Eagles @ Panthers

Created by OnePlusYou

It's here. The moment we've all been waiting for! The regular season, Week One home opener that brings the Philadelphia Eagles to Charlotte in what has been hyped up--by me--as the preview to the 2010 NFC Championship! Wishful thinking? Only time will tell.


Both teams have suffered some setbacks with injuries, both teams suffering some heavy injury setbacks in preseason.
The Panthers were missing a number of starters, including defensive tackle Ma'ake Kemoeatu, who was relegated to the ranks of Injured Reserve on the opening week of training camp.

The Eagles, having their own injury-laden woes, suffered a major setback, losing defensive signal-caller Stewart Bradley, also to the Injured Reserve list.
While I do have respect for them, Eagles fans and the media crack me up at times.
The repetitious and boorish media sensationalism of Eagles fans being horrible people, and the continuous dredging up of incidents that occured some 25 years ago, should remain lost in ancient history.

The rumor that Eagles fans are brutal to all fans but their own, is also a common misconception. While attending the Eagles training camp, a Dallas Cowboys fan came in wearing a white Tony Romo jersey. Even the Eagles fans I was with offered no entertainment...Not even a "Booo!" My view on Eagles fans has changed tremendously. Their reputation far preceeds them, their bark being far worse than their bite.

The latest news is the Eagles may have just settled on a tight end, after releasing Tony Curtis and signing former Patriots tight end Alex Smith to a one-year contract.

The strength of the Eagles defense up the middle will be challenged. Omar Gaither is the predicted starter at middle linebacker for the Eagles on Sunday. For the Eagles to succeed by not allowing the Panthers to exploit the middle, Gaither has to succeed.

Gaither, while a good leader, a solid tackler, and very athletic in coverage, he needs to be in the right place at the right time. Gaither is almost 20 pounds lighter than Bradley as well, which should bring some concern to the Eagles, considering the Panthers have road-graders making up their offensive line. The plus side for the Eagles is Gaither has played very well in their defensive scheme.

For the Eagles defense to do well, Gaither and everyone around him, will have to work hard to contain Panthers running backs DeAngelo Williams, and any combination of Jonathan Stewart or Mike Goodson. As long as the Panthers running game is able to find a chinque in the armor of the Eagles defense, the more they pick at it the better chance they'll have at eating up yardage.

While it's nothing fancy, Carolina's tactic of beating a defense has been very effective. Running the football to wear out the defense, then using a play-action fake throwing the ball over the top to star receiver Steve Smith--a.k.a. Superman--who is the most difficult player in the league to defend in man-to-man coverage.

Another player for the Jake Delhomme-to-Steve Smith or the tight ends connection to test, is rookie free safety Macho Harris--no affiliation to The Coalition's Macho Man--who takes the place of the departed Brian Dawkins in the Eagles defensive secondary.

Some areas the Panthers offense will need to be careful on, is in the passing game. The Eagles defensive secondary has the threat of No. 1 cornerback Asante Samuel, and No. 2 cornerback Sheldon Brown.
Samuel will most likely be used against Steve Smith, and since the Panthers love to line Smith up all over the field, we will probably see a lot of Samuel being moved around to cover our top receiving threat.

This game is filled with many offensive weapons on both sides. While the Eagles receivers seem scrappy, as long as they can hold onto the ball in a receiving situation, they'll eat up the yardage. This is where the Panthers defensive secondary comes in--the secondary that seems to have remained lost since late last season and in the playoff meltdown against the Cardinals.

Chris Gamble and Richard Marshall need to step up in a huge way, lest they get burned by Eagles receivers Jeremy Maclin, Kevin Curtis, and DeSean Jackson all afternoon. We should also see the use of rookie defensive back Captain Munnerlyn in nickel packages.

Let's also not forget that Eagles multi-purpose running back Brian Westbrook will also make his debut Sunday. Westbrook is the biggest offensive threat the Eagles have in Week One. Depending on the capacity and situations he's used, we'll need to see the defensive line step up, and we'll want to see the linebackers and defensive ends step in to make plays.

Like the Eagles, the Panthers also have a multi-purpose running back in DeAngelo Williams. While Williams is seldom used as a receiver compared to Westbrook, he is still a threat in that situation.

The Panthers biggest advantage in Sunday's game is from the offense; the bigger potential from the blockers on the offensive line, including the fake-out blocker-turn-receiver option play that the Panthers use receiver Muhsin Muhammad at sometimes.
This week the Panthers and Eagles split about even when declaring which team has an advantage.

Either team's biggest problem is their own mistakes, errant penalties, and an uninvited visit from the injury bug.
One specific issue that can hurt the Panthers' chances of winning are conservative play-calling by the Panthers on defense at any time.

The downfall for the Eagles could be if Andy Reid gets into the pass-happy playcalling mode. Then the excuse--aside from Reid's status quo response of not putting the team in a position to win--will be that the offense and McNabb were never able to establish a rhythm in the third preseason game against the Jaguars.

OSC's prediciton: Panthers by two.