The Philadelphia Eagles travel to the Carolina Panthers, both teams present themselves in great shape and greet each other from the top in their respective divisions.Is there another show of Cam Newton?Or can Carson Wentz and Co.a win away?The game will be played live on DAZN during the night from 2.25 a. m. on Friday night!
The offense of the Carolina Panthers was one of the big issues in the off-season.With the draft picks for Curtis Samuel and Christian McCaffrey, the course setting seemed to be a clear indication of an opener for a short pass – and many legitimate questions as to whether Newton could play such a thing became loud.All the more so as Carolina apparently planned to run his quarterback himself less often.And the first few weeks proved all the critics right.
Newton seemed to be extremely inaccurate and didn’t seem to feel at all comfortable, not only with regard to the short passes.After missing much of the season’s preparation due to a shoulder operation, his long pass and the general timing with the receivers were problematic, but over the past two games there was a clear trend in the opposite direction.
Obviously, Newton as a runner and scrambler has been given more freedom again, against New England and also recently in Detroit he showed some perfect deep balls.He was also under pressure against Detroit at just seven of his 31 dropbacks and four passes on Play Action, including a touchdown.Carolina has already recorded another 8.3 yards per pass, the fourth highest value in the league.Only the patriots have more passing passes of at least 40 yards on their account (6) than the Panthers (4).
And what else?Carolina has been better in the Red Zone over the past few weeks, uses bunch formations more frequently and successfully and is increasingly using McCaffrey rather than receivers.Since Week 1, his rushing attempts have been running at almost constant speed, while he had only one time under six targets (maximum: eleven against the Saints).
The last point, however, is not only positive, because the Run Game is anything but a strength of this offense – and so that Carolina can get back to one of the best offenses, this factor must be fulfilled.
Center Ryan Kalil (neck) turns out again, however, that it is against the strong Eagles front of all people that the switch is flipped, one can at least strongly doubt.Nevertheless, the return of Fletcher Cox (Wade) would still be important for the guests, whose betting will be decided shortly before the game begins.
Philadelphia’s defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz said,”It’s a good thing we had to prepare for Kansas City.It’s not the same offense, but as far as the Jet Sweeps, Shovel passes and these things are concerned, there are already similarities” Philly has to do without Ronald Darby, but the surprisingly good performances of Patrick Robinson still help the Secondary.The pass-defense in general remains a shaky affair and could get into problems with Carolina’s downfield game.
The duel on the other side of the ball is almost even more exciting, as Carolina’s Defense reminds a bit of the great 2015 version.The front can dominate games, a much better appearing Secondary allows the Panthers more freedom of flashing.It’s the duel of the statistically best third-down opener against the statistically best third-down defense – a real test for Carson Wentz and Co.
Carson Wentz:”The Eagles are likely to be more than satisfied with the development of their quarterback after the first five games.Wentz gradually collapsed in the course of the past season, partly because the offense – presumably due to his limitations – was too predictable and his line was too fragile.There is little to see so far: Wentz plays much more aggressively, the deep-passing game works noticeably better.In the short pass game, he acts precisely and is solid against pressure.
A bitter blow for Philly is the failure of Lane Johnson (brain shake), one of the best right tackles in the league.The Eagles have an above-average line, but Johnson’s failure against the dangerous Panthers front comes at a very unfavorable time.
It is therefore all the more important that the Eagles have found an increasingly better balance over the past three weeks.After a (too much too) strong focus on the pass at the start of the season, LeGarrette Blount, Wendell Smallwood and Co.take more pressure from Wentz and give Philly long drives with a lot of ball holding time.
One thing is clear: Both teams are in very good shape at the moment and should ensure a thrilling game despite the short week.In the words of Panthers coach Ron Rivera:”I think it’s one of the more balanced games this season, just because both teams are playing similarly.Both want to set up a run game and have power on the position.Both have active quarterbacks with a strong arm, both have aggressive defenses and physical offensive lines as well as large wide receivers.This is gonna be a great game!”
nearby
Carolina Panthers (4-1) – Philadelphia Eagles (4-1) (Fri, 2:25 a. m. live on DAZN)
The SPOX NFL Predictor, Week 6:
Pascal
De Marco
43-34