By Art Beitchman, DOCBLOG
Mark Sanchez didn’t appear as though he had a 22-month gap between starts as an NFL quarterback, and he took advantage of every snap in the Birds’ 45-21 blowout of the Carolina Panthers.
He threw with ease to Jordan Matthews, who went 7-for-138 and two TDs. Brent Celek also had his best game, snagging 5 passes for 116 yards, very impressive.
All-World running back Darren Sproles (photo above) went into his Superman act, scoring the Eagles first TD from the 8-yard line, untouched. Then he took a punt to the house with a zig, zag, zig again move for a 65- yard return.
The Birds scored a defensive, special teams, an offensive touchdown Monday Night, beating the Panthers badly for the whole world to see.
The Eagles are for real.
The Birds defense feasted on Panthers’ QB Cam Newton’s hide for 60 minutes, recording nine sacks and five forced turnovers. LB Connor Barwin had another superb outing with eight tackles, including 3.5 sacks. Panther head Coach Ron Rivera left Newton out there to the bitter end to take more of a beating — a very questionable decision.
It would appear Sanchez is safe from the naysayers for one more week, even though he played very well in his first start in almost two years. We’ll see.
The Eagles travel to Green Bay for a clash next Sunday with the Packers, 4:25pm on Fox-29, which should be a defining game for these two NFC heavyweights.
