Panthers @ Eagles Review

I wanted to see improvement and I got a face full of it. Let’s review the notes I talked about in my preview, and then I’ll get to my thoughts on the rest of the game.

Tony Hunt- He did what we asked him to do, and he did a good job in short yardage situations. He pounded the ball on the goal line and scored a couple of times. He really didn’t get a chance to do much else because Nate Ilaoa was getting a lot of looks in the second half.

Max Jean-Gilles- I didn’t actually see Scott Young play at all, so I’m glad that Jean-Gilles got all of the snaps with the first team. He didn’t seem to blow guys off the ball like you would like to see and expect from him, but he maintained contact to help open up holes. If Andrews is out for a significant amount of time, this is the guy I want in. He’s a big body with big potential.

Mike Patterson- He got some nice pressure on the QB in his time in the game, and it resulted in at least one sack. As long as he keeps working hard to stay low and get off the ball, he’ll be fine when he’s getting his rest.

Takeo Spikes- Spikes showed improvement in his second game. He was careful to not overrun a play when he had the opportunity to make a good tackle, and he did a great job of fighting through traffic to get to the ball. That’s what we brought him in here to do, and hopefully he can bust up screens the same way he did on Friday.

William James- He didn’t completely suck, so that’s an improvement. Dropped an easy pick, but the deflected pass is nice too.

Dirk Johnson- He had another pretty good game, but again, he was outclassed by Rocca. Dirk is doing enough to win the job in most years, but he doesn’t stand a chance against Rocca. You have to respect him for going out there and doing his job even though the writing is on the wall.

Running game- This still needs a lot of work. Either the starters are mailing home the preseason, which I guess they have the right to do, or Shawn Andrews means much more to this team than we know. Westbrook didn’t even average 3 yards a carry and they couldn’t sustain anything on the ground all night. The Offensive Line was a huge strength and advantage last year, and it’s been nothing so far.

Penetration- The Defensive Line played a lot better. The tackles had a much better game and even without Kearse, the ends weren’t bad either. Except for a couple long runs, Carolina’s ground game was stifled and the line had a lot to do with that. As Kearse and Ian Scott work their way back, things will get better.

Pass rush- I don’t know if it was Carolina’s line or Delhomme’s indecisiveness, but even just a four man rush was suffocating. Pressure came from the tackles just as much as the ends, and the Panthers’ QBs were forced into mistakes. Getting good contributions from a lot of guys is going to do wonders for the Eagles defense.

I don’t know if it was McNabb’s return or playing in front of the home fans, but the team just seemed more energized. The game was a complete 180 from what we sat through on Monday night.

McNabb looked sharp. Some of his throws were even better than what we’ve seen from him ever. He had no problem planting and throwing strikes right on the numbers. He made an awesome touch pass to Schobel between two defenders. He took a couple of hits and bounced right back up. You couldn’t have asked for a better debut. Kolb took more chances downfield and looked alright again.