Friday, October 16, 2026
68 ° Rain
68 ° Rain
Jordan Mailata described last week as “a week from hell.”
That hellish feeling leaked into this week with the news that Jalen Hurts will be out indefinitely after an ultrasound found a superficial blood clot in his calf after he suffered an injury in the loss to the Rams in Week 4.
It was going to be a tough game for the Eagles to win even with Hurts healthy, with Saquon Barkley and DeVonta Smith still not fully participating in practice this week. Coupled with Tanner McKee now in line to start, the Eagles are staring at quite the challenge when the much improved Carolina Panthers, well-rested coming off their bye week, come to Lincoln Financial Field.
Here are five matchups that could determine the outcome of this game:
If there’s an opponent to face for your season debut, Carolina isn’t a bad one to go up against if you're Tanner McKee. The Panthers have allowed the seventh-most points per game this season (27.6), the fourth-most yards per game (387.3), and rank 22nd in passing yards allowed (230.8).
McKee will be making his first start that isn’t a meaningless season finale. In last year’s final game, the fourth-year quarterback struggled against Washington in a 24-17 loss. He completed 21 of his 40 passes for 241 yards, a touchdown and interception, posting a 68.9 passer rating. He was also sacked three times.
In his two career starts, McKee has thrown for a combined 510 yards with three touchdowns, one interception and an 89.0 passer rating.
Seemingly always considered to be trade bait for Howie Roseman to fetch a decent draft pick, McKee has remained on the roster since being drafted in the sixth round in 2023 out of Stanford and has a chance to prove his worth not only to the Eagles, but to the rest of the NFL as he is set to be a free agent at the end of the season.
“He looked at me and said ‘It looks like you’re going to be the guy this week’”, McKee told reporters on what Hurts said to him.
“As the backup quarterback it could be the first play or the last play, you have to be ready,” the quarterback said. “It’s kind of a luxury to have a few days to get the 1s, getting those reps, running the meetings or whatever it is. It’s kind of a luxury for me to have a week like that to prepare for that.”
McKee has another day of practice to get acclimated with potentially a less than ideal supporting cast with Barkley, Smith and now Dontayvion Wicks all on the injury report.
Assuming Barkley will miss a third game with his hamstring injury (he missed essentially the entire Rams game after getting hurt on the second drive of the game), the veteran Pierce has a chance to bounce back as the featured back.
After going up against a buzz saw in Jacksonville’s rush defense, which now ranks first in the NFL, there could be plenty of opportunities for Pierce against Carolina’s 31st ranked rush defense. The Panthers have allowed 156.5 yards per game on the ground only better than Dallas (168.4).
The struggles the Panthers have come from their inability to slow down the run when teams run away from their stacked boxes.
Of course, the offensive line which has been rearranged will need to provide lanes for Pierce to run through, but there’s opportunity here for the Eagles to make McKee’s job a bit easier if they can establish some type of rushing attack on Sunday.
The front line for the Panthers has struggled giving up quick pressures. Per NextGen Stats, Bryce Young has faced the third-highest quick-rate pressure of 21.6% this season. However, Young has the fourth-highest success rate against quick pressures, making quick and smart decisions to get the ball out. He is also dangerous with his legs.
The Eagles will have to rely on their defensive line, especially Jalen Carter, who had two sacks last week, will need to find ways to generate pressure and get to Young with Jalyx Hunt more than likely unavailable and Jonathan Greenard’s status in question.
The Eagles will face one of the best wide receiving duos to date on Sunday in McMillan and Coker.
McMillan is 10th in the NFL with 385 receiving yards, averaging 14.8 yards per reception and has two touchdowns. His 96.3 yards/game average is the eighth-best mark among wideouts this season.
Coker has missed time due to injury, but has made an impact since his return. He is averaging six catches and 74 yards per game in his three contests played.
Per NextGen Stats, when Coker is on the field, Young’s yards per attempt sits at nine yards which would rank second in the league. When Coker is off the field, that average drops to 6.5 which would be 23rd. Coker’s success has primarily come against zone coverage, something the Eagles have been slightly above league average at, allowing 5.4 yards per attempt while playing zone.
Mitchell and Woolen have been extremely solid all season long and will need to continue to play to their ability to slow down a Panthers offense that is averaging 301.3 yards passing per game good for second best in the NFL, only behind the Los Angeles Rams.
Philadelphia opted to not take their bye week this week after flying to and from London. Already extremely banged up with 24 players listed on the injury report throughout the week, will any jet lag play a factor for the team?
It hasn’t happened often, but this will be the fifth time a team played abroad and had to take on a team coming off their bye week. Those teams without the rest are 0-4, not a good precedent for the Eagles who look to avoid their first four-game skid since 2020 when the dropped four in a row from Weeks 10-13.
MORE: Eagles poach Joe Milton from Cowboys practice squad
