Eagles Pound Titans, 43-24, Readying For The Three-Game Gauntlet
PHILADELPHIA, PA (CBS) — They say they don't look ahead. But they look. They say that they'll treat this time of year like any other. But they won't. And don't think anyone on the Eagles back in April, when the NFL schedule was announced, didn't take out a mental red Sharpie to circle the dates, either. They did.
The Eagles will know the trajectory of their season over these next 21 days. They'll face a season sandwich that features Dallas, then Seattle and then Dallas again.
On Sunday, the precursor for that gauntlet went as expected—an Eagles' route. It didn't take long, either. Roughly 13 seconds, minus maybe a millisecond or two, for the Eagles to dispose of the lowly Tennessee Titans at Lincoln Financial Field.
That's the span of time it took Josh Huff to sprint 107 yards through the Titans almost untouched with the opening kickoff for a touchdown and a lead the Eagles never relinquished.
It looked that easy. And it was.
The enflamed Eagles, still sore over last week's 53-20 Green Bay drubbing, improved to 8-3 doing what they were supposed to do against the perfect foil, a team with little to play for, beating the Titans, 43-24, as they head into their three-game season.
"This will be a big mental week for us," Eagles' defensive end Fletcher Cox said. "We have to go in and execute the game plan. Every week is a must-win game. I think in the first half, [Tennessee] hit a few big plays for us. It was different last week [against Green Bay]. We didn't hit him enough. This week, we had a big chip on our shoulders trying to get back to what we do, and that's stop the run and get after the quarterback."
Over the next three weeks, the Eagles will visit Dallas on Thanksgiving, and then host Seattle on Dec. 7 and probably play for their season with Dallas visiting on Dec. 14.
"We know how important these games are for the city," Eagles' defensive end Cedric Thornton said. "But for us, it's just the next game and the next opponent. The Cowboys are a good team right now. Who says that they're the best offensive line in football? We'll see. They have to block us and our defense as a unit.
"We have short memories on this team. I know some people would have come in and still held it against us from last week. We prepared for these next games like it's any other game. We're trying to be 1-0 after this week. We're 8-3 right now. We're as good as our record and we're not planning on anything more beyond that. Besides, my kids say we're the best defensive line in the NFL."
There were some good signs and not-so-good omens to glean from a ho-hum Titans' victory.
One good sign is the continued success the Eagles are having at Lincoln Financial Field. Sunday's victory marked the 10th-straight win for the Eagles at the Linc, making them the first team in NFL history to lose 10 or more straight home games, and then go on to win 10-straight home games, dating back to their Nov. 17 26-14 win against Washington last year.
Against Tennessee, the NFL's 31st-ranked team against the run entering the game, giving up an average of 143.5 yards a game, LeSean McCoy looked good, rushing for a game-high 131 yards on 20 carries.
By halftime, the darting, juking "Shady" had ripped through the Titans for 100 yards on 14 carries, which included a touchdown and a 53-yard run that set up a Cody Parkey field goal that gave the Eagles a 20-7 lead.
Mark Sanchez's performance was uneven. He threaded a few perfect passes, like the 14-yard, third-quarter touchdown toss to James Casey. And there were times Sanchez was awful, when he missed a wide open Riley Cooper at the end of the half, then sailed an interception that landed into Daimion Stafford's hands.
The following play the Titans' coughed up the ball—the Eagles' NFL-high 18th forced fumble (the Eagles would force another fumble later to notch their 19th). The turnover led to a Parkey 35-yard field goal and a comfortable 37-17 lead with 14:14 left.
About the only movement the Titans had in the third quarter was when tackle Tyler Lewan kicked the ball in frustration after giving up a sack to Trent Cole and was flagged for a delay of game. The Titans gained 16 yards and lost two fumbles in the third quarter.
Sanchez completed 30 of 43 for 307 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions—one that resulted in a Titans' score. It's the first time Sanchez has thrown for 300 yards in three straight games.
Defensively, the Eagles struggled, especially in the first half. Rookie quarterback Zach Mettenberger averaged 10.1 yards a completion in the first two quarters, in pulling the Titans to within 20-14 at one point. The Titans amassed 351 yards of total offense—206 in the first half.
"I was messing with Zach the whole game," said Bennie Logan, who forced a fumble and had a chance to play against his former LSU teammate, Mettenberger. "I had fun out there playing technique football, except I messed with the quarterback more than I usually do. We know coming off the Green Bay game, we made a lot of mistakes that we usually don't make. We cleaned it up this week.
"We'll recover and rest. But Dallas is on a short week like us. We're looking forward to it. We'll focus on the mistakes we made and watch some film of Dallas. We'll be ready when Thursday comes. I really don't care what they have. At the end of the day, they have to block us. They have the best o-line in the league, but when it comes Thursday, they have to line up and block us. We'll definitely be ready."
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