Jonesing for some Al Michaels? You’re in luck. The Eagles are playing two consecutive games on Sunday Night Football around the bye. Looking to get above .500 for the first time this season, the 3-3 Birds are in Charlotte taking on the undefeated Carolina Panthers. Here’s what I saw in the first 30 minutes:
The good
• The defense bailed out the offense, again. And for the second straight week, it was Nolan Carroll doing the honors. I still have no idea what a catch is, but Carroll ripped the ball from Ted Ginn, Jr. when the defense was given a short field. That’s a textbook “grown man play.”
• Chip Kelly is back to being a risk taker. 4th and 1 on his own 46, and the Eagles coach goes for it. And thanks to Sam Bradford’s “wheels,” the Eagles picked it up.
• Both DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews had some success on the ground. The Eagles had 81 rushing yards on 17 carries. Kelly needs to get Mathews more touches in the second half.
• Good and bad half for Caleb Sturgis. He nailed a 52-yard field goal (nice), but then right away booted the opening kickoff out of bounds (not so nice). That kickstarted a Panthers touchdown drive.
• He held on! Ridiculous interception by Malcolm Jenkins got the Eagles three points at the end of the half.
The bad
• The Eagles’ opening drive woes continue, part one: Murray picked up a first down on the ground, but a false start on Lane Johnson put the offense behind the sticks and ultimately submarined the drive.
• The well-designed 44-yard reverse to Ginn caught Marcus Smith completely off guard on the backside.
• Bradford might not have been totally terrible in that half, but 103 yards on 24 passing attempts isn’t going to cut it.
The ugly
• The Eagles’ opening drive woes continue, part two: The two worst drives of the season for Billy Davis’ defense have been the opening possessions of the last two games. Mike Tolbert capped off a four-play, 72-yard touchdown drive for Carolina. Chris Maragos had an important missed tackle on a 36-yard Jonathan Stewart run.
• Did Jordan Matthews forget how to catch the football over the summer? The second-year receiver has to help out his quarterback once in awhile. Colin Jones’ interception is a ball that simply has to be caught. Matthews later dropped an excellent 3rd down throw by Bradford to stall a drive.
• I don’t necessarily agree with Cris Collinsworth that Jason Peters is the Eagles’ best player anymore, but he’s probably the least replaceable. There didn’t appear to be any contact when he went down, and the big left tackle (lower back) had to be carted off. It looked pretty bad, honestly. We still don’t know what exactly the injury is, but losing one of the franchise’s greatest players ever would be devastating in more ways than one.
• Peters is apparently questionable to return. That’s hard to believe.
• Bennie Logan, who is having an excellent season, got fooled twice inside the red zone. The encroachment penalties, which both looked like good calls, allowed the Panthers to move from the eight to the two-yard line. Cam Newton scored on the next play.
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann