Eagles Tame Toothless Panthers

It was supposed to be a great game on the first Sunday afternoon of the NFL season between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Carolina Panthers. Instead, The Eagles made the Panthers look more like kittens, as they went on to an easy 38-10 victory.
After taking a 7-0 lead on a DeAngelo Williams 11 yard touchdown run in the first quarter, the Eagles reeled off 31 consecutive points, 28 of them in the 2nd quarter. After the always reliable David Akers made it 7-3, the walls all came down for the Panthers. Linebacker Trent Cole started the fireworks by blitzing up the middle untouched and hammering Delhomme to force a fumble. Victor Abiamiri scooped up the loose ball and dove in for a TD from the 2 yard line. Minutes later, Desean Jackson returned a punt 85 yards for a touchdown, and the rout was on. Donavan Mcnabb added two short touchdown passes in the quarter to make it 31-7, before the ageless John Kasay's Field Goal made it 31-10 at half time.
The Eagles scoring was set up by a ferocious defence which totally dominated the football game. They were relentless in their pursuit of Delhomme, as they sacked him 3 times and forced him to throw 4 interceptions. The Eagles finished with 5 sacks and 5 interceptions with relentless blitzing the Panthers had no answer for. They battered and demoralized the bewildered Delhomme who started his second consecutive terrible games going back to last season's playoffs. Despite having offensive weapons in Steve Smith and DeAngelo Williams, the Panthers offence was never able to get on track after their initial 70 yard drive which yielded their only TD, as the Eagles defence forced them in to mistake after mistake. Delhomme struggled terribly and was mercifully pulled in the second half. He finished with an anemic 73 yards passing and 4 interceptions on 7 of 17 passing, as well as a fumble which was returned for an Eagle TD. What was supposed to be a clash of two of the better teams in the NFL turned out to be a one sided beating. Mcnabb needed only 79 yards passing with 2 TD's and 27 yards on the ground with a TD to get the Victory. Mcnabb later injured a rib and left the game, with the suspended Michael Vick watching intently from the press box.
Both teams must address their QB issue next week. Donovan Mcnabb is nursing a cracked rib and his status is unknown for next week. With a dominating performance by the Eagles defence in the opening game, Eagle fans have good reason to be optimistic this season. As for the Panthers, Jake Delhomme is nursing a severely bruised ego, as his confidence must be at an all time low. Delhomme needs to rebound and get the dangerous Steve Smith and the sure handed but aging Muhsin Muhammed in to the game. The speedy DeAngelo Williams must also play a larger role. On the defence, they need more from their All-pro defensive end Julius Peppers. Peppers was good on Sunday, registering a sack and 4 tackles, but the Panthers need him to be dominant as he is capable of in order to give the Panthers a much needed spark.
Until next week... GB