After three consecutive defeats, the Philadelphia Eagles’ season is taking a dizzying turn. They hope to stop the bleeding at Lincoln Financial Field against the Carolina Panthers 2-2. Here are our five things to watch out for.
1) The Eagles offense is going to look like a preseason roster
As noted in our picks article this week, the Eagles offense has been putrid through the first five weeks of the season:
| Attack of the Eagles | Statistical | Rank |
| Points per game | 18.4 | 29 |
| Yards per game | 262.2 | 31 |
| Yards per play | 4.5 | 30 |
| First downs per game | 14.4 | 32 |
| EPA per game | -0.19 | 30 |
| Success rate | 37.02% | 31 |
| Rushing yards per game | 91.6 | 23 |
| Rushing Yards Per Attempt | 3.8 | 21 |
| EPA per peak | -0.18 | 26 |
| Passing yards per game | 170.6 | 28 |
| Passing yards per attempt | 6.0 | 28 |
| EPA per pass | -0.20 | 27 |
| Average TOP (excluding OT) | 27:50 | 27 |
And that was before Jalen Hurts was ruled out due to “superficial blood clots” in his calf. Barring any surprise roster moves, Tanner McKee will start in his place. We’ll come back to that in a moment.
You’d think the Eagles probably played some pretty good defense, considering those atrocious stats above. But no. They played two objectively bad defenses from the Commanders and Titans, a mediocre Bears defense, and a Rams defense missing Myles Garrett, Aaron Donald, and Jaylen Watson. The only good, healthy defense they’ve faced this season so far was Jacksonville’s.
The Panthers defense stinks a little. I mean, they gave up 59 points to the Bears in week one. But maybe that doesn’t matter. The Eagles’ projected starters on Sunday are definitely iffy. Here’s mine (probably not 100% correct):
• Quarterback Tanner McKee
• Running back Dameon Pierce
• WR DeVonta Smith
• WR Makai Lemon
• Defender Darius Cooper
• TE Dallas Goedert
• Lieutenant Jordan Mailata
• LG Willie Lampkin
• C Drew Kendall
• RG Tyler Steen
• RT Markel Bell
Six of these guys weren’t starters at the start of the season.
There really isn’t much to say here. It’s a skeleton crew, and it’s going to be hard to win with this attack.
2) It’s Tanner time
In 2024, McKee played in a significant Week 17 game against the Cowboys after Kenny Pickett was injured, then he started the following week against the Giants in a game where the Eagles rested their starters. He was outstanding against the Cowboys in limited action, and he did enough to win against the Giants. We looked at McKee’s performance in those games during the 2025 offseason. At the time, McKee was getting hype around the league as a possible starter for another team.
In 2025, with playoff seeding on the line in a Week 18 game against the Commanders, the Eagles opted to rest the starters and McKee got the nod. He looked pretty decent for one quarter when he still had DeVonta Smith to throw to, and then it went poorly after that. The Eagles lost to a Josh Johnson-led Commanders team that was missing Jayden Daniels and Marcus Mariota and had already packed their bags for Cancun.
During the 2026 offseason, the Eagles traded for Andy Dalton, who beat out McKee for the QB2 job during training camp, even though Dalton didn’t even look very good. In the Eagles’ Week 3 loss to the Chicago Bears, Hurts was hit hard and was forced into the medical tent to check on a concussion. While he was being tested, play resumed with Dalton replacing him…and yada yada yada, he’s no longer on the team. (Well, for now anyway.)
It will therefore be McKee who will have his third career start. His first two were in “rest start” matches. In this match he will again play with a bunch of saves, but this time not intentionally.
I’m curious to see what he looks like.
3) Eagles run defense against Chuba Hubbard
Chuba Hubbard is the Panthers’ point guard. In four games this season, he has 61 carries for 306 yards (5.0 YPC) and 3 TDs. He is 11th in the NFL in rushing yards per game.
“They are dangerous,” Vic Fangio said Thursday. “I think they’re third in the league in yards. It’s only a five-game season so far, but fifth in points, something like that, or fourth in first downs. They’re balanced. They run well. Hubbard is a really good back, runs strong. They block well. They’re a good offense, and it’s not slanted one way or the other. It’s (not) all passing. They’re really good running and running. throwing, and the running game and the passing game complement each other from the first downs.
Hubbard is a taller back than usual, at 6’1, 216, but he has nice elusiveness and he breaks tackles.
The Eagles defense will have to carry the team for the rest of the season, as they won’t get much help from the offense. It’s not exactly new, but this dynamic reaches a new level this season. They will also have to create turnovers. Hubbard had one fumble on 134 carries last season, and he hasn’t had any so far on his 61 carries, so he’s done a good job with ball security.
4) The big corners of the Eagles against Bryce Young and the big receivers of the Panthers
The Panthers have three big passing game targets: Tetairoa McMillan (6’5, 212), Jalen Coker (6’3, 213) and TE Darren Waller (6’6, 245). They are all capable of using their size to make big plays.
Here is McMillan:
And Coker:
And Waller:
Of course, the distributor is Bryce Young, who has had a slow start to his professional career, but is starting to figure things out.
“The quarterback has really improved,” Fangio said. “I think I coached against him when he was a rookie, and to see the progress he’s made since then, well done to him and his coaching staff. He’s a very good processor, he makes quick decisions, he knows where to go with the ball. He’s elusive, he’s a scrambler, very good anticipation. Very, very impressed with him.”
Young threw 9 TDs against 2 INTs. He is known as a runner, but he doesn’t run very often. As Fangio notes, he’s a scrambler, but he struggles to gain more time and get down the field.
The Eagles have bigger corners (relatively speaking) in Quinyon Mitchell (6’0, 193), Riq Woolen (6’4, 210) and Cooper DeJean (6’0, 200).
5) Where could the Eagles go #Feastin’™️
The Panthers offensive line looks like this:
| L.T. | LG | C | R.G. | RT |
| Rachid Walker | Damien Lewis/ Corey Bullock | Luc Fortner | Robert Hunt | Monroe Freeling |
Remarks :
• Ikem Ekwonu was the Panthers’ starting LT and a player the Panthers hoped to build around. He suffered a ruptured patellar tendon in the Panthers’ loss to the Rams in the Wild Card round of the playoffs last season. He will miss a substantial portion of the 2026 regular season. The Panthers signed Rasheed Walker this offseason to prepare for the loss of Ekwonu.
• Taylor Moton was the starting RT. He was diagnosed with blood clots in his lungs in June and placed on the NFI list. He has yet to play this season, but the Panthers opened his 21-day practice window this week. In the 2026 draft, the Panthers drafted Monroe Freeling, who was starting at RT. Freeling is listed on the injury report with a knee injury. He did not practice Wednesday, but was limited Thursday. If neither Moton nor Freeling can play, Stone Forsythe would likely start at RT.
• Damien Lewis is the starting LG. He is dealing with an elbow injury and was limited Wednesday and Thursday. He missed the last two games and Corey Bullock filled in on waivers. To be determined who will start at LG. Lewis might be the Panthers’ best offensive lineman.
• Robert Hunt made a Pro Bowl in 2024.
• Luke Fortner is just a guy who has kind of bounced back.
That’s not a good line. Young has been under a lot of pressure so far this season.
The Eagles pass rush showed some life against the Jaguars in Week 5. Notably, Jalen Carter had a monster game. If the Eagles want to “upset” the Panthers, the defensive line will likely need to make some big plays.
#FeastinMeter™️: 5/10 turkey legs 🍗🍗🍗🍗🍗
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