Broadcast Team: Dick Stockton, Charles
Davis, Laura Okmin (Field reporter).
will meet in one of Sunday afternoon’s better games.
Both squads have a bone to pick with the NFC
Champion Arizona Cardinals (knocked both out of the playoffs), but that is a
conversation for another day. The 2008
NFC South Champion Panthers (12-4) are looking to wash away a disappointing end
to their 2008 season where they were embarrassed at home by the Cardinals by a
score of 33-13.
And the Philadelphia
Eagles (
want to justify the high expectations that many “experts’ are predicting for
them – some national publications have installed the Eagles as an odds on
favorite to win the NFC.
The Birds are coming back after a rollercoaster type 2008
season where many fans and media left them for dead ( 5-5-1 start), but
eventually they had a good playoff run (losing in the NFC Championship to the
Cardinals 32-25). The Eagles handed out
further optimism to their fan base after an offseason that many, including
Eagles President Joe Banner, called one of the best in the NFL.
The Eagles drafted RB LeSean McCoy, S Victor
“Macho” Harris, WR Jeremy Maclin, and others plus brought in solid veterans OL
Stacie Andrews, OT Jason Peters, and FB Leonard Weaver to go with existing Pro
Bowl players RB Brian Westbrook, QB Donovan McNabb, and DB Asante Samuel. However between the start of training camp
and Week 1 of the regular season, the Eagles already have had some adversity to
overcome.
There was the unfortunate
passing of venerable former defensive coordinator Jim Johnson and season ending
injuries to starting middle linebacker Stewart Bradley and promising rookie
tight end Cornelius Ingram.
But don’t expect Eagles head coach Andy Reid or his squad
to be crying as they are excited for the start of the 2009 NFL Regular Season
and the opportunity to play the Panthers -– record of 8-0 at home in 2008. New Eagles defensive coordinator Sean
McDermott recently said, ‚Äú I’ll be a little anxious. But, I think that comes
with the territory and it comes with the first game of the season every year.
No matter how long you’ve been in this game, regardless of whether you’re a
player or a coach, there are some butterflies the first opener of every
year.” The Eagles know that the
time is now to get back to their first Super Bowl since 2004 or there maybe
some changes in the offing after the 2009 season.
Conversely the Panthers and their head coach John Fox are
trying to get off owner Jerry Richardson’s hot seat – Richardson is so tough,
his own sons Mark (former team president) and Jon (former president of the
team’s stadium) left in early September rather than dealing with him.
The interesting thing is, many Panthers’ fans
and media have said a lot of the same things about Jake Delhomme and Fox that
Eagles’ fans have said for years about Reid and McNabb. Fox and his quarterback Delhomme were once on
the accession after leading the Panthers to the Super Bowl in 2003, but after 7
seasons without a championship, many people in
The Panthers plain and simple want to pound the rock on
offense and who could blame them with an O-line led by Pro Bowl offensive
tackle Jordan Gross and former first round draft pick Jeff Otah blasting holes
for the NFL’s best 1-2 backfield, in my opinion.
combination of running backs DeAngelo Williams (1,515 yards, 5.5 ypc, and a league
leading 18 TDs in 2008) and rookie Jonathan Stewart (836 yards with rookie
leading 10 TDs) are probably the NFL’s scariest tandem.
Even if Stewart does not play due to a
nagging Achilles injury, the Eagles defense (ranked first in the NFC in ’08)
led by SS Quintin Mikell and DE Trent Cole will need to play downhill. If the Eagles defense does find a way to stop
Williams and Stewart, then they will have to deal with Delhomme and his
favorite target Steve Smith through the air.
The diminutive Smith (78 receptions for 1,421 yards and 6 TDs) maybe one
of the NFL’s smaller receivers at 5’9, but he is one of my favorites due to his
toughness, leadership, and uncanny ability to catch Delhomme’s rainbows in
traffic. Plus don’t forget about veteran number two Muhsin Muhammad, who is
great at moving the chains and in the red zone.
Conversely the Eagles as everyone knows preach that they
want balance on offense, but make no bones about it, they are a passing team
first. I am sure offensive coordinator
Marty Mornhinweg and Reid will look for McNabb (345-571, career-high 3916
yards, 23 TDs, and 11 INTs) many times while trying to spread the ball around
— to throw to Westbrook on screens, on the outside to DeSean Jackson, and TE
Brent Celek over the middle.
McNabb, who recently had his contract
restructured, said of the upcoming game, “Everything falls on my
shoulders, so that’s nothing different. It’s very important that I make sure
I’m prepared going into games like this, to make sure that those other guys have
the utmost confidence that I’m going to get them into the right position and
we’ll be able to execute‚Äù.
We will see if the Eagles will keep true to their goal of
achieving balance on offense, but most importantly they cannot forget to
establish the run ‚Äì- have a huge mauling offensive line — against a smaller
Panthers attacking defense led by Pro Bowl DE Julius Peppers (14.5 sack for 3rd
in the NFC), DT Damione Lewis and tackling-machine MLB Jon Beason.
Week 1 will
be the first time that the Eagles unveil Westbrook (233 rushes for 936 yards, 4.0
ypr, and 9 TDs) this season after he missed most of training camp following
offseason knee and ankle surgeries.
B-West truly is the key for the Eagles as he sets the tone for the
entire team, so the Birds cannot be afraid to get B-West his touches early and
often.
If the Eagles can establish
Westbrook, look for McNabb to try and go deep to
and 2 TDs), who looks like one of the NFL’s breakout players.
On Defense, the Eagles will look to take a page from the
2007 Super Bowl Champion New York Giants by rotating guys on their defensive
line (Darren Howard – Team leading 10 sacks in ’08, Trent Cole – 9 sacks, DE
Juqua Parker – 5 sacks, DT Mike Patterson, DT Broderick Bunkley, DE Victor
Abiameri, DE Chris Clemons, and DE Jason Babin) plus getting linebackers Chris
Gocong and Omar Gaither involved in pressuring Delhomme.
Any pressure that the front seven can cause
should help to neutralize the Panthers running tandem and rattle Delhomme into
turning over the ball (six turnovers in loss to Cardinals including 5
INT’s). The Eagles main ball hawk to
watch for is Pro Bowl cornerback Asante Samuel (4 INTs plus two in the
postseason), who looks better than ever.
Though the Eagles usually have been notoriously slow starters under Reid
(record of 4-6 on NFL opening weeks), I still believe they will find a way to
win. The Eagles lead the regular season series 4-1 and the Panthers have never
had back-to-to-back winning seasons in their history.
The keys will be the Eagles defense’s ability
to stop the run while getting after Delhomme, McNabb hitting Westbrook and
Jackson for big plays, and OT Jason Peters rising to the challenge of playing
against Peppers. Eagles win in a
nail-biter 21-20
