The Carolina Panthers are the only team in the NFC South that does not have a losing record. Of course, Dave Canales’s club won this division a year ago with an 8-9 record. It was the second time in four seasons that the top spot in this division was captured by a team with a losing résumé. When last we saw this club, they were besting the visiting Detroit Lions, 32-26, on a Sunday night at Charlotte in Week 4.
The Panthers were one of seven new division winners in 2025. The only team to repeat a season ago was the Philadelphia Eagles. They became the first NFC East champion to defend its crown in more than 20 years. Ironically, it was Andy Reid’s Eagles who won four consecutive titles from 2001-04.
On Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field, the clubs will meet for the second time in three years. However, any semblance of the Eagles’ team that knocked off the Panthers, 22-16, in Week 14 of 2024 will be hard to find. After a 2-0 start, the Birds have dropped three consecutive contests—including a stunning 19-17 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars last Sunday in London.
Eagles’ running back Saquon Barkley will not play, and wideout Devonta Smith is listed as questionable. But the biggest news surrounds quarterback Jalen Hurts, who has now been placed on injured reserve with a blood clot. Enter Tanner McKee, who will make just his third NFL start on Sunday.
Panthers vs. Eagles History
The Eagles have won three of the last four meetings between the clubs dating back to 2017, and own a four-game edge (9-5) in the overall standings. The teams met two years ago in City of Brotherly Love, with the Birds coming away with a 22-16 triumph. Of course, the most memorable clash between these clubs came in 23 years ago, when Carolina came away with a 14-3 victory in the 2003 NFC Championship Game at Philadelphia.
Carolina’s defense has made strides since Week 1 disaster
The NFC South leaders have come a long way defensively since being blasted at home by the Chicago Bears, 59-37, on the opening Sunday of the season. Ejiro Evero’s unit gave up eight offensive TDs in the loss. In their last three games, the Panthers have allowed a combined 50 points and four offensive TDs.
Can Sirianni’s club, ranked 31st in the league in total offense entering Week 6, get off to a fast start and keep pace with a Carolina club averaging a brisk 30.3 points per game? Philadelphia has been outscored a combined 27-3 in the first quarter, and their offensive unit has totaled only 11 touchdowns in five outings.
Watch For Eagles’ LB Zack Baun
Carolina’s passing attack ranks second in the NFL is aerial yards per game, and wideouts Jalen Coker and Tetairoa McMillan and tight end Darren Waller have all caught a pair of TD passes. But so has running back Chuba Hubbard, who leads Canales’s club with 390 scrimmage yards and five total touchdowns.
He earned First Team All-Pro honors during the Eagles’ Super Bowl LIX championship season of 2024. Linebacker Zack Baun has been steady in three seasons with the Birds. He was Pro Football Focus’ top-ranked linebacker in ’24, sixth this past season, and is currently PFF’s No. 5 performer at his position.
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