5 keys to victory for the Carolina Panthers vs. Eagles in Week 5

Carolina Panthers must limit the Eagles TE tandem

Tight ends are finally coming into their own in the passing game in today’s NFL for better or worse and this means their blocking is fading from importance. The Philadelphia Eagles have gone all-in on this approach in 2021 with Dallas Goedert and Zach Ertz leading the charge.

Both players have the route running and hands to be starting tight ends on any team but perhaps the Kansas City Chiefs or Las Vegas Raiders and that means a difficult matchup to gameplan for.

While Ertz is not the player he once was, the former Super Bowl champion is still a reliable target for a learning quarterback in Jalen Hurts. This makes the Pro Bowler a menace in short-yardage and especially third-down plays.

Where Ertz is ole reliable, Goedert is the flashy player that can get you that marquee play each game. He also has the speed to easily leak through the middle of the defense if he’s left forgotten.

Think of it like pairing a prime Greg Olsen with an end of career Jason Witten and you’d get rather close to the type of effect these two can have on a game.

The Eagles love to use them both on the field at the same time if possible just to make covering them even harder and on top of this they also tend to use a lot of motion and trick plays with their tight ends as well. Moving them across the formation or leaking them out after a chip to get behind the defense.

This one-two combo that can stack together without stepping on toes will be a true challenge. Something the Carolina Panthers linebacker core will have to be up to facing.

The duo of Jermaine Carter and Shaq Thompson has performed rather well in this area to begin the season and the inside presence will need to keep that up against another big threat on Sunday with Thompson expected to be out with a foot injury.

But that aside, this core has the skills and ability to cover just about anyone when healthy and they will be called upon often in Week 5. This will also provide us with our first real look at Frankie Luvu in a starting role.

In limited work this season Luvu has shown great promise and awareness, affecting plays in whatever way he can. So hopefully there won’t be as large of a dropoff as people assume without Thompson in the fold.

The Panthers will have to keep on high alert and always have an eye on these two playmakers from the word go to keep them from breaking the game.