Week 1: Philadelphia Eagles at Carolina Panthers
The Eagles-Panthers opener easily could have been the NFC Championship Game last year and certainly might be this year. Carolina is the defending NFC South champ but was shocked by Arizona in last year’s divisional round. Philly, meanwhile, made it to the NFC title game but also was upset by the Cardinals.
Carolina actually has opened as a 2.5-point home underdog on WagerWeb.com.
First off, let’s get the Michael Vick nonsense out of the way. Vick will be traveling with the team, but he isn’t eligible to play this week or next. But there are a few injury concerns for Philly. Running back Brian Westbrook, a two-time Pro Bowler, missed the entire preseason after offseason ankle surgery. If he doesn’t look ready against Carolina, rookie LeSean McCoy could see a lot more action than expected. Eagles right tackle Shane Andrews, who missed most of last season after undergoing back surgery, practiced on Wednesday but missed Thursday and Friday’s sessions and won’t play. He is also a two-time Pro Bowler.
Perhaps the Eagles’ biggest offseason loss was defensive coordinator Jim Johnson, who died of cancer. Over the past decade, Philadelphia has fielded some of the best defenses in the league, and it was always a very aggressive unit. Sean McDermott takes over as defensive coordinator, and he learned under Johnson. However, that unit really didn’t look very good in the preseason.
Carolina, meanwhile, brought back pretty much everyone of significance from last year’s team. QB Jake Delhomme got a fat new contract despite imploding in that playoff loss to the Cardinals. It was Carolina’s only home loss last year, as they were the only 8-0 team at home in the regular season. And while Carolina has won two openers in a row, it has lost its past three season openers at home.
The Panthers won’t try anything too tricky, they like to pound the ball. DeAngelo Williams led the NFL with 18 rushing touchdowns and finished third with 1,515 yards, while backup Jonathan Stewart was 24th with 836 yards and had 10 scores. Stewart, however, missed nearly all of training camp with an Achilles’ injury. He is expected to be ready for Sunday, however.
Overall, the Eagles have won four of the teams’ five career meetings, but they haven’t faced each other since 2006.
INJURY REPORT
EAGLES: OUT: T Shawn Andrews (back), G Todd Herremans (foot), LB Joe Mays (shoulder). PROBABLE: C Nick Cole (knee), WR Kevin Curtis (knee), T King Dunlap (elbow), LB Moise Fokou (shoulder), DE Darren Howard (groin), T Winston Justice (shoulder), CB Dimitri Patterson (ankle), DT Mike Patterson (ankle), RB Leonard Weaver (knee), RB Brian Westbrook (knee), LB Tracy White (rib). PANTHERS: QUESTIONABLE: S Chris Harris (knee), CB Sherrod Martin (knee).
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