The Philadelphia Eagles hosted the Carolina Panthers for the first of their two-game home stand. With the Eagles carrying their momentum from the big in Baltimore, the focus would be to now stay close to the Detroit Lions in their quest for the number one seed in the NFC.
Unfortunately, I’m starting to believe that Jalen Hurts was right and that momentum is not a real thing. At least it isn’t for the Eagles offense. Despite going on an 8-game winning streak, Philadelphia has yet to figure out their first-quarter woes.
The Panthers put up three points in the first quarter which gave them an early lead. Their run game and the continued rise of Bryce Young kept the Panthers in attack mode on every down. Hubbard had 5 rushes for 31 yards while Young ended the quarter 4 for 9 with 53 passing yards.
The same couldn’t be said for the Eagles. Hurts started the game 2 for 4 and ended the first quarter with only 8 passing yards. Philadelphia relied on Saquon, who tallied 27 rushing yards on 4 attempts. It was a challenging start that would give you a hint of how this game was going to go.
Philadelphia had a better outcome in the second quarter as they scored 14 points to the Panthers’ 7 points. Hurts was 7 for 10 with 62 passing yards, 1 rushing touchdown, and 1 passing touchdown to DeVonta Smith to seal the first half. Saquon finished the first half with 49 rushing yards which brought him closer to Shady McCoy’s single season rushing record.
Entering the second half, the Eagles couldn’t carry that late first-half momentum as they couldn’t put together a scoring drive. Jake Elliott missed another field goal which has left people wondering what could be going wrong with one of the more reliable kickers in the game.
They left the door open for the hungry Panthers who would score on a rushing touchdown by Chubba Hubbard on the next drive. Fortunately, for the Eagles, the Panthers would miss the extra point which left the score at 16-14.
Philadelphia would take that miss and work it in the favor. Jalen Hurts put the offense on his back with a huge 35-yard scramble to bring the Eagles into the red zone. Shortly after that scramble, Hurts would find Calcaterra for a 4-yard touchdown pass.
It would be on the defense to come up big for the Eagles now. Bryce Young kept the drive alive on many occasions in the fourth quarter as he used his scrambling ability to his advantage. He escaped the pocket as the pressure mounted and found his receivers open, helping keep the drive alive. The Panthers, out of desperation, remained aggressive as they went for it on fourth down but Darius Slay was able to break up the pass for a turnover on downs.
The Eagles offense now went into closer mode with 8:39 left on the clock. Hurts would find A.J. Brown for a decent gain and then handed the ball off to Saquon Barkley who is now the Eagles’ single season rushing record holder with 1,623 rushing yards on the season. With four minutes left to go in the game, Hurts would continue his struggles on the day as he scrambled to the right but then slid behind the line of scrimmage as opposed to throwing the ball away. He would be later bailed out by A.J. Brown who made a spectacular catch after slipping for the first down.
On the same drive, the Eagles would struggle to really get going as Carolina continued to smother them. After a missed face-mask call on Grant Calcaterra, the Eagles’ would attempt to bait the Panthers to jump offside but that just led to a delay of game. Mann would come in to punt the ball, which perfectly landed in the hands of Avonte Maddox at the 2-yard line. With under three minutes to go, the Eagles’ defense would have to save the day once again.
The first pass from Bryce Young was incomplete and at the legs of Xavier Legette. Young’s second attempt would be incomplete and lead to an illegal forward pass which put the Panthers at 3rd and 11 . He would then show the growth that we’ve seen in recent weeks as he scrambled until he found a wide open Legette for a huge gain and a first down. The Panthers would continue to drive down as Young found the open pockets of space within the Eagles’ zone defense.
Young would shortly run into Jalyx Hunt as he scrambled for three-yards. On the following play, Darius Slay would come up with a huge pass deflection. Young would target Legette once again but he overthrew him as the wideout was smothered by Slay and CJGJ. Then on fourth down, Young would find Thielen open for pass which moved the chains and put them closer to the red zone.
With the game on the line, the Panthers would be going for it on 4th and 9 after Xavier Legette dropped a huge game ending touchdown pass. Young would go for his most reliable target in Adam Thielen but he would be denied the completion after a diving effort by Darius Slay.
The Eagles have now won nine in a row and will move to 11-2 on the season as they stay hot on the heels of the Detroit Lions for the number one seed in the NFC. Next Sunday they will host the Pittsburgh Steelers at Lincoln Financial Field for a 4:25 PM game.
Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
