Mark Sanchez led the Eagles to victory today. Let that sink in. “Butt fumble”, “good for nothing”, Mark Sanchez just beat the Texans. He seemed calm, collected, and much sharper than Foles has been all year. Sure, he threw 2 interceptions, but one went directly off of Josh Huff’s hands. It’s easy to see how the Eagles won and here’s why.
In a pass happy offense, the Eagles did something astounding today. They ran the ball more than they passed. LeSean McCoy finished with 117 yards and Chris Polk was substituted in for the short yardage plays and finished with a touchdown. It was a sight to behold and a rare one in Chip Kelly’s offense.
On the other side of the ball, the defense applied pressure to Ryan Fitzpatrick, sacking him 4 times and recording 9 total hits. The defense also forced an interception. The Eagles mixed up their defensive play calling and made sure a rather unpredictable offense did not beat them in a big way, excluding the 56-yard reception by Foster and the 45-yard reception by Hopkins. Beyond those two plays, the next biggest play was an 18-yard run by Arian Foster.
Despite the win, the Eagles will limp into next week. Nick Foles suffered a broken collarbone, sidelining him anywhere from 4-12 weeks and DeMeco Ryans injured his Achilles and is out for the year. The Eagles will lose their two biggest leaders for the foreseeable future and it will be interesting to see how the Eagles respond next week. If Sanchez and the rest of the Eagles defense don’t step up in the coming weeks, this season could go downhill… fast.