The Panthers have been playing some of their best football of the season over the last three weeks, but their hard work has not resulted in a win.
After three-point losses to the Chiefs and Buccaneers, the Panthers fell 22-16 to the Eagles on Sunday when rookie wide receiver Xavier Legette couldn’t hold onto a deep pass from quarterback Bryce Young while coming to the ground in the final minute. After the game, right guard Robert Hunt said the loss was the latest sign that the Panthers are close to breaking through before adding that “the idea is to change the narrative of being close.”
Young agreed with his teammate about it being time to do more than play the role of a valiant loser.
“There’s no participation trophies, no consolation,” Young said, via the team’s website. “Coach says it all the time: it’s about us, and when we’re executing, we’re at our best. We’re able to just focus on that, and again, it’s not a consolation for today, but it gives us some stuff on film to build off of, the opportunity to identify things we’re doing well, how we continue to do it, how we build off of it and the same mindset of how we can improve on things. I think just being in the headspace is good for growth, but now it’s on us to make sure we actually grow and take those steps.”
The next chance to go from being on the verge to actually winning will come at home against the Cowboys next Sunday and getting that done would mark an important step toward the Panthers being more than just a good story down the stretch.
Panthers rookie running back Jonathon Brooks’s season got off to a delayed start as he worked his way back from the torn ACL he suffered while playing at the University of Texas and he’s now dealing with another injury to the same knee.
Brooks went down with a non-contact injury and lost yards on a carry in the first half of Sunday’s 22-16 loss to the Eagles. Brooks tried to limp off the field, but eventually went down and got medical attention. He was carted to the locker room a short time later and did not return.
After the game, head coach Dave Canales said that Brooks is experiencing pain and that the team needs to get imaging done on the knee to determine the severity of the injury.
Brooks, who was a second-round pick, made his NFL debut two weeks ago and had eight carries for 25 yards and three catches for 23 yards in his first two games.
Someone’s plumbing in Kentucky might have clogged on Sunday, during the Panthers-Eagles game. All’s well that ended well for the person who placed a $3.1 million bet on the Eagles to beat the Panthers.
The -700 money line bet paid off, but only after the Panthers gave Philly all they could handle. Including a late drive that at one point looked to result in what would have been, with the extra point, a go-ahead score.
But the Eagles escaped with a 22-16 win. And the bettor in Kentucky ended up making roughly $450,000.
He/she/they earned it — through three hours of sweating, cursing, and possibly a few other bodily functions.
Oddsmakers made the Eagles heavy favorites at home against the Panthers on Sunday, but things wound up being much tighter than expected.
The Panthers had the ball on the Eagles’ 32-yard-line in the final minute when quarterback Bryce Young floated a pass to wide receiver Xavier Legette near the end zone. Legette dove for the pass and appeared to catch it, but the pass was ruled incomplete and replays made it clear that he was not able to hold onto the ball.
Young threw an incompletion on the next play and cornerback Darius Slay knocked away a fourth down pass to allow the Eagles to survive for a 22-16 win. That makes it nine wins in a row for the Eagles, who remain on the Lions’ heels in the race for the top seed in the NFC.
It’s tied for the longest winning streak in franchise history and the Eagles could end the weekend with a playoff berth depending on how other games play out. It also made the guy who bet $3.1 million on the Eagles winning a happier man than it appeared he might be as Legette made his way to the turf.
Saquon Barkley ran 20 times for 124 yards and set the Eagles’ single-season record for rushing yards during the game. He did not score a touchdown, but did have a two-point conversion after tight end Grant Calcaterra’s touchdown catch put them in front for good in the fourth quarter.
The Eagles may have been able to put the game away with a little less drama had the officials done their job on a catch by Calcaterra around the three-minute mark. Calcaterra was clearly wrestled down by his facemask, but no flag was thrown and the NFL’s replay assist is not used to correct obvious missed penalty calls.
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts also had a touchdown pass to wide receiver DeVonta Smith and a touchdown run on Sunday afternoon, but the Eagles offense moved in fits and starts and kicker Jake Elliott missed his fifth field goal of at least 50 yards on the season.
Young was 19-of-34 for 191 yards and a touchdown while also picking up 29 yards on the ground, but he threw an interception late in the first half that helped the Eagles take a lead into halftime. The effort was another strong one for the Panthers overall, however, and the defense’s four sacks of Hurts helped keep Carolina in the game.
The Panthers will move on to a home game against the Cowboys next Sunday and the Eagles will try to run their winning streak to 10 games against the Steelers in what will be a marquee Week 15 matchup.
It took Eagles running back Saquon Barkley less than 13 full games to set the franchise’s single-season rushing record.
Barkley opened the day in third place, but moved past Wilbert Montgomery into second place in the first half and he leapfrogged LeSean McCoy in the fourth quarter. Barkley became the record holder on a nine-yard run that pushed him past McCoy’s record of 1,607 rushing yards.
Barkley was also on pace for the NFL’s single-season rushing record when Sunday’s game in Philadelphia got underway. He remains on that pace with 124 yards so far on Sunday.
The Eagles lead the Panthers 22-16 with just over three minutes left to play.
