The 6-2 Philadelphia Eagles, currently in first place in the NFC East by percentqage points over the 7-3 Dallas Cowboys, host the struggling 3-5-1 Carolina Panthers tonight at Lincoln Financial Field. Carolina is currently in second place in the ugly NFC South, with no team seemingly wanting to win the division. This is a match up of teams going in opposite directions. Carolina enters the game losing three straight while the Eagles have won three of their last four.
The focus of tonight's game is on the starting Quarterbacks. Cam Newton has struggled for Carolina, especially during their current losing streak in which he has completed less than 50% of his passes. On the other side of the field, Philadelphia faces a dfferent situation. The team has been hit by injuries all season and just when the Offensive Line, which welcmes back Evan Mathis tonight, was getting healthy it lost Todd Herremans for the season last week with a torn biceps. The bigger problem is that starting QB Nick Foles suffered a broken collarbone in the win over Houston and is out indefinitely. This means that Mark Sanchez, who looked pretty good in relief last week, will start in his place. The biggest loss for the Eagles is starting Inside Linebacker and defensive leader DeMeco Ryans, who tore his achilles tendon last week.
The key match up tonight will be Carolina rookie Wide Receiver Kelvin Benjamin against the Eagles cornerbacks, who have struggled this year. Inside linebacker could be a problem with Ryans out, but Michal Kendricks is healthy and Casey Matthews has improved this season. The Eagles are most vulnerable in the passing game as Cary Williams and Bradley Fletcher continue to struggle. Look for Newton to try exploiting this weakness with Benjamin. Carolina will have to stop a rapidly improving Eagles running game that features three quality runners in last year's leading rusher LeSean McCoy, Darren Sproles and Chris Polk. Look for the Eagles to use the run game to help keep some pressure off of Sanchez, though he looks comfortable running the offense so Eagles coach Chip Kelly won't be afraid to continue throwing the ball. The Eagles have so many weapons that it will be difficult for the strugging Carolina defense to stop them.
If the Eagles can limit turnovers and contain Newton and Benjamin this should be a nice win for them. Carolina will need to bring their best effort and hope that they can rattle Sanchez early while getting a big game from Newton. If they do that and can force turnovers they will have a chance to win.