A Thursday night showdown between two 4-1 NFC teams certainly didn't disappoint as both teams brought some gritty play to a game that went the distance. Young quarterback Carson Wentz helped lead the Philadelphia Eagles to their fifth win of the NFL season. A slew of turnovers by Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers didn't help the home team much, but Cam also had several big plays to try to lead his team to a comeback win. Here's the latest Eagles vs. Panthers game recap with top players, game stats, a standings update, and what's up next for these teams.

NFL game recap

Tonight's NFL game was a battle from start to finish with costly penalties and turnovers playing a factor in different ways for the Panthers and Eagles. The two teams opened with a relatively stable first quarter. Both teams were able to march down the field and get close to the end zone, but had to settle for field goals.

The two teams matched one another in the second quarter as well, but this time it came with a pair of touchdowns. Cam Newton scored the first of the game, a 16-yard rushing touchdown in which he put a fake out on the Eagles defender. Later in the quarter, the Panthers saw a pass picked off down on their end of the field which helped the Eagles score more easily.

Carson Wentz eventually found Zach Ertz on a one-yard pass to tie things at 10-10 at the end of the half.

In the second half, the Panthers coughed up the ball on another pick on their end of the field. That allowed Wentz to find Ertz again for the 17-yard score.

The Eagles would add two points on the rushing conversion by LeGarrette Blount. The Panthers managed to get a pair of field goals in the quarter, with Philly also adding one of their own to make it a 21-16 game.

In the fourth quarter, Wentz threw another early touchdown pass to make it a 28-16 game. However, Cam Newton and the Panthers started to make a comeback.

A huge penalty hurt the Eagles and allowed Cam to find Christian McCaffrey on a touchdown pass after 13 plays down the field. That made it 28-23. The Panthers would get the ball back one final time, but failed to convert on a fourth down with one yard to go.

Carson Wentz finished tonight's game with a 16-for-30 passing performance. The sophomore QB had 222 yards and three touchdowns thrown. He was sacked three times for a loss of 13 yards. On the other side, Cam Newton went 28-for-52 and had 239 yards with one touchdown thrown. Newton also rushed for 71 yards on 11 carries with one TD. However, it was Newton's three interceptions that really hurt the Panthers as two of those set up the Eagles right within scoring range.

Standings & what's next

The Philadelphia Eagles have now improved to 5-1 for the NFL season and are among the early surprise contenders. Wentz and company are leading the NFC East division with the Washington Redskins (2-2) in second place. Next up, they'll host the Redskins for Monday Night Football on October 23rd at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

The Carolina Panthers fall to 4-2 for their season after having won back-to-back games over New England and Detroit. In terms of the standings, Carolina is second to the Atlanta Falcons (3-1) in the NFC South division. The Panthers will have a road game at Chicago on Sunday, October 22nd when they play the Bears at 1 p.m. Eastern Time.
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