The pre-season is officially over and the 2009-2010 NFL season is officially underway. Unfortunately for the Eagles, there are still a number of questions that have to be answered as they head down to Charlotte, North Carolina for their season opener against the Carolina Panthers.

Here are the top five things to watch for in Week 1:

1. Offensive Line:

The offensive line, which was seen as one of the Eagles’ biggest strengths coming into training camp, has to now be considered the biggest question mark as the season begins. Every member of the o-line, with the exception of center Jamaal Jackson, missed time during training camp and has yet to play together this pre-season. Jason Peters and Stacey Andrews were brought in during the offseason with much fanfare, in hopes of complimenting the fragile, but talented, Shawn Andrews. Unfortunately, Shawn Andrews has yet to play a down, and has in fact not played in a game since the second game of last season. He has missed all of training camp and most of the pre-season with a sore lower back that appeared to have finally been healed earlier this week until he was held out of practice Thursday and Friday, making him unlikely to play on Sunday.

That leaves Winston Justice as the likely starter at right tackle, something that leaves Eagles fans significantly less than assured. Justice has yet to live up to expectations in his four years in the league. Couple that with the fact that the offensive line has only been practicing as a cohesive unit for about two and a half weeks, and has yet to take a snap in an official game together, and this is clearly the biggest question mark for the Eagles.

2. Brian Westbrook

Brian Westbrook, coming off ankle surgery earlier this year, turned 30 earlier this month, the age that is widely accepted as the production dropoff point for NFL running backs. Couple that with recent surgeries to his knee and ankle and Westbrook is considerably less than the sure fire offensive weapon that he has been for much of his career.

Look for Westbrook to get a reduced workload, as rookie backup LeSean McCoy, who is a very similar player to Westbrook, will receive a lot more attention than backups in the past. Westbrook will likely be used in various different packages unique to this season.

3. Sean McDermott

First year defensive coordinator Sean McDermott has some gigantic shoes to fill as he succeeds Jim Johnson as the head of the Eagles defense. While many believe that McDermott, who has spent his entire coaching career in the Eagles organization, is in a similar mold to Johnson and is a very bright, adaptative coach, Johnson is considered to be one of the best defensive minds in history. And even if McDermott is as good as Johnson was, he is a rookie, and will likely make some rookie mistakes. And with the loss of Brian Dawkins, the on the field leader of the Eagles’ defense, and Stewart Bradley, Dawkins’ replacement in the leadership position, the McDermott’s job is going to be all that much harder. Look for the defense to take a step back this season, although I do not think it will be a considerable step.

4. Linebackers

Stewart Bradley, who finally made a name for himself in 2008, was expected to cement himself as a premier linebacker in this league this season as the leader of the Eagles’ defense. Unfortunately, due to an injury suffered during an exhibition practice during training camp, will miss the entire season.

That leaves Omar Gaither as the starter. Gaither started 16 games at the middle linebacker position in 2007, but lost the job to Bradley in 2008. He doesn’t bring the same physical presence as Bradley, but played well enough to win the job outright during training camp.

Gaither’s competition for the job, Joe Mays, is out with a shoulder injury, leaving Chris Gocong as the backup should Gaither get injured himself. Gocong has never played the inside position.

5. Donovan McNabb

As always, the success or failure of this team rests on the ever broad shoulders of quarterback Donovan McNabb. After a tumultuous season in 2008, and a contract renegotiation this off-season, McNabb appeared to have plenty of motivation for having his best season ever in 2009. Now with the addition of Michael Vick, McNabb, whether he admits it or not, is truly playing for his starting job. Despite the constant banter about looking over his shoulder at Kevin Kolb, there was never any real chance of McNabb losing his job before. Now with a bonafide pro-bowl quarterback waiting in the wings, McNabb will have even more pressure on him to deliver this season, something he usually bristles at. The success or failure of the Eagles this season could largely depend on how McNabb deals with the added pressure.

Tune in Sunday at 1:00 PM for the start of the question answering session.