Carson Wentz completed 16 of 30 passes for 222 yards and three touchdowns as the Philadelphia Eagles earned a 28-23 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Thursday night.
Cam Newton and the Panthers had two separate drives in the closing minutes to get a go-ahead touchdown only to have an interception and an incomplete pass to Christian McCaffrey on fourth down end their hopes.
Wentz connected with Nelson Agholor for a 24-yard touchdown as the Eagles wide out got matched up man-to-man on Panthers linebacker Shaq Thompson. The score gave the Eagles a 28-16 advantage on the first play of the fourth quarter. Zach Ertz caught the other two touchdowns from Wentz on the night.
Newton would find McCaffrey for a 1-yard touchdown on the Panthers ensuing possession to close the deficit to 28-23 with eight minutes left to play. Carolina forced a three-and-out and the Panthers were on the move again until Newton was picked off for a third time on the night. Rasul Douglas nearly intercepted Newton two plays earlier, but Newton was finally picked off by Jalen Mills as the Eagles brought a blitz with just over three minutes remaining.
Newton appeared to have a miscommunication with Kelvin Benjamin which led to a throw that wasn’t close to anyone in a Carolina uniform.
The Eagles could not get a first down to put the game away as Wentz couldn’t connect with Ertz on a third-and-7. Instead, the Panthers took possession back at their 31-yard line with 2:03 remaining. After picking up a quick first down, the drive stalled. Newton’s third down pass to Ed Dickson was knocked down at the line of scrimmage and a fourth down throw for McCaffrey skipped incomplete off the turf.
Newton completed 28 of 52 passes on the night for 239 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions. The Panthers are now just 1-4-1 in games where Newton has thrown at least 45 passes.
However, the Panthers didn’t have any rushing attack to speak of Thursday night. Newton was the team’s leading rusher as well with 71 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. Curtis Samuel and McCaffrey managed just eight yards each. Fozzy Whittaker and Jonathan Stewart were each held to negative yardage. The running back group has a whole managed just nine yards on 14 attempts.