Eagles fall to Carolina 27-16

After taking two steps forward to move into a tie for first place in the NFC East, the Eagles took a step back Sunday night against Carolina.

While Newton has been mentioned in the early MVP conversation, he’s basically the same as he’s always been – very good, but not MVP-level good.

But there was no signature moment from Bradford. He had a 63-yard touchdown run and another 22-yard run.

The Panthers are 6-0 and off to their best start ever.

Eagles aside, I think Stewart’s output this week and last week against the Seahawks is indicative of what we will see from Stewart for the rest of the season.

Last November, the Panthers turned the ball over on two of their first three plays in an embarrassing 45-21 loss to the Eagles on Monday Night Football.

The Panthers remain undefeated at 6-0, while the Eagles fall to 3-4 with another bad showing. When you combine an intimidating, dominant rushing attack with a quarterback capable of creating big plays on the ground and through the air and a group of targets who know where they’re supposed to be, you can still win in today’s NFL. To not lose confidence in your receivers, pep them up on the sidelines and get behind them shows leadership.

Regarding the youth on this team: “I think a lot of credit goes to our coaches getting up prepared and then you have to credit to Jared (Allen) who has been in numerous situations, and Charles Johnson who has been in numerous situations and they do nothing but get us prepared”.

Any momentum the Philadelphia Eagles had going for them has been stopped. Losing left them under. Brad Nortman kicked em high, and the coverage team got there fast.

The Eagles lost Peters in the first quarter, the big tackle carted off to undergo X-rays and diagnosed with lower back spasms. Peters lay motionless, face-down on the field. It appears the Eagles have dodged what could have been a serious injury concern. His status was not known beyond that.

They, in the words of the late Carolina linebacker Sam Mills, “keep pounding”. Not with DeMeco Ryans, Mychal Kendricks and Kiko Alonso on the roster.

It came on a night where one of Newton’s passes to Ginn ended up being intercepted on a play that had to be reviewed. Nolan Carroll’s red-zone interception stopped Carolina from scoring in the first quarter. “Is it good? Yes, but at the same time we’re still trying to conquer things that people said we couldn’t do, and surprising ourselves at the same time”.

But for now, Newton’s play has him squarely in the center of the MVP conversation. Don’t know that I’m going to believe in a dominant Eagles’ run defense again anytime soon. He went into the locker room for X-rays and did not return. His replacement, Matt Tobin, is better suited for the interior where his lack of quickness is less exposed.

It took until the second quarter for the Eagles to respond, as the teams traded interceptions. This offseason, Kelly released both of his starting guards, All-Pro Evan Mathis and reliable veteran Todd Herremans.

What were they thinking?

Eagles quarterback Sam Bradford completed 26 of 46 passes for 205 yards and an interception.

Kelly drafted Matthews in the second round in 2014 and Nelson Agholor in the first round this year. Maybe they should sleep in.

Jenkins could have been talking about all the drops by Eagles receivers – seven, by my count, though a few had eight.

“We had him in there”, Kelly said of Mathews. It was his first 100-yard game of the season, and easily his best performance since 2014. Yup, you guessed it: Former Cowboy DeMarco Murray. “The combination between him and Luke (Kuechly)-for those guys to battle and understand each other, it’s just fun to watch”.

Asked if he felt he deserved more opportunities to run, Mathews instead deflected by saying, “I’m just here to try to help the team win”. Bradford was sacked five times, hit nine times and pressured on just about every play. Another Gano field goal, from 29 yards with 18 seconds to play, provided the final margin. It went wide left, and you have to wonder if Kelly will try again to address the position during the bye week.