The Series: With the 38-10 victory, Philadelphia defeated Carolina for the third consecutive time and leads the all-time series 5-2. The Panthers and Eagles have faced each other six times during the regular season and once in the postseason, a 14-3 win by Carolina in the 2003 NFC Championship at Philadelphia (1/18/04).
Regular-Season Openers: This marked the first time since 2006 and ninth time in the franchise's 15-year history that Carolina started the season at home. The Panthers are 6-9 in regular-season openers, including 4-4 under head coach John Fox, with a 3-6 record at home and 3-3 mark on the road.
Opening Day Starters: Jake Delhomme started at quarterback on Kickoff Weekend for a team-record sixth consecutive year. He also appeared in his seventh consecutive season-opening contest for the Panthers after being inserted at quarterback in the second half of the 2003 opener. Steve Beuerlein ranks second in team history for the most Opening Day starts by a quarterback with three.
For the first time in team history, Carolina started the same offensive line in consecutive regular-season openers with Jordan Gross at left tackle, Travelle Wharton at left guard, Ryan Kalil at center, Keydrick Vincent at right guard and Jeff Otah at right tackle.
For Starters: Second-year tight end Gary Barnidge made his first NFL start after playing in 14 games as a rookie last season. Third-year veteran Quinton Teal started as strong safety in place of Chris Harris, who did not play because of a knee injury. It marked Teal's second career start after starting versus Dallas (12/22/07) when Carolina opened the game with five defensive backs.
Quarterbacks: Panthers quarterbacks combined to complete 14-of-34 passes for 138 yards and no touchdowns with five interceptions to generate a 13.7 quarterback rating. The five passes intercepted equaled the most the team has ever had picked off in a game, previously accomplished versus St. Louis (9/17/95).
Jake Delhomme completed seven-of-17 passes for 73 yards and no touchdowns with four interceptions to produce a 14.7 quarterback rating, the second-worst mark of his career behind a 12.3 rating at Oakland (11/9/08). The four interceptions matched the most Delhomme has ever thrown in a regular-season game – previously accomplished three times, most recently at Oakland (11/9/08).
Josh McCown relieved Delhomme in the third quarter and threw his first pass as a Panther. He completed one-of-six attempts for two yards before leaving the game with a knee injury in the fourth quarter. McCown appeared in two games but did not throw a pass last year after being acquired in a trade prior to the start of the regular season.
Matt Moore replaced McCown and completed 6-of-11 passes for 63 yards and no touchdowns with one interception to compile a 33.5 quarterback rating. It marked his first action since starting 2007 regular-season finale at Tampa Bay (12/30/07) as a rookie. Moore was inactive for all 16 games last year.
Double Trouble: Running back DeAngelo Williams rushed a team-leading 37 yards and one touchdown – scoring on an 11-yard run in the first quarter – on 14 carries, while running back Jonathan Stewart added 35 yards on 11 attempts.
Receiving Leaders: Williams and wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad shared the team lead with four receptions. Williams gained 42 yards, and Muhammad posted 41.
In The Zone: The Panthers posted a 66.7 percent efficiency rating in the red zone, scoring one touchdown and one field goal on three trips inside Philadelphia's 20-yard line. The only time Carolina failed to score inside the red zone occurred when the Panthers turned the ball over on downs at the Eagles' one-yard line on their final possession of the game.
Takeaway/Giveaway: Carolina forced two turnovers on an interception by linebacker Jon Beason and a fumble that was recovered by defensive tackle Damione Lewis and forced by defensive end Julius Peppers. The Panthers turned it over seven times on five interceptions and two fumbles to finish with a minus-five turnover ratio. The seven giveaways equaled the most in team history, previously accomplished versus St. Louis (9/17/95). The two takeaways resulted in no points for Carolina, and the seven giveaways led to 24 points for Philadelphia.
The nine combined turnovers between the two teams matched the second-most turnovers in a game by the Panthers and their opponent – previously accomplished three times, most recently versus New England (1/6/02). The most turnovers by both teams occurred at New Orleans (11/16/95) with 10.
Sacked Out: The Panthers corralled two quarterback sacks by defensive end Julius Peppers and defensive tackle Louis Leonard.
Red Hot Peppers: Peppers recorded a sack and forced fumble on the same play when he dropped Eagles quarterback Kevin Kolb for an 11-yard loss and knocked the ball loose. Peppers ranks as the Panthers' all-time leader with 71.5 sacks and 25 forced fumbles. He also blocked a 51-yard field-goal attempt by Eagles kicker David Akers. It marked Carolina's first blocked field goal since Peppers blocked a 49-yard field-goal attempt by Packers kicker Mason Crosby at Green Bay (11/18/07). Peppers ranks as the Panthers all-time leader with eight blocked field goals and is tied for first with one blocked extra-point attempt.
The Specialists: Kicker John Kasay connected on his only field-goal attempt, converting from 22 yards, and his only extra-point opportunity. He ranks seventh in NFL history with 387 made field goals and 11th with 1,638 points scored – including a franchise record 1,297 for the Panthers – and has made a team-record 136 consecutive extra points.
Punter Jason Baker averaged a single-game career-high 55.8 yards on four punts with none inside the 20, two touchbacks and a long of 61 yards. He bettered his previous best of 55.0 yards versus St. Louis (11/19/06).
Kickoff specialist Rhys Lloyd placed all three of his kickoffs in the end zone and recorded one touchback. He reached the end zone on 52 kickoffs and led the NFL with 30 touchbacks last season.
Claw Marks: Wide receiver Kenneth Moore became the first player from Charlotte to ever appear in a regular-season game for the Panthers. He was inactive for 11 games last season after being signed as a free agent off of Detroit's practice squad. He attended Butler High School before going to Wake Forest...Second-year offensive lineman Mackenzy Bernadeau appeared in his first NFL game when he lined up as an eligible receiver in a goal-line package that featured six offensive linemen. He dressed but did not play in five games and was inactive for 11 games as a rookie in 2008...Tackle Geoff Schwartz, who spent all of last season on the Panthers' practice squad, made his NFL debut.
Inactives: The following eight players were inactive for the Panthers: fullback Tony Fiammetta, defensive tackle Ra'Shon Harris, quarterback Matt Moore (third quarterback), guard Duke Robinson, running back Tyrell Sutton, defensive end Hilee Taylor, tackle Garry Williams and cornerback C.J. Wilson.
Bird Seed: Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson returned a punt 85 yards for a touchdown. It marked the third-longest punt return ever against the Panthers and the first punt return for at touchdown by an opponent since Harry Douglas' 61-yarder for Atlanta (11/23/08). Jackson finished the game with 106 punt return yards, the third-highest total ever by an opponent...Sheldon Brown picked off two passes to tie the record for the most interceptions in a game by an opponent – previously accomplished 19 times, most recently by Rashad Baker for Oakland (11/9/08).
