Carson Wentz has been great through the first five games of the season. In the sixth, he will see something from the Panthers' defense that could confuse the Eagles' signal-caller if he's not ready. Unlike the Cardinals, the Panthers refuse to show their hand (the coverage they are in) early. Here is an example:
Under the arrow is Panthers safety Colin Jones. With his middle of the field alignment, an opposing quarterback could diagnose the defense as either cover 0, 1, or 3. Cover 0 and 1 are man-to-man coverages. Cover 3 is zone-coverage.
Fast forward to the top of Matt Stafford's dropback and the Panthers disguise their coverage and change into a Cover 2 after the snap. In that coverage, Carolina has five defenders (blue circles) cover all shallow routes and each safety (yellow circles) is responsible for half of the field, covering all deep routes. A quarterback's reads are different when the defense shows cover 2, as opposed to cover 0, 1 or 3.
Based off the pre-snap read, the slot (1) on the out route is the No. 1 read. After the snap, Carolina shifts into cover 2. If that ball is thrown, the corner who's responsible for the flat (anything to his side that is within five yards of the line of scrimmage) can easily undercut the out route and turn that into a defensive touchdown. Stafford is a skilled vet, so he does not take the cheese the defense is hanging in front of him. He delivers a perfect ball to the outside receiver on a fly route in the sweet spot of cover 2, where it is a tough play for the safety to make from the near hash.
Wentz has seen this in his film study this week and tonight he will have to focus on not what the defense is lining up in, but what defense they are in when the ball is snapped.
