CHARLOTTE — It's time to bundle up and hit the road for the Carolina Panthers last game north of the Mason-Dixon this season. The temperature at kickoff is predicted to be a balmy 46 degrees and drop to 42 degrees by the game's end. The weather is in opposition to two teams that are both heating up, albeit at different paces.

The Panthers are coming off back-to-back losses, but both games that came down to the final drive, and the Week 13 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers going to overtime. The Philadelphia Eagles are 10-2, one of only three teams to notch 10 wins at this point of the season. The club is coming off a statement 24-19 win against the Baltimore Ravens last week.

Now, the Eagles and the Panthers clash for the first time since 2021. The Panthers are 5-8 all-time against the Eagles. Carolina is 2-4 at home and 3-4 on the road, with a 1-0 record in the playoffs (the 2003 NFC Championship Game).

Prepare for this year's iteration by getting to know the Eagles.

There goes that man

Saquon Barkley is on a generational run (pun intended). He currently sits at 1,499 rushing yards plus an additional 267 receiving yards. His rushing total after the Week 13 games is more than last year's leading rusher—Christian McCaffrey—had total, all season (1,459 yards).

Barkley is on pace to just edge out the single-season rushing record. It is currently held by Eric Dickerson, who had 2,105 yards in the 1984 season, 12 years before Barkley was even born.

"You got to start preparing," linebacker Trevin Wallace said Monday, knowing what Barkley can do on the field. "Like, ok, everybody needs to get to the ball because you've seen his highlights; you've seen the things he can do. So, he's well respected."

On the back of Barkley and quarterback Jalen Hurts (more on him below), the Eagles currently have the league's top rushing offense, averaging 188.9 yards per game on the ground.

What Hurts the most

Barkley isn't the only star on the Eagles offense. Quarterback Jalen Hurts is leading an offense that is fourth overall in the league. The passing offense averages almost the exact same yardage at 188.8 yards per game, which is 28th in the league, while Philly is leaning heavily on the run. Hurts is also a big part of that, with 485 yards on 124 carries. While only Derrick Henry is chasing Barkley on the ground this season, Hurts actually has more rushing touchdowns than his running back. The quarterback has 12 scores with his legs—and tush—and the Eagles are seventh overall in scoring offense (26.7 points per game).

The Eagles haven't thrown much, simply because they haven't needed to. But make no mistake, this is still an offense that can take to the air when they want. A.J. Brown is averaging 18 yards per catch and has four receiving touchdowns. So does DeVonta Smith, who is looking to be back this week against the Panthers. The receiver has missed the last two games with a hamstring injury, but reports say he's likely to return this week.

Oh yeah, the defense too

As if the offensive firepower wasn't enough to deal with, the Eagles defense is also a bear. Philly is first overall in total defense, only allowing 282.8 yards per game. They are third in passing defense (178 ypg), seventh in rushing defense (104.8 ypg), and fourth in scoring defense (18.2 ppg).

The front is eighth in the league in sacks, getting to the quarterback 36 times behind the incredible play of two Georgia guys, Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith. Both have 4.5 sacks so far. The unit also has four straight games with at least three sacks and has 14 total over that span.

The Eagles elected to go with two rookies at corner (Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean), and they've done nothing but notch 16 passes defended between them. Finally, linebacker Zack Baun is fourth in the league in total tackles, with 118 to this point.