Five Big-Picture Takeaways from Eagles Week 7 Loss to Panthers

4.) There’s No Reason to Panic Over what Carolina Did on Offense

Oct 25, 2015; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers wide receiver Corey Brown (10) and Philadelphia Eagles free safety Malcolm Jenkins (27) fight for the ball in the fourth quarter. The Panthers defeated the Falcons 27-16 at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Several members of the Panthers and their fans are probably scratching their heads, wondering how this game was so close. Eagles fans should be especially familiar in the feeling of statistical and territorial domination, but a slim-ish margin on the scoreboard. While Carolina was eventually able to push their lead to double digits, they only led by eight with minutes left in regulation and the Eagles with a chance to tie the game. Save for an explosive Ryan Mathews play, the offense didn’t exactly hold up their end of the bargain in making sure that happened.

There is a resilient calmness amongst all of the talent that seems to permeate throughout the Eagles defense. Even on plays where they look awful, such as the touchdown Mike Tolbert scored past Byron Maxwell’s tackle ‘attempt, there never seems to be any panic on the field. This group seems so intent on making plays and trying to will the team into contention that the snowball effect that some teams utilize to pull away in games doesn’t seem to affect the Eagles. The defensive line was fairly quiet, the linebackers were a bit overmatched, and the secondary got picked on more than they’d like to. Despite all of that, they still showed the ability to make game-changing plays and keep the team in it.

For the second straight week, a forced turnover deep in their own territory kept the Eagles opponent from building on an opening drive score. Nolan Carroll came down with an exceptional interception right out of the receivers hands. Malcolm Jenkins managed to intercept a pass fired by one of the strongest arms in the league in a place that 99 times out of 100 is impossible for a defender to force a turnover. Even the aforementioned Maxwell managed to come down with a huge interception that should have served the final necessary play for a defense to help forge a turnover win.

One of the bigger surprises for me this season is how much further along in terms of cohesiveness and chemistry the Eagles defense is compared to their offense. There was something about a group with so much turnover who didn’t have the luxury of the tangibility of offensive snaps in practice that concerned me. Instead, they have been far superior to the offense in terms of on-field performance and apparent cohesiveness. This isn’t a group that will shut down the opposition in terms of total yards. There will be games, like Sunday’s, where they fall short of the expectations they put upon themselves. Their ability to turn the ball over and make plays make even the occasional outlying performance palatable, as was the case against Carolina.