Five reasons the Eagles beat the Panthers

A look at five of the top reasons behind the Eagles' impressive 28-23 win over the Panthers: 

The game featured the league's top two third-down offenses. The Eagles had converted 53.4 percent of their third-down opportunities in the first five games. The Panthers converted 50 percent.

The Eagles didn't do great overall against the Panthers on third down, converting just five of 14 third-down chances. But two of those conversions were huge.

One was Carson Wentz's one-yard touchdown pass to Zach Ertz late in the second quarter following Rasul Douglas' interception that tied the game at 10. The other was a critical 20-yard completion to rookie Mack Hollins on a third-and-16 late in the third quarter that paved the way for Wentz's 24-yard touchdown pass to Nelson Agholor, which gave the Eagles a 12-point lead.

Wentz was 5-for-12 for 70 yards and a TD on third down, but all five completions went for first downs. For one of the few times this season, the Eagles managed to stay out of a lot of third-and-longs. Just three of their 14 third downs were eight yards or more, and Wentz converted both of those.

Cam Newton, meanwhile, made his most critical, game-costing mistakes on third down, throwing three interceptions, all of them on the money down. The Eagles converted two of them into touchdowns. Newton has eight interceptions this season. Six have been on third down.

After missing two games with a calf injury, Fletcher Cox returned with a vengeance Thursday night.

He spearheaded a fierce pass rush that was in Cam Newton's face most of the game. He was responsible for the first of Newton's three third-down interceptions when he hit the Panthers quarterback as he was releasing the ball, causing it to flutter into the waiting arms of Douglas. The turnover set up a game-tying touchdown.

He also was a major force in the middle against the run. The Panthers rushed for just 80 yards on 25 carries. But 71 of those yards and six of Carolina's seven rushing first downs were by Newton, mostly on scrambles. Another eight came on an end-around by wide receiver Curtis Samuel.

The Panthers' leading rusher, Jonathan Stewart, finished with minus-4 yards on eight carries. Five of his eight carries gained zero or negative yards. Rookie Christian McCaffrey was a big part of the passing game (10 catches for 56 yards), but a non-factor as a runner. He had eight yards on four carries.

If there was one play Thursday night that finally made Cleveland Browns executive vice-president of football operations Sashi Brown realize he screwed the pooch last year when he passed on Carson Wentz for the opportunity to add to his draft-pick collection, it was that 20-yard, third-and-16 pass to Hollins.

The Panthers brought Captain Munnerlyn on a corner blitz. Tight end Trey Burton chipped him, but not very well. With Munnerlyn bearing down on him, Wentz had the presence to step up while keeping his eyes downfield, and threw an all-arm rope down the middle to Hollins for a first down as Munnerlyn was wrapping himself around his legs.

Wentz would follow that up with a perfect 37-yard throw down the left sideline to Alshon Jeffrey and a 24-yard touchdown pass to Agholor that put the Eagles up by 12.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Sashi.

Wentz only completed 53.3 percent of his passes. He made some poor throws, particularly early. A too-high pass to an open Agholor on a third-and-seven in the first quarter. Another high throw to Jeffery on a third-and-four later in the first quarter. An off-target slant pass to Torrey Smith early in the second quarter.

But when the Eagles needed him to make a big play, he did. He finished with three touchdown passes and no interceptions. On the road, that second number is as important as the first.

As a rookie, Wentz finished 18th in interception percentage. Averaged a pick every 43.3 attempts. Through six games this year, he's seventh, averaging one every 69 attempts.

Jim Schwartz is as good as anyone in the NFL at playing the hand that he's dealt. His two best corners – Ronald Darby and Sidney Jones – have played a total of one game this season.

That has left him with a raw rookie – Douglas – a guy who's tougher than he is fast – Jalen Mills – and a 30-year-old guy that a lot of teams thought was washed up – Patrick Robinson.

Without a legitimate shutdown corner, he has resorted to an off-coverage strategy that revolves around not giving up the deep ball and limiting yards after the catch.

Defensive backs coach Cory Undlin has been putting the corners and safeties through daily tackling drills at practice the last few weeks to hone their tackling skills. It paid off dividends Thursday.

Combined with a pass rush that put pressure on Newton all evening, that strategy worked to perfection against the Panthers. The Eagles picked off Newton three times and effectively neutralized the Panthers' twin-tower wideouts, Devin Funchess and Kelvin Benjamin.

Benjamin had nine catches, but for only 99 yards. He had just one reception longer than 13 yards (19). Funchess was held to three receptions, including Newton's longest throw of the night, a 20-yarder on a third-and-eight on the Panthers' final scoring drive.

The Eagles held Newton, who had averaged nearly 11 yards per attempt in impressive victories over the Patriots and Lions the last two weeks, to 4.6 yards per attempt. He finished with just 239 yards on 52 pass attempts.

The Eagles wanted to get better on third down this season, and they have. They also wanted to get better in the red zone. They've done that, too.

The Eagles had just two red-zone opportunities against the Panthers, but converted both of them into touchdowns. Wentz, given a lot of time by the offensive line, connected with tight end Ertz on a one-yard TD pass on a third-and-goal late in the second quarter that tied the game.

Then Wentz and Ertz connected again in the red zone on the Eagles' first possession of the second half when Ertz bodied up safety Mike Adams and caught a 17-yard TD that gave the Eagles a lead they would never lose.

Last year, the Eagles finished 24th in red zone offense, converting just 49.1 percent of their red-zone opportunities into touchdowns. In the first six games this year, they have a 63.1 touchdown rate in the red zone (12-for-19).

Last year, Wentz had just 12 red-zone touchdown passes the entire season. This year, he already has nine. Ertz already has four red-zone TD catches.