Panthers @ Eagles Preview

Because the first game was bad and we’re inching closer and closer to the regular season, we should be looking for improvement. Let’s take a look at some players and items that need to improve against Carolina.

Players:

Tony Hunt- He’s getting carries with the first team on Friday, so he obviously has to step up his game. I don’t know how much blocking he’ll have to do on the goal line, but his overall performance was mediocre.

Max Jean-Gilles- He wasn’t that impressive against Baltimore, and he has to step up his game because he’s filling in for Andrews against Carolina. He has a similar body, so hopefully he learns to play in a similar way.

Mike Patterson- While Bunkley was hurting Baltimore’s timing on just about every play, Patterson was being neutralized at the line of scrimmage. He needs to get a push. His asset is his ability to get off the ball fast and get quick penetration, so he has to do it. A stalemate isn’t good enough.

Takeo Spikes- He made a lackluster preseason debut, and in front of the home fans, he’ll want to make an impression. He has to show the ability to fight off blocks and make the tackle. He’s a big guy, he should be able to handle it. We need him to.

William James- He absolutely deserves to be ragged on every chance anyone gets. I’m kind of worried about our depth at corner if this guy can’t get better. He looked awful against Baltimore, and although he was covering a quick guy in Mark Clayton, there’s no excuse for being beat as bad as he was.

Dirk Johnson- Normally his punting against Baltimore wouldn’t be cause for concern, but if he wants to remain an NFL player, he has to out-punt Rocca at this point. Rocca may be inconsistent, but I’ll take the inconsistency going from 40 to 60 yard punts instead of 25 to 40 like we have with Dirk.

Things:

Running game- It was absolutely dreadful against the Ravens. Two Quarterbacks were in the top 3 on our team in rushing. It starts from the coaching and it goes down to both the backs and the line. We have to try and establish the running game as a threat. We passed a lot in Baltimore and there was no reason for the Ravens to sit on the run. The backs have to get going north and south, and the Offensive Line has to execute their assignments. I wouldn’t mind seeing more two back sets and Thomas Tapeh. He was a key in the running game last year and he didn’t play much on Monday.

Penetration- Bunkley isn’t the only Defensive Tackle on the roster, right? Patterson was outplayed by Jeremy Clark. The middle of our defense was awful last year, and I know we’re missing a couple guys due to injury that hurt our depth, but Patterson has to be better. We’re going to go as far as Bunkley, Patterson, Scott, Reagor and whoever else take us.

Pass rush- I’m going after the D-Line again. McNair had too much time on a lot of passes, and I know we didn’t blitz a lot, but the front four has to be able to get the job done itself sometime. This killed us in 03 and 05. Kearse is working his way back to health and I’m confident in him for the most part, but Darren Howard was a bust last year, and Trent Cole is a situational player. Mike Patterson was drafted to get sacks and he has to do it.

Let’s look for these things in 5’s return to the field on Friday night against Carolina.