Philadelphia Eagles: 3 keys to a win over Carolina Panthers
By Jake Starr
Push the ball downfield
Alshon Jeffery is back and looks better than ever. In last week’s win over the Giants, the second year Eagle recorded two touchdown catches. Wentz and the Eagles will look to get Jeffery more involved on Sunday against the Panthers.
One area where the Eagles have not excelled so far this season is in taking deep shots. Wentz has looked good in short and intermediate throws, but we have yet to see him really make too many plays down the field.
The Eagles may not have a true speed threat, but they still have guys who should be able to make plays down the field. Jeffery can win jump balls, and Nelson Agholor and Shelton Gibson are speed guys and have shown in the past they can take the top off of defenses.
One of the things we said earlier was that the Eagles needed more balance on offense. If they can achieve that and force Carolina to respect the run, then there should be chances to make plays over the top; and, the same can be said that if they can push the ball down the field, then it should open up some chances to run the ball.
We saw a similar trend last year, where the Eagles threw mostly short and intermediate routes early on in the season, then began to successfully throw deep later on. So hopefully that is a trend that can continue this season, starting this Sunday against the Panthers.