The Panthers Can't Just Beat the Eagles — They Need to Show Us These 4 Things

Let's get the obvious part out of the way. If the Panthers win 10-9 on a last-second field goal Sunday, nobody is going to care how ugly it looked.

A win is a win, especially on the road.

But coming out of the bye, I do want to see a few things from Carolina. The Panthers looked good in the 32-26 win over Detroit, and now they're getting an Eagles team that has lost three straight and won't have Jalen Hurts.

I'm not expecting Carolina to go into Philadelphia and dominate. I just want to see some of the things we saw against Detroit carry over. Here are four things besides a win that I'll be watching for Sunday.

1. Make Tanner McKee Look Like a Quarterback Making His First Start of the Season

This one is pretty simple. Don't let McKee come out, complete six or seven easy passes, and suddenly start looking like a guy who's been starting all season.

McKee has played well when he's gotten opportunities, so I'm definitely not saying he's some quarterback Carolina can ignore. But there's a big difference between getting a few chances here and there and having Derrick Brown and this Panthers defense coming after you for an entire game.

I'd like to see Carolina get after him early. Make him move around, speed up some throws, and don't give him a bunch of easy completions to get going.

If McKee gets comfortable early, I could see this turning into a much tougher afternoon than it needs to be.

2. Don't Let Jalen Carter Wreck the Game Before Bryce Young Gets a Chance

Jalen Carter is the guy up front who worries me the most. He already has three sacks through five games and is coming off a two-sack game against Jacksonville, so Carolina knows exactly what it's dealing with.

A lot of that responsibility is going to fall on the middle of the Panthers' offensive line. Damien Lewis and Robert Hunt could both get Carter, depending on where Philadelphia lines him up, and Luke Fortner is going to have to help when needed.

And that's the problem with Carter. Philadelphia can move him around and look for the matchup it likes. Carolina can't just point at one offensive lineman and say, "He's your problem all afternoon."

Lewis being limited Thursday with an elbow injury is worth keeping an eye on, too. I'm not expecting Carolina to keep Carter out of the backfield all day because that's probably not happening.

Just don't let him take over the game.

Give Young some time and see if he can pick up where he left off against Detroit.

3. Make Philadelphia Prove It Can Stop the Panthers on the Ground

I'm not saying Carolina needs to come out and run the ball 15 straight times. But if the Panthers are picking up four, five, or six yards per carry early, please don't suddenly decide it's time to throw it all over the place.

Keep running it.

That makes things easier on Young and, just as importantly, keeps Carolina out of third-and-forever with Carter and the rest of that Eagles front knowing exactly what's coming. Nobody wants to see Young dropping back on third-and-11 all afternoon.

The Panthers had an extra week to figure out how they want to attack Philadelphia. If they find something that works on the ground, stick with it until the Eagles give them a reason not to.

Sometimes it really doesn't need to be more complicated than that.

4. It's Time for the Panthers to Start Playing Like a Team That Expects to Win

This might be the biggest one for me. How many times over the last few years have we gone into a Panthers game just hoping they'd hang around long enough to have a chance late?

Sunday feels different.

Carolina just beat Detroit, Philadelphia has lost three straight, and Hurts isn't playing. I'm not saying the Panthers should walk into Lincoln Financial Field thinking this is going to be easy, because that's probably how you end up getting beat.

But they shouldn't walk in there hoping to steal one, either.

Take care of the football. Don't kill drives with dumb penalties. And if you get a chance to put Philadelphia in a hole early, do it instead of letting the Eagles hang around all afternoon.

There are going to be mistakes Sunday, especially on the road. That's football. But Carolina shouldn't need everything to go perfectly to win this game.

Detroit was fun, and the Panthers deserved a lot of credit for that one. Now we get to see if they can come out of the bye and give us another one.

Now do it again.