Eagles stop Panthers in matchup of first place teams

LOS ANGELES – Agence France-Presse

The Philadelphia Eagles are on a roll, becoming the first  National Football League team to reach five wins with a 28-23 defeat of the Carolina Panthers on Oct. 12 night.

Playing on just three days rest, the Eagles improved to 5-1 for the first time since 2014 by beating the Panthers in a showdown between two first place NFC teams at the Bank of America Stadium.

Quarterback Carson Wenz completed 16 of 30 passes for 220 yards and threw three touchdown passes for the second game in a row as he stacked up well against the Carolina defense.

Wentz tossed four touchdowns for the first time in his career on Oct. 8 in a 34-7 win over the Arizona Cardinals.

Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, who was coming off a pair of sterling outings, didn't have his best stuff as he finished 28-for-51 for 239 yards and three interceptions.

Carolina dropped to 4-2 on the season.

The Panthers needed to go 69 yards in 2:03 on their final drive in the fourth quarter but they reached the Philadelphia 48 before a failed fourth-and-one pass with 82 seconds left.

The Panthers lost linebacker Luke Kuechly, a former NFL Defensive Player of the Year, in the second quarter. He was placed in the concussion protocol.

The Eagles drove into Carolina territory on the game's first possession, but were thwarted by Wentz's fumble. It marked only the second game this year Philadelphia didn't score on its opening possession.

The Eagles opened the scoring on Jake Elliott's 50-yard field goal. Carolina's Graham Gano tied it later in the first quarter with a 39-yarder.