The Eagles will be traveling to Charlotte this weekend to take on the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers are currently 3-1 with wins against the Jets, Saints and the Texans. Their only loss was against the Dallas Cowboys last weekend. Philadelphia on the other hand is trying to find their first win since Week 1 against the Atlanta Falcons. The line for the Eagles vs. Panthers game has Carolina favored by a field goal according to Caesars Sportsbook. This article will preview the Philadelphia Eagles Week 5 game against the Carolina Panthers.
The Eagles are allowing a lot of points
The Eagles are coming into this game having scored 94 points during their first four regular-season games. This puts the Eagles at 17th in the league in points scored, which is the middle of the road. The offense is not their worst category. Defensively they have allowed 106 points according to pro football focus. The last two games have been awful for the Eagles’ defense with points allowed. They gave up 41 points to the Cowboys and 42 points to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Eagles’ offense cannot keep up with what the defense is allowing. The defense needs to make more stops and help their young quarterback out on offense. The Eagles are going to need to play better on defense if they want to win at Carolina this weekend.
DeVonta Smith needs to have type of game as last week
One of the keys to an Eagles victory this weekend is to get DeVonta Smith involved in the offense. He had a great game last weekend, as he had seven receptions for 122 yards. The one thing that needs to change in these stats would be scoring a touchdown or two. Smith is a great route runner and can make some great catches in coverage. It would be nice to see Smith get involved in catching some more screen passes during this game against Carolina. Smith had a big 22-yard gain catching one last week. He has the speed and the quickness to make defenders miss, which the Eagles should utilize more.
The Eagles running game still needs to improve
This will be brought up every week until there is a drastic change in the Eagles rushing attack. The Eagles’ leading rusher last week was Jalen Hurts. This should not be the case as the Eagles have two great running backs in Miles Sanders and Kenneth Gainwell. The Eagles also have Boston Scott who has also produced a lot for the Eagles in the past. It’s hard to blame Sanders and Gainwell for the lack of production when the coaching staff never calls their name.
Sanders has 169 rushing yards on 37 attempts. His rushing total could be over 300 yards or more if the Eagles stick with the run the whole game and don’t quit on it halfway through. The Eagles are doing a good job getting the running backs involved in the passing attack, especially with Gainwell. He can make people miss when he has the ball out in the flat.
 The Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers have started off nicely at 3-1. Most of these wins are against two of the worst-looking teams in the league, which are the Jets and the Texans. Even though this is the case, Carolina is still a pretty good team. They have not been completely healthy recently as their star running back Christian McCaffrey has been hurt with a strained Hamstring. He has returned to practice this week and will probably play in this game against the Eagles. Sam Darnold has also had a pretty great year with the Panthers since leaving the Jets. He is 6th in the league in passing yards with 1,189 yards. He also has five passing touchdowns and three interceptions. Darnold has shown a new part of his game, which is his mobility. He showed that he could really run with the ball against the Dallas Cowboys and can be somewhat of a dual-threat quarterback if he wants to. The most surprising stat of this year is that he has five rushing touchdowns. This is a stat you would expect Lamar Jackson to have but not Darnold.
Overall this should be a really close game. This is a very winnable game for the Eagles, but they need to show more consistency on offense to make winning a reality. This concludes this Philadelphia Eagles Week 5 game preview for their game against the Carolina Panthers.
Featured image courtesy of Yong Kim/ Philadelphia InquirerÂ
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