This just might be a different Eagles team.

The game against the Panthers sure felt like one the Eagles would have lost in recent years. Think of the Lions in 2016. The first Skins game in 2015. The Cardinals game in 2014. And so on. Close games where the Eagles had a chance to put someone away, didn’t and paid for it with a loss.

This time the Eagles made the clutch plays they needed to and won. They stayed in front of the Panthers and kept the pressure on them to play catch-up for almost all of the 2nd half. That can wear on a team and it seemed to affect Cam Newton and the Panthers on Thursday night.

There was every excuse available to the Eagles if they had lost. They were playing on the road on a short week against a tough team with a really good defense. The Panthers were hot and do a lot of creative stuff on offense and defense, making it even harder to prepare for them on a short week. The Eagles had injuries, with Lane Johnson and Wendell Smallwood missing the game. MLB Jordan Hicks got hurt during the game and missed more than half the game.

Then there was the officiating. The Eagles were 10-126 with penalties. The Panthers? 1-1. Seriously. To be fair, the Eagles did refuse a couple of penalties, but almost every close call went to Carolina. Even more infuriating, there seemed to be a double-standard. Jalen Mills made contact with a receiver and got the flag. The Panthers corner pinned Alshon Jeffrey’s arm to his body. No call. LeGarrette Blount blocked a player after the whistle and got a flag. A defender slammed Blount to the ground after the whistle, and it was out in the open for everyone to see. No call. All you ask for is consistency. This was one of those games where the officiating was so bad it actually gives credence to the normally insane conspiracy theories.

That’s a lot of of things for a team to deal with and to have to overcome.

But the Eagles did.

The game had a playoff vibe. Both teams were 4-1 and playing good football. Both really wanted to win this game. There were some big hits by both teams. Carolina was blitzing like crazy to try and get hits on Carson Wentz. The Eagles showed they could deal with tough circumstances and still win. That impressed the heck out of me and it gives me hope that this team might be better than we thought.

COACHING

Doug Pederson did a good job with handling the short week and having the players physically ready to play on Thursday night. Road teams traditionally struggle in Thursday night games. In terms of key decisions, Pederson had the offense go for it on 4th/1 near the goal line. That was somewhat of a no-brainer. There was another situation where the Eagles led 18-13 and faced 4th/1 at the CAR 30. Pederson kicked the FG to extend the lead to 21-13. As much as anything, that tells me just how confident he is in PK Jake Elliott. Pederson wanted the points.

The biggest decision Pederson made was going for 2 after the team scored a TD to go up 16-10. There was a penalty on the PAT and Pederson decided to move the ball to the 1 and to go for it. The Eagles converted and went up 18-10. That is a maximum one-possession lead. I think it messes with the trailing team psychologically because they know they need a TD and a 2-point conversion to just tie the game. Once the Eagles went up by 8, Carolina seemed somewhat desperate the rest of the game.

The offensive coaches had a nice gameplan early on. They moved the ball really well on the first two drives. Then Carolina started blitzing and the Eagles were inconsistent after that.

I love the confidence the coaches have in the full roster. Early 3rd down had the 3 TEs, Marcus Johnson and Corey Clement as the receivers on the field. Burton caught the pass and moved the chains. The Eagles used Johnson and Mack Hollins on some key drives in the 2nd half.

Jim Schwartz had a tough task. The Panthers do a lot of creative stuff, similar to the Chiefs. There were times when the Eagles were confused on option plays and QB runs. You could see veteran players like Malcolm Jenkins and Rodney McLeod arguing about who should have had the RB and who should have had the QB. That’s just not something you focus on every week.

The Eagles shut down the CAR run game and put everything on Cam Newton and the Panthers receivers. That allowed the DL to rush the passer aggressively and let the DBs focus on coverage. That worked well as the Eagles came up with 2 sacks and 3 INTs. Newton and his receivers were wildly inconsistent.

PLAYERS

Carson Wentz was up and down, but made the key plays needed to win. The Eagles got inside the CAR 25-yard line 3 times and scored TDs on each drive. And all 3 were TD passes by Wentz. He finished 16-30-222. One of the big keys to the game is that Wentz limited mistakes. He did fumble once, but wasn’t picked off. He took some sacks rather than trying to force the ball into tough coverage. Made a really smart play in the early 3rd. Tried to throw outside, but blitzer off the edge batted the ball. Wentz didn’t panic or try to catch the ball. He knocked it to the ground definitively.

Wentz used his legs to make plays. Kept the ball on zone read and ran for long gain on 2nd/17. Ran a QB sneak on 4th down set up 1st and goal. Had a great moment when he tried to run for TD. DB got in his way and Wentz tried to run him over. Big collision. That’s not a smart decision, but moments like that do fire up teammates. Those guys love seeing their leader sell out to score. Finished with 6 carries for 25 yards.

Wentz was affected by the blitz. He had multiple throws that were high or off target. He did make some good throws. I thought he showed good accuracy on a pair of downfield throws to Jeffrey. One was completed for 37 yards. The other was incomplete, but the ball was right on the money. Made a good read, throw on Agholor TD. Saw mismatch of WR and LB and got the ball to his guy quickly and let Agholor do the rest.

Best play came in the late 3rd. Vision, toughness, good throw.

How the hell did Carson Wentz make this throw? pic.twitter.com/QyPgT644Ov — Patrick (@PatrickMCausey) October 13, 2017

Very impressive play that kept a scoring drive alive.

The worst play came on the final 3rd down. Didn’t see Agholor wide open. Would have been easy pitch and catch and a huge gain. Instead, threw to Wentz over the middle and it was incomplete. Wentz saw what he missed while over on the sideline and was furious with himself. Love that he’s so competitive and willing to be tough on himself.

RB

LeGarrette Blount had another good game, going 14-67. Long run went for 18 yards. Did a poor job of picking up blitzer and LB hit Wentz as he threw. Luckily just an incompletion. Did a better job a couple of plays later vs blitzing LB. No catches. Drew a penalty for blocking someone after the whistle. Looked highly questionable.

Corey Clement didn’t play much. Had 2 carries for 2 yards. Didn’t have any passes come his way.

Kenjon Barner saw more action. He was only 5 for 7 on the ground, but had a couple of tough losses in there. Up and down game. There are times when he shows no vision. None. Had 2nd Qtr run where there was space and he was tackled for no gain. Had an effective, but ugly block of Kuechly on blitz. Let Wentz get the pass off and move the chains. Wentz had to run to avoid pressure and flipped him the ball, but Barner couldn’t make the grab. Wasn’t going to be easy, but the kind of play Barner must make. On next play, LB blew right by him to pressure Wentz into errant throw and force a punt. Best run of the game went to the outside left. Had space and got 6 yards on the play. Caught screen pass in the late 3rd and got 9 yards. Looked like he had more room to run. Had some good blitz pickups in the 2nd half. Made key block of Thomas Davis on the deep ball to Jeffrey.

WR

Nelson Agholor had a strong game, going 4-55-1. Caught pass over the middle on early 3rd down. Good chemistry between he and Wentz. Agholor wasn’t initially open, but then kept moving and gave Wentz a throwing lane. Added 11 RAC yards after the catch. Dropped a pass to open the 2nd drive, but then caught a ball on the very next play. No longer panics or goes into a funk. Caught quick pass for no gain on final play of the 3rd. Opened the 4th Qtr by catching short pass and turning that into 24-yard TD. Was matched up with LB and blew right by him. So good to see a slot receiver with speed and athleticism.

Alshon Jeffery finished 4-71. Called for questionable block in the back penalty on Wentz’s long run. The DB voluntarily turned his back and Jeffery gave him a small shove. Didn’t really affect the play. Certainly wasn’t worth a 10-yard penalty. Caught 14-yd pass on 3rd/11. Tough grab. Had to go low to keep the ball off the ground. Had chance for big gain in the mid-3rd but couldn’t make the grab since the CB pinned Jeffrey’s arm to his body. No PI call, of course. Got open down the left sideline and caught pass for a gain of 37 in the late 3rd. Huge play that helped set up final TD.

Torrey Smith had a quiet night. He was 1-6 and that catch came early. Ran right by his CB in the mid-3rd and was wide open for a huge play. Unfortunately Wentz threw to Jeffrey on that play (by design).

Marcus Johnson caught a 16-yard pass on a deep out on play-action pass. Ran a good route, made a smooth grab and then took a big hit.

Mack Hollins is quickly developing into one heck of a blocker. Put a DB on the ground on long run by Blount. Blocked well on long run by Blount in the 3rd. Caught pass over the deep middle for a gain of 18. Caught pass for gain of 20 on 3rd/16 in the late 3rd Qtr. Big play. Hollins has become a quality role player.

TE

Zach Ertz had his quietest game of the year. Only caught 2 passes, but both were TDs. Pushed off DB and got open over the middle for the first one. That was a short throw. The other TD was a 17-yard pass play. Ertz ran a good route, bending it to the outside and then coming back inside and giving Wentz a big, open target. Blocking was up and down. Had some good windback blocks. That’s where he lines up outside and then comes inside at the snap, hoping to block a DT from the side. Ertz doesn’t hit them hard, but gets in their way and that gives the RB a lane to attack. Missed LB on run late in the game and that led to TFL. Had a costly false start penalty.

Brent Celek’s best play of the game was when he walled off Julius Peppers and gave Blount room to get the 2-point conversion. Only Eagles TE who makes that block. Had one ball thrown his way, but that happened just after the whistle blew for a pre-snap penalty.

Trey Burton was 1-9, but that catch came on 3rd down and moved the chains.

OL

Blitzes were an issue, especially early on. Hard to tell who was at fault. They also used stunts, loops and wraps effectively. The Eagles blocked well most of the time, but confusion cause a lot of problems.

Jason Peters had another outstanding game. Good in pass pro. Had some terrific run blocks. Can still cave in his side of the defense. Doesn’t just engage the defender, moves him off the ball and creates big running gaps. Peters and Wiz work well together on double-teams.

Lane Johnson was out with a concussion so Halapoulivaati Vaitai got the start in his place. Excellent block on initial 3rd down. Beaten by Peppers for a strip-sack a couple of plays later. Didn’t have an ideal pass set and Peppers is still one heck of an athlete. Big V didn’t sulk. He went and tackled the guy who recovered the fumble. You wish he didn’t get beat like that, but do like how he responded. Generally did a good job in pass pro. His issues were more assignment related. There were multiple plays where he and Brooks weren’t on the same page.

Jason Kelce had another strong outing. Good block of Kuechly on early run up the middle. Sealed him and let Blount go by for nice gain. Had some really good blitz pickups. Panthers love to attack the A-gap with LBs. Kelce did good job vs them. Cleared the way for Wentz on QB sneak near the GL.

Shot 8 – Devastating double teams from #Eagles OL on these two Inside Zone run plays. Great movement up front. Seals created on backside. pic.twitter.com/odZbZeo1H8 — Fran Duffy (@fduffy3) October 17, 2017

Stefen Wisniewski played pretty well. He and Peters got good movement on double-teams. Wiz did a good job on blocks at the 2nd level. He’s playing well. Gotta be careful not to over-hype him. Wiz is not dominant or anything like that. Having a solid year. Did get called for holding in the late 3rd.

Brandon Brooks really stands out in pass pro. Incredibly stout. Just anchors and doesn’t give an inch. Good in the run game as well.

Isaac Seumalo played as a TE in some jumbo sets. Up and down showing. Had some good blocks. Had one big whiff of Peppers that led to TFL in the late 3rd. Had good block of 95 on final drive, giving Blount running lane up the middle. Very athletic. Still needs to be more physical and play with better strength.

*****

DL

On the first pass play for the Panthers, Vinny Curry drove the LT back toward Cam. Vinny saw the throwing motion start and got his hands up in Newton’s face. The pass was a dump-off to the flat that fell incomplete. That play kind of set the tone for the night. The Eagles made Cam uncomfortable in the pocket all game long. Sometimes they hit him. Sometimes they came free and forced him to get rid of the ball immediately. Sometimes they just got in his face and forced off-target throws. He never looked comfortable and that showed in the stats…28-52-239 with 3 INTs. Only 2 sacks, but regular pressure that affected Newton all night long.

Curry disrupted 3rd/2 run and let LBs make the stop for no gain. That forced CAR to kick a FG. Flew off the edge and tackled Jonathan Stewart for no gain. Drove the TE back into Cam late in the half, forcing an errant throw. Flew off the edge to get TFL to open the 2nd half. Got solid shot on Cam in the late 3rd.

Fletcher Cox should be sitting in jail right now. Nobody should be allowed to treat someone the way Cox did the Panthers RG. That was some serious abuse. Drove the LG back into Cam, forcing him to throw early on 3rd/4 and only getting 2 yards. Got into the backfield so quickly he almost turned a screen pass into a safety. On the next play, drove the RG back into Cam, hitting him as he threw. The ball went straight up in the air and Douglas picked it off. Huge play in the game. I got tired of noting that the RG got driven back or cleanly beaten. Happened over and over and over. Great game by Cox.

Brandon Graham finished with 3 tackles and half a sack. Blew by the RT late in the half and just missed a sack. Lined up at DT in the 3rd Qtr and blew by the RG. Would have had a sack, but got held and drew the flag. Got penetration on the final drive and forced Cam to throw ball that was almost picked off.

Tim Jernigan didn’t make a lot of plays, but was terrific vs the run and disruptive overall. Looped around Allen and hit Cam as he threw pass to open the 2nd Qtr. Exploded into backfield to create TFL in the mid-2nd.

Beau Allen was in on 4 tackles. Excellent vs the run. Ate up double teams when they went at him. Got push on pass plays.

Derek Barnett made his presence known. Got his first NFL sack. Split a TFL with Allen in the mid-3rd. Allen ate up 2 blockers and Barnett was the first to get to the runner. Got a solid hit on Cam in the mid-3rd. Had to work by TE and the LT to get free. Got his first NFL sack late in the game. Hamilton got inside pressure and Cam moved, allowing Barnett to get him from behind. Only half a sack since he had to share with Hamilton. Beat TE and hit Cam on pass play on same drive. Forced him to throw the ball early and way past his receiver. Almost picked off.

Chris Long played well. Good vs run and pass. Got pressure on multiple plays and was in on 3 tackles on run plays. Beat RB and TE to get pressure on Cam and force errant throw. Beat the LT late in the half and hit Newton. Just missed a sack.

Justin Hamilton had a good showing. Drove the RG right back to Cam on early pass play. Was on the field for both of the Eagles sacks. Drove the RG back into Cam late in the half. Graham, Cox split the sack. Disrupted run play in the 4th by moving the OG backward. Got good pressure up the middle in the late 4th and forced Cam to move in the pocket. Barnett sacked him from behind and Hamilton got a piece as well. Needs to get better with his hands. Shows good potential when he gets his hands cleanly on blockers and can use his strength/power.

LB

Jordan Hicks only played part of the game before leaving with an injury. Was still in on 4 tackles. Mix-up between Hicks and Kendricks led to easy catch and run by Stewart.

Nigel Bradham had a terrific game. 10 tackles, 1 TFL, 2 PDs. Dropped over the middle on initial 3rd down and deflected pass to force a punt. Tackled Cam in the open field late in the half. Only gave up a few yards and kept him from getting out of bounds. That really hurt the drive. Made a strong tackle of McCaffrey inside the 10-yard line to prevent a TD on 3rd down in the early 3rd. Had a big hit on TE in the mid-3rd to keep him short of the sticks on 3rd down play. Hurt himself there, but came back into the game. Broke up pass on 3rd/short on final drive. Was in the passing lane and just got a hand on the ball. Bradham flew all over the field and he really tackled with authority.

Mychal Kendricks had a terrific game. Flew all over the field and was in on 15 tackles, 10 of them solo. Made one mistake. Bit on play-action pass and left TE wide open. Hustled and made the tackle to prevent a TD. Best play of the game came in the 4th. Cam scrambled and Kendricks flew over and tackled him for a short loss. Impressive play in the open field on such a big man. Played a lot after Hicks got hurt and the Eagles didn’t seem to miss a beat.

Joe Walker took over for Hicks in the base sets. Up and down. Had chance for TFL in the 4th, but whiffed when Stewart cutback to the inside. Made good tackle of McCaffrey on inside run in the 4th. Shed blocker and made the stop, only giving up a couple of yards.

Najee Goode played in some sets. Got beaten for TD in the 4th. CAR used a pick play and Goode didn’t read the play well, left McCaffrey wide open for short TD.

S

Malcolm Jenkins didn’t do much on the stat sheet (2 tackles), but had a good game. Came down in the box on a lot of run downs and helped the Eagles shut down the CAR run game. Read pass play to the TE and broke on the ball as soon as it was released. Hit the TE just after the ball arrived. No chance for RAC yards there. Blew up run play by making contact with the runner 6 yards deep. Didn’t make the stop, but it had no chance due to Jenkins penetration. There was major confusion between he and McLeod on Cam’s TD run. Both guys took the RB and let Cam run free. Had great coverage of McCaffrey in the slot on deep ball and forced throw to go out of bounds. Cam had nowhere else to put it.

Rodney McLeod had his best game of the year. Read end around well and came up to make the tackle, only giving up a few yards. Made a good open field tackle of Cam late in the half. He was trying to get loose to the outside and McLeod limited him to just 2 yards. Picked off a pass over the deep middle in the early 3rd, but a penalty on Mills wiped it out. Almost picked off a pass in the late 3rd. Broke on short pass and almost made a great play. Just couldn’t quite keep the ball off the grass. Very close. Had a couple of good blitzes in the 4th Qtr. Both forced quick throws that were off target. Was up close to the LOS on the final play. Blitzed and jumped in the air when he thought Cam was going to throw. Cam had to hold the ball an extra half a second or so and then threw it into the ground as he tried to get the ball to McCaffrey. Finished with 4 tackles.

Corey Graham knocked down pass late in the half. Blitzed off the edge in the 3rd and forced Cam to get rid of the ball early. That was 3rd down play in RZ and helped keep CAR from a TD.

CB

Patrick Robinson had another good game. Had 3 tackles and picked off a pass. Slow to break on 1st Qtr pass and that gave up enough yards to move CAR into good FG range. Got off balance and gave up 14-yd pass to Benjamin on scoring drive. Came up with a right-place, right-time pick to open the 2nd half. RB bobbled a short pass and it went right to Robinson. Showed good awareness, concentration and hands on the play. Played both in the slot and outside.

Jalen Mills had an up and down showing. Called for PI in the mid-1st Qtr. Gave up 21 yards. Tried to aggressively play the ball, but made early contact. Made a great 3rd down play in the early 2nd Qtr. Trailed WR on crossing route. Hit the guy as soon as the ball got there, meaning no RAC yards and no 1st down. Called for PI in the early 3rd. Had his hand on WR, but was trying to play the ball. Another iffy call. 40-yard penalty. Picked off pass on next to last drive. Mix-up between Cam and his WR and the ball went right to Mills. Lots of big moments, good and bad.

Rasul Douglas had some rough moments early on. He missed tackle of McCaffrey in the flat. Gave up a few extra yards. Looked awful on Cam’s TD run. Didn’t even make a tackle attempt. Looked as if he was lost on that play. Picked off pass in the mid-2nd. WR lined up with tight split, which put Douglas into perfect position on the play. Made the grab and set up the Eagles first TD. Broke up pass to Benjamin in the end zone. Not a good throw on Cam’s part. Tried to get his hands on a pass in the 4th, but just missed it. Gave up 9 yard completion, but Schwartz will like his aggressiveness. Drew penalty for holding on the next play. Looked like legit call. Douglas was all over the WR. Jenkins let Douglas have it after 4th Qtr play where Douglas vacated an area too quickly and left a lot of room for McCaffrey to work as underneath receiver. That turned 3rd/long into 4th/1. Had chance for INT on that drive on deep ball, but couldn’t make the grab. Wasn’t a gimme, but someone like him with good hands needs to make that catch.

*****

ST

KOR – All were touchbacks.

PR – Kenjon Barner muffed a punt in the early 2nd Qtr, but luckily Robinson was there to recover the ball. Could have been a huge disaster.

Donnie Jones – Averaged 50.8 yards per punt, with one inside the 20.

Jake Elliott – Money, again. 2 of 2 on FGs. Good depth on his KOs.

MISC – Chris Maragos had a strong game in coverage. Unfortunately he got hurt while covering a punt in the 4th. He’s done for the year.

Rick Lovato had a bad snap on the first FG. Donnie Jones did a great job of catching the ball and getting it down smoothly for the kick. Lovato had a low snap to Jones on a 1st Qtr punt as well.

The Eagles did give up a 33-yard KOR and a 25-yard PR. Need to clean up those plays.

***

GAMEBOOK

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