple product Hasson Reddick. They will dodge a bullet, however, as Shaq Thompson is out of this game with a foot injury.

 

If you’re looking for a comparison, think of how the Eagles played against a decent Niners defense. I think it’s far more likely we see a performance like that from the Eagles offense than what we saw a week ago. This Panthers defense is legit.

 

Advantage: Panthers

 

Running Game vs. Panthers Front Seven

Legally, the Philadelphia Eagles aren’t allowed to run the ball. Therefore, no analysis needed.

 

Okay, fine. In all seriousness, Nick Sirianni’s outright refusal to run the football is becoming a criminal offense in the city of Philadelphia. Jalen Hurts once again led the team in carries last week, with a whopping eight rush attempts. “Starting running back,” Miles Sanders, if you can even call him that anymore, had seven carries for 13 yards last week.

 

As I said last week, it’s not Sanders’ fault. He has not gotten the chance to shine in the three years he’s been wearing midnight green. He’s a talented back, he just needs a chance. Like, a legitimate chance, something the Eagles and their fans can actually, you know, evaluate.

 

Couple the outright refusal to acknowledge a run game with the fact that the Panthers have allowed the 10th fewest rushing yards in the league, and the advantage in this one seems obvious. I will, however, whisper ever so faintly that Carolina has allowed the seventh most rush yards per attempt and gave up 245 yards on the ground to Dallas last week.

 

Opportunities can be had on the ground for the Eagles, especially with stud linebacker Shaq Thompson out for Carolina. However, Nick Sirianni has given no reason to believe he’ll pounce on those opportunities.

 

Advantage: Panthers

 

Eagles O-Line vs. Panthers D-Line

A banged up Birds offensive line will get some reinforcement back this week. After missing the last two weeks, tackle Jordan Mailata will return to the lineup. However, instead of playing his normal left tackle spot, he’ll shift over to right tackle. This is because Lane Johnson is still away from the team due to a personal matter (hope everything’s okay, Lane). Therefore, Andre Dillard, who has played better than expected, will remain at left tackle.

 

Rookie lineman Landon Dickerson seemed to benefit from his switch to left guard. He struggled mightily at right guard against Dallas, but ended up being one of the best run blockers in the league last Sunday. Second year vet out of Auburn, Jack Driscoll, will start at right guard again.

 

 

It will be imperative that the young line continues to improve as they face a ferocious Panthers defensive line. As a team, Carolina is second in the league in sacks with 14.

 

The aforementioned linebacker Hasson Reddick has been used a lot in pass rush, and the former Owl leads the team with 4.5 sacks. The Panthers also boast two second-year studs on the defensive line in edge rusher Brian Burns and defensive tackle Derrick Brown. Burns has three sacks on the year, and Brown is an absolute cog in the trenches.

 

I’ll give the slight advantage to the side with a tad more experience and a Jason Kelce.

 

Advantage: Eagles

 

Who Has The Advantage? Panthers O vs. Eagles D

 

Panthers Pass Attack vs… Do The Eagles Have A Pass Defense?

If the Birds employ a pass defense, they should probably start showing up. Darius Slay has been absent. It’s starting to look like Steven Nelson was a free agent until late July for a reason.

 

I’ll say what we’re all thinking: Jonathan Gannon’s defensive strategy, especially against the pass, is beyond moronic. The whole “keep everything in front of you” strategy sounds great on paper, or if you’re a pop warner team. In the NFL, though, teams will pick that apart. Last week, the Chiefs literally just nickel and dimed their way down the field and never really faced any resistance. They didn’t punt a single time.

 

Unless something drastic changes with Gannon’s defensive philosophy, there’s no reason to believe the pass defense will hold an advantage on any team not quarterbacked by Davis Mills. The Panthers quarterback is not Davis Mills.

 

The Panthers quarterback, Sam Darnold, is the head of the eight best passing attack in the league. Wide receiver D.J. Moore has blossomed into a legitimate star at his position. Robby Anderson, another Temple Owl product, is a lock to score a 50+ yard touchdown on Sunday afternoon. This is an easy choice.

 

Advantage: Panthers

 

Panthers Ground Game vs. Eagles “Run Defense”

The Eagles rush defense has been so horribly horrendous since Brandon Graham ruptured his achilles that I can’t even think of a witty joke about how bad they are. It’s embarrassing. Last week Clyde Edwards-Helaire, who has been nothing short of a disappointment in 2021, was consistently gaining seven yards before even being touched on most of his rushing attempts.

 

The Eagles linebackers can’t tackle. The defensive line gets zero penetration and can’t get off blocks. Don’t even get me started on Derek Barnett.

 

It doesn’t matter that the Eagles are likely dodging a Christian McCaffrey size bullet due to injury. It doesn’t matter that rookie running back Chuba Hubbard hasn’t looked all that impressive in four NFL games. It doesn’t matter that Carolina is extremely average in the run game. This Eagles run defense couldn’t stop a stationary bike.

 

Advantage: Panthers

 

 

 

My Prediction

 

Everything about this game points the Panthers way, and everything I said above does so as well. Therefore, the selection of this game is fairly easy, right?

 

In the wise words of Lee Corso, not so fast. If Jalen Hurts can play the way he did last week, and Nick Sirianni remembers he’s allowed to call run plays, the Birds have a shot to win this game, at the very least.

 

At the end of the day though, there’s just too many things that will have to go right for the Eagles to pull off the upset. There’s too many issues with this Eagles team that will have had to get solved too quickly for them to win this game. Panthers win, 23-15.

 

If I Were A Betting Man: Under 45.5 total points

 

Broadcast Information

Time: 1:00 P.M. EDT
TV: FOX (Kevin Burkhardt, Greg Olsen, and Pam Oliver)
Radio: 94.1 WIP
Stream: NFL Game Pass

 

 

 

By Matt Szczypiorski | October 10, 2021
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