In the grand scheme of this Week 5 matchup, one of the Carolina Panthers or Philadelphia Eagles will be moving themselves back into the win column. The cats are fresh off a smacking from the Dallas Cowboys while the birds have dropped each of their last three outings.
But what about the finer points?
Here are the three most notable storylines of the NFC clash to look forward to on Sunday.
Hold the Swiss cheese, please
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Defensive coordinator Phil Snow and his defense rolled into Arlington, Texas last week riding pretty high. Unfortunately for them, some Cowboys knocked them clean off of their horse.
Headed by a 143-yard day by running back Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas dashed Carolina for 245 rushing yards in Week 4. That total was 200 more than what the Panthers allowed on average coming in (45.0 per game) and 110 more than what they allowed in the previous three contests combined.
Although Philadelphia doesn’t possess nearly the same offensive firepower Dallas does, as their leading rusher is their quarterback, Carolina will be without a few key members of its defense. In addition to having already lost cornerback Jaycee Horn and safety Juston Burris, they’ll have to try to bounce back without linebacker Shaq Thompson, who was off to a sizzling start here in 2021.
Blindside Brady?
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The Panthers will likely also be without starting left tackle Cameron Erving, who had not participated in practice on either Wednesday or Thursday. If he can’t go, head coach Matt Rhule already has his two options in mind.
One is fourth-year veteran Trent Scott. Scott actually started four games on the blindside for Carolina in 2020, so he may have the edge if the coaching staff wants to lean towards experience.
But let’s not kid ourselves. We want to see what Brady Christensen’s got.
The 2021 third-round pick is the other option for Rhule, who has previously stated that he thinks Christensen is more of a right-side guy. Maybe, though, it’s just time to see what they have in the 6-foot-5, 302-pounder.
Christensen was a consensus All-American in 2020 for his work at left tackle with the Brigham Young University Cougars. He also chalked up 20 snaps at the position for Carolina in the preseason.
Mr. 300
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Not only does Panthers quarterback Sam Darnold lead the league in rushing touchdowns, but he also has the most 300-yard passing games in the NFL. Who would’ve thought we’d be saying that?
With three straight outings of that 300-yard output, the fourth-year passer is tied with Las Vegas’ Derek Carr and Los Angeles’ Matthew Stafford (who just reached that third one in his Week 5 Thursday nighter) for the league lead. Can he make it four in a row?
Perhaps, but it may not be that easy.
The Eagles boast the seventh-toughest pass defense, having allowed an average of 204.0 yards through the air thus far. They have, however, also allowed a cumulative passer rating of 114.0, the fifth-highest amongst all units.
Darnold, even while turning in his shakiest performance yet, still looked decent at times against the Cowboys. So he hasn’t imploded just yet.
Plus, in a blessing that could further prevent that, his main squeeze and star running back Christian McCaffrey seems to be inching closer to his return.
