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Eagles-Titans: What we learned

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PHILADELPHIA — This game was barely over before the Philadelphia Eagles started looking ahead to the next one.

The Eagles cruised to a 43-24 victory over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field to set up a Thanksgiving showdown with the Dallas Cowboys for first place in NFC East.

“I’m going to enjoy this win for about five more minutes, and then I’m focused on Dallas,” Eagles center Jason Kelce said. “We did a good job focusing on this game all week because we knew it was an important one and that any team can beat you in this league if you’re not ready to play. Well, we were ready.”

The Titans (2-9), who fell behind 14-0 less than four minutes into the game, have now lost nine of 10 games after upsetting Kansas City in the season-opener.

Fans who were late getting to their seats missed the biggest play of the game, as Eagles rookie Josh Huff took the opening kickoff 107 yards for a touchdown. Huff broke through a seam on the right side and found running room down the sideline. Two Titans had a chance at tackling him, but Huff stiff-armed kicker Ryan Succop and then Brandon McGhee before finishing off the scoring play, the longest kickoff return in Eagles history. The previous best was 105 yards, by Timmy Brown vs. Cleveland in 1961.

“That’s what you live for on special teams, to make a big play and give your team a lift,” Huff said. “We work hard every week on that part of the game, and it’s definitely a great feeling when all your hard work pays off like that.”

Then, after Eagles linebacker Connor Barwin recorded sack No. 11 1/2 to force a punt and give his offense good field position on the Titans 49, the Eagles (8-3) quickly drove for another TD, this time on a 4-yard run by running back Darren Sproles. That gave the Eagles a 14-0 lead less than four minutes into the game. The Eagles added a 36-yard field goal by rookie Cody Parkey and took a 17-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

“It was a tough day for us, on a lot of fronts,” Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt said. “On the road, in a place like this, against a team that can score some points, that’s not the way you want to start the game.”

What the Eagles said:

“I’m really excited, man. I’m looking forward to playing those guys. We’re ready to roll, we’re ready for Thursday.” — DE Fletcher Cox on the first-place showdown with Dallas on Thanksgiving.

What the Titans said:

“It’s very frustrating. It’s something we harp on week-in and week-out, trying to stop the run.” — DT Jurell Casey, on Titans’ 31st-ranked run defense, which gave up 130 yards to Eagles RB LeSean McCoy.

What we learned about the Eagles:

1. QB Mark Sanchez passed for 300 yards in his third straight game, the first time he’s ever done that. But he continues to turn the ball over — Sanchez was intercepted twice by the Titans and in the three-and-a-half games in which he’s played since taking over for Nick Foles Sanchez has turned the ball over eight times. He can get away with that against weak teams like Carolina and Tennessee, but that will cost the Eagles against good teams in the playoffs.

2. They showed that they have a short memory as they shook off last week’s terrible game against Green Bay to come out smoking against Tennessee. That resiliency will be critical down the stretch as the Eagles fight for home field advantage in the playoffs.

–WR Josh Huff returned a kickoff a record 107 yards. The return by the rookie Huff, a third-round pick from Oregon, was the 10th this season for the Eagles on a return, which leads the NFL by a wide margin.

–RB LeSean McCoy usually enjoys a good relationship with Philadelphia-area media, but he got a little testy this past week when he was repeatedly asked about his — for him — substandard season. Well, actions speak louder than words, and McCoy’s actions Sunday spoke volumes — he rushed for 130 yards on 21 carries, an average of 6.2 yards per attempt.

–LB Connor Barwin recorded two more sacks, which give him a career-high 12 1/2 on the season with five games left to play. In the last 20 years, only three Eagles players have recorded more than that — William Fuller (13 sacks in 1995 and 1996), Hugh Douglas (15 in 2000) and Jason Babin (18 in 2011).

What we learned about the Titans:

1. It has been a long season already for the Titans, but their kickoff coverage had been solid — until Sunday. The Eagles’ Josh Huff returned the opening kickoff 107 yards for a TD that literally got the Eagles off and running. “That hurt, because we let the entire team down,” said CB Daimion Stafford, a core special teams player. “We had chances to make a play and we didn’t and there are no excuses for that. We get paid just like they do and we didn’t earn our money today.”

2. Their defensive players get to the ball, but they don’t always make the play. Granted, the Eagles have a couple of elusive running backs in LeSean McCoy and Darren Sproles, but the Titans aren’t going to win many games when they miss as many tackles as they did on Sunday, including Josh Huff’s 107-yard kickoff return for a touchdown that opened the game.

–TE Delanie Walker showed why he’s so valuable to the Titans offense in general and rookie QB Zach Mettenberger in particular. Walker missed last week’s game against Pittsburgh with a concussion, but he came back with a vengeance against the Eagles. Walker caught five passes for 155 yards and the Eagles’ coverage people were overmatched against him.

–QB Zach Mettenberger has the arm and the poise to be a good NFL quarterback, but he’s got a lot to learn about reading defenses and getting the ball away quickly. He was sacked five times and on most of them it appeared he had time to find a receiver or at least get rid of the ball.

–FS Michael Griffin had 11 solo tackles and 12 total in the loss to Philadelphia. A safety making that many tackles usually isn’t a good sign, and that was the case Sunday. Griffin even left the game early with a shoulder injury.

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