This is what they've been waiting for.

For the Eagles defense, the opening game against the Carolina Panthers was an opportunity to show that a preseason of vanilla defense was no indication of what was to come. It was an opportunity to display an attacking style and to provide a resounding answer to a few perceived question marks. It was an opportunity to honor the late Jim Johnson. And it was an opportunity to show that Sean McDermott is the right man to take this Eagles defense into the future.

"I've been telling you guys for a while now, but you wouldn't listen," said a chuckling Chris Gocong about the potential of the defense. "It's still Jim (Johnson)'s defense, but it's streamlined. It's real aggressive, very aggressive.

"We've known it for a while. We haven't shown too much of our blitzes in the preseason, and we know what we had going in, so we were kind of expecting things. But that was a great first performance for us, I'm really proud of the defense."

A great performance indeed. After allowing a touchdown on the opening drive, a drive that would have been stopped if not for a third-down facemask penalty, the Eagles defense held the Panthers to only 99 net yards and three points for the rest of the game. For the game, the Panthers averaged only 2.4 yards per offensive play.

McDermott said from his introductory press conference that he would get after the quarterback and be aggressive, and it's hard to imagine a worse day for a quarterback than the day Jake Delhomme had. After being constantly harassed and flustered by the Eagles relentless pressure, Delhomme was mercilessly pulled from the game after turning the ball over five times in two-and-a-half quarters.

"I don't think it was so much (Delhomme) as it was us," said defensive end Victor Abiamiri, who scored on a fumble recovery to give the Eagles a 10-7 lead they would never relinquish. "Once we started getting everything going, we just kind of fed off of each other."

The Eagles had five sacks and forced seven turnovers, the most turnovers forced by the Eagles' defense since 2000 when they also forced seven against the St. Louis Rams.

"The defensive pressure was a real plus, (as were) the five sacks and the seven takeaways," said head coach Andy Reid. "I thought the defensive staff did a nice job. I thought the players played like crazy. I was proud of that group."

The basics of the Johnson defense were all there; Constant pressure, players flying to the ball, shuffling personnel around and disguising blitzes. But this wasn't paint-by-numbers; McDermott has already put his stamp on the defense.

"A few of the things that (coach McDermott) did came up big for us," said Omar Gaither, who looked comfortable returning to his 2007 role as starting middle linebacker. "A lot of those big plays were things that he's changed. And obviously with our personnel ... it worked out well for us."

One of those big plays was the Abiamiri touchdown that was set up by a Trent Cole sack and forced fumble. Cole was lined up inside on the play and burst through the interior of the Panthers' offensive line unmolested.

"It was fun," said Cole. "That's just part of Sean bringing some little wrinkles in, and they worked out great. We're looking forward to next week, and I'm sure (the Saints) will see something different now.

"I think it was a great start for Sean McDermott, first game of the season, it couldn't have gone any better. He's a motivator. His style of defense is attack, attack, be aggressive against your opponent, that's how he is."

Sounds familiar doesn't it?

"It's still Jim (Johnson)'s system," said cornerback Sheldon Brown, who had two momentum-changing interceptions. "It's still the same concept, but (McDermott) did a great job of game planning and calling it in certain situations."

For Abiamiri, who scored the first touchdown of the Eagles' 2009 season and the first touchdown of his life, games like this are to be relished.

"That's the kind of football I look for," he said. "I love the defensive mentality of getting after an offense, blitzing.

"I think if you've got a dominant front seven, a dominant front four, I think they can take over the game. I think we did that today."

After answering their first test of the season against an offense known for its prolific running game, the Eagles face a whole new challenge next week against a New Orleans Saints team that produced 358 yards and six touchdowns through the air in their opening game.

"I guess we're going to have to put on the film and check them out," said Abiamiri. "I guess I'll have to wait and see what coach McDermott comes up with.

"But it's not necessarily about what another offense does. We want to make sure we put them in situations where we're successful and we can do what we do."