My thoughts from the Eagles' 28-23 win over the Panthers (see breakdown):
• Carson Wentz took a beating in this game as he was sacked three times and hit several other times.
That didn't stop him from being nearly flawless (see 10 observations). Despite Wentz's completing just 16 of 30 passes, he was still able to throw for 222 yards and three touchdowns. He found the soft spots in Carolina's defense when he had to, connecting with eight different receivers.
"We just have a bunch of guys that believe no matter the situation, we can win the ballgame," Wentz said.
• Fletcher Cox returned after a two-game hiatus with a calf injury. He accounted for two tackles, half a sack, two quarterback hits and one pass defensed (see story).
Cox stated the calf injury never flared up and he gave a lot of credit to the Eagles' training staff for getting him ready for this game.
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• The Eagles' defense had three official interceptions but should have had six.
Rodney McLeod told me the Birds knew Carolina wouldn't be able to run the ball on them. That allowed the defense to be more creative on the back end in terms of anticipating and jumping pass routes.
• The officials were absolutely atrocious.The Eagles were penalized 10 times for 126 yards, while the Panthers had just one penalty for one yard.
"We can't control the refs," Cox said. "We just have to move on and play our game."
"Our coaches always tell us don't worry about the dropped flags, just focus and keep being aggressive," Jalen Mills said.
Both LeGarrette Blount and Mychal Kendricks informed me they had previously witnessed times in this stadium when the Panthers received a lot of calls.
Luckily for the Eagles, it didn't work this time.
