Panthers bottle up Eagles to stake claim as elite team
CHARLOTTE - The biggest achievement by the Carolina Panthers on Sunday night was that they authored a flawed performance and still managed to improve to 6-0 for the first time in franchise history.
How the Panthers outlasted the Philadelphia Eagles 27-16 won’t silence doubters, but it should establish them as one of the few truly elite teams in the NFL.
Quarterback Cam Newton threw three interceptions, an individual performance he called “lackluster.” The team uncharacteristically lost the turnover battle. And an opponent uncharacteristically had success in the running game against the Panthers.
“We didn’t play our best brand of football,” Newton said.
The most important takeaway from Sunday night? The Panthers are showing that they can win then they are not at their best.
No question Carolina has benefited from a soft early schedule: Its first five opponents have a combined record of 12-22. But lesser teams could have lost games like Sunday night.
Fresh off the emotional win against the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday night would have been the perfect time for a letdown. And the Eagles (3-4) had shown promise after an inauspicious start to the season with back-to-back blowouts against the New Orleans Saints and New York Giants.
The Panthers demonstrated that they shouldn’t be defined only by the play of Newton, who has emerged in early league MVP discussions.
Jonathan Stewart ran for 125 yards on 24 carries. And Ted Ginn Jr. was a major factor Sunday. He had five receptions for 59 yards. In 16 games with the Arizona Cardinals last season, Ginn Jr. had 14 receptions the entire season.
“He’s playing the best football of his career,” Newton said.
Ginn Jr. also had a 43-yard run on an end around to put the Panthers in scoring position.
“That was vintage Ted,” Panthers coach Ron Rivera said. “It was great to see him turn and hit the after burners. If we could have had one or two of our chubby offensive linemen get down a little bit further they might have been able to knock off one of those defensive backs and he may have been able to score himself.”
But the performance was littered with flaws.
The Panthers entered the game tied for the best in the league in turnover differential. They struggled in that area Sunday, but only one of Newton’s three interceptions Sunday was his fault. One came on a deflected pass. And the first occurred on a fluke play when Nolan Carroll stripped Ginn Jr. of the ball for an interception in the first half.
“We didn’t play great,” tight end Greg Olsen said. “It shouldn’t have really been as close as it was. We had some critical errors, some misplays here and there. We could have really taken control of the game at an earlier part.”
The Panthers’ defense allowed just six points in the drives following the interceptions.
“We made some mistakes and were able to sustain it,” Rivera said. “The defense bowed its neck when we needed them to and force a couple field goals that really played to our advantage.”
Speaking of their defense, the Panthers had allowed just 96.6 rushing yards per game. But the Eagles continue to show improvement in their ground game. Ryan Mathews raced 63 yards in the open field for a third-quarter touchdown.
Sunday’s game had some of the hallmarks of a potential first loss. And still, the Panthers managed to keep their unbeaten record alive.
The sign of an elite team.
“We haven’t even looked up to acknowledge what’s going on,” Panthers guard Trai Turner said of outside doubters. “We want to look up at the end of the season.”
Follow Eric Prisbell on Twitter @EricPrisbell.
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