After beating the Baltimore Ravens convincingly on the road Week 13, the Philadelphia Eagles have now won eight straight games. In Week 14 they'll face the 3-9 Carolina Panthers, a talent-challenged team that has competed for four quarters against good recent opponents. Here are our five things to watch.
1) Saquon Barkley vs. the Panthers' woeful run defense
The Panthers have the worst run defense in the NFL, allowing 166.8 rushing yards per game. They are on pace to give up the 12th-most rushing yards in a single season in NFL history. The next-closest team is the Cowboys, who are allowing 147.6, or almost 20 fewer yards per game.
A look at Carolina's run defense stats:
| Panthers run D | Stat | Rank |
| Rushing yards allowed per game | 166.8 | 32 |
| Run DVOA | 9.6% | 31 |
| Rushing first downs allowed per game | 9.4 | 32 |
| Rushing TDs allowed per game | 1.5 | 30 |
| Yards per rush | 4.8 | 27 |
As you have seen this season, the Eagles are good at running the ball. They have the No. 1 rushing offense in the NFL, averaging 188.9 rushing yards per game. If they keep up that pace, they'll have the 11th most rushing yards per game in NFL history.
So, you know, that's a matchup advantage for the Eagles.
On a side note, four of the Eagles' five remaining opponents have bottom six run defenses
| Opponent | Rush yards allowed per game | NFL Rank |
| Week 14, Panthers | 166.8 | 32 |
| Week 15, Steelers | 90.5 | 4 |
| Week 16, At Commanders | 137.0 | 27 |
| Week 17, Cowboys | 147.6 | 31 |
| Week 18, Giants | 145.8 | 29 |
That might be relevant to Barkley's chances of winning MVP and/or breaking the single-season rushing record.
2) Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, and DeVonta Smith vs. the Panthers' woeful pass defense
The Panthers don't exactly defend the pass well, either.
| Panthers pass D | Stat | Rank |
| Passing yards allowed per game | 225.3 | 24 |
| Pass DVOA | 22.6% | 29 |
| Yards per pass attempt | 7.2 | 27 |
| Passing first downs per game | 12.3 | 28 |
| Passing TDs allowed per game | 1.8 | 29 |
Hey, if their run defense is really bad, and their pass defense is also really bad, I bet their overall defense is really bad too. Let's see:
| Panthers D | Stat | Rank |
| Points allowed per game | 30.5 | 32 |
| Yards allowed per game | 392.1 | 31 |
| Opponent yards per play | 5.8 | 28 |
| Opponent first downs per game | 24.0 | 32 |
| Opponent snaps per game | 67.8 | 32 |
| Opponent average T.O.P. | 32:46 | 30 |
Checks out!
The Eagles will likely be getting DeVonta Smith back this week after he missed two games with a hamstring injury. It's not as if the Panthers can just pack the box and sell out to stop Barkley and expect to stop the Eagles' offense, because they can't defend the run or pass well. (My guess is that they will try to sell out and stop Barkley and take their chances with Hurts.)
3) The Eagles' run defense vs. the Panthers' rushing offense
The Panthers' best offensive player this season has been RB Chuba Hubbard, who has carried 189 times for 919 yards (4.9 YPC), and 7 TDs. He is sixth in the NFL in rushing yards:
| NFL Rushing leaders | Rush | Yards | YPC | TDS |
| Saquon Barkley, PHI | 246 | 1499 | 6.1 | 11 |
| Derrick Henry, BAL | 240 | 1407 | 5.9 | 13 |
| Josh Jacobs, GB | 221 | 987 | 4.5 | 8 |
| Jahmyr Gibbs, DET | 163 | 973 | 6.0 | 10 |
| Kyren Williams, LAR | 222 | 926 | 4.2 | 10 |
| Chuba Hubbard, CAR | 189 | 919 | 4.9 | 7 |
In a game in which the the Panthers are likely to try to run clock and shorten the game, spoiler, they're going to try to run it early and often. Maybe Jordan Davis will play more than 25 snaps in this game.
4) Where might the Eagles go Feastin'™️ 🍗
The Panthers' offensive line currently looks like this:
| LT | LG | C | RG | RT |
| Ikem Ekwonu | Damien Lewis | Cade Mays | Robert Hunt | Taylor Moton |
There's more good than bad along this Panthers offensive line:
• Ekwonu struggled his first couple seasons after the Panthers drafted him sixth overall in 2022, but he is developing into a very good LT, particularly in the run game.
• Moton is an 8-year pro, with seven seasons as a starter. Solid starting RT.
• Hunt and Lewis signed with the Panthers this offseason to lucrative deals. Hunt got a five-year deal worth $100 million. He's one of the best guards in the NFL. Lewis got a four-year deal worth $53 million.
• Mays is filling in for Austin Corbett, whose season is over with a biceps injury.
This is a line the Panthers can build around.
FeastinMeter™️: This is a good line, but if the Eagles get a big lead they can pin their ears back and get after Bryce Young. 6/10 turkey legs 🍗🍗🍗🍗🍗
5) The Eagles' coaching staff vs. "the trap game"
The Eagles are coming off an impressive road win against one of the best teams in the NFL. It can be easy to lose focus against a far lesser team the following week. We've seen Eagles teams of yesteryear blow games when they have been double-digit favorites, as shown here.
It'll be on the Eagles' staff to keep the players' eyes on the prize, which is to keep putting pressure on the Lions for the 1 seed, a first-round bye, and homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.
MORE: Eagles film review: Jalen Carter is already one of the NFL's best players
Follow Jimmy & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @JimmyKempski | thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
Add Jimmy's RSS feed to your feed reader
