Carolina Panthers: Lessons from Eagles-Giants

This week the Carolina Panthers are preparing for their next challenge. It comes in the form of the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles represent a unique challenge in the NFL because of their head coach Chip Kelly. Kelly plays a style of offense ported over from his days at Oregon. Last night he unleashed it on the New York Giants on Monday Night Football. The struggling Giants left little resistance and the Eagles won that game 27-7.

Here are the things that the Panthers can take away from that game:

1. The Eagles have tuned their offense toward DeMarco Murray

The former Cowboys running back had some difficulty fitting in to this unorthodox offense run by the Eagles. That resulted in frustration on the sideline for the big money back and questions for Chip Kelly on why they signed in the first place. Before the Saints game, the Eagles moved quarterback Sam Bradford out of the shotgun more and allowed Murray to get better reads on his blockers. The result was twenty-two carries against the Giants for 109 yards.

2. Sam Bradford is playing to the system, but he is not there yet

Bradford’s day on offense was pretty bland. He completed over sixty percent of his throws, yes. However he threw three interceptions compared to a single touchdown pass. This is an opportunity for an active Panthers secondary. If Bradford can throw a couple of picks to Josh Norman and Company, then the Panthers should do better than seven points off turnovers that the Giants got.