Instant Replay: Eagles 45, Panthers 21

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Mark Sanchez easily won his Eagles debut Monday night against the Panthers at the Linc before a national audience.

Unlike his days with the Jets, his surrounding cast gave him more support than he needed.

Darren Sproles scored touchdowns on an eight-yard run and 65-yard punt return, rookie Jordan Matthews caught two touchdowns, LeSean McCoy rushed for a touchdown and the Eagles' defense piled up nine sacks, two interceptions and an interception return for a touchdown in a 45-21 dismantling of the pathetic Panthers.

Sanchez won in his first start since the 2012 season finale and for the first time since Dec. 9, 2012. All eyes were on him this week as he took over for an injured Nick Foles, but Sanchez barely had to carry the team.

The Eagles (7-2) led 10-7 before they ripped off 35 straight points to win their second straight game and maintain their one-game lead over Dallas in the NFC East race.

Foles was lost indefinitely last Sunday in Houston with a broken collarbone and Pro Bowl linebacker DeMeco Ryans, the quarterback of the defense, went down in the same game for the rest of the season with an Achilles tear.

The losses didn’t hurt the Eagles against a Panthers team that entered the showdown winless in its last four games. Carolina, which started 2-0, hasn’t won since Oct. 5.

Most of the damage came in the first half as the Eagles went up 31-7 on the strength of three picks, five sacks and two touchdown returns, taking advantage of an unimpressive Cam Newton, who either threw the ball up for grabs or had his body planted on the Linc field by one of several Eagles defenders.

Connor Barwin had 3½ sacks, Cary Williams became the first Eagles cornerback this year with an interception when he picked off Newton in the first and Bradley Fletcher and Nate Allen each picked off passes before the break.

The Eagles’ secondary, which had just three picks going into the game, all by safety Malcolm Jenkins, matched that total in this game despite getting none from Jenkins.

The last time the Eagles had at least three picks, five sacks and two return touchdowns in the same game came in the 2009 season opener against, oddly, Carolina in Charlotte. Donovan McNabb, who was at the Linc on Monday night, started that game.

The winning kept on under Eagles head coach Chip Kelly, who’s coached his team to a 14-3 record in his last 17 games going back to last year.

The Eagles led 10-7 in the first quarter before rattling off 21 straight points before the break, beginning with Sproles’ 65-yard punt return and followed by a 13-yard touchdown catch from Matthews and capped by Fletcher’s 34-yard pick six, the first touchdown of his five-year career.

The Eagles had already led the NFL in return touchdowns with seven before Sproles and Fletcher extended their total to nine, a new team record that bested the team’s 1952 total of eight. The Eagles became one of just 31 teams in NFL history with at least nine touchdown returns in a season and joined the 1979 Broncos as the only two teams in league history with nine return touchdowns through nine games.

QB report
Sanchez was known as a good performer in late-game situations with the Jets, when the offense either doesn’t huddle or plays with urgency. He directed 11 game-winning or fourth-quarter comeback drives in his first three years.

He sure looked comfortable in Kelly’s no-huddle spread offense. After a shaky start -– he completed just two of his first nine throws -– he rebounded and finished with 332 yards, the fourth-most of his career, on 20 of 37 passing with two touchdowns and a passer rating of 102.5.

In the Jets’ four years with Sanchez starting they scored at least 45 points once. The Eagles got 45 points in his first start for them.

Newton, on the flip side, suffered through one of his worst games as a pro. The nine sacks were the most he’s ever been dropped in one game, and his three picks were one short of a career most. Granted, he’s got few weapons and a banged-up offensive line, but some of his throws were just awful.

Newton threw two late garbage-time TDs that gave him a respectable 306 passing yards, but he compiled a dreadful 71.5 passer rating.

Offensive hero
Matthews, the second-round pick from Vanderbilt, became the first rookie in Eagles history with a pair of two-touchdown games. He had his first two-touchdown game Week 3 against Washington. He finished with a career-best 138 yards on seven catches and became just the third rookie in team history with at least 39 receptions, 451 receiving yards and five touchdowns. The last one was Keith Jackson in 1988.

Offensive zero
Newton’s offensive line did him no favors. The Pro Bowl quarterback was under constant duress, and the Panthers didn’t get much of a run game going early either. Newton, by the way, had not thrown multiple picks in a regular-season game since Dec. 1, 2013, although he threw two last season in a playoff loss to San Francisco.

Defensive hero
Oh, so many to choose from. So, so many to choose from. Let’s go with outside linebacker Connor Barwin, who picked up 3½ sacks and now has like two million sacks in the past month. Actually, he has 4½ in his past two games and 7½ in his past four. For the year, he has 10½ sacks, one short of a career best. He also became one of seven Eagles ever with at least 10 sacks in nine games.

Defensive zero
Everyone on the Panthers could get this. We’ll give it to Panthers safety Thomas DeCoud, who missed a bunch of tackles and found himself on the wrong end of some Matthews catches.

Injuries
Brent Celek, who went to the locker room to have his ankle checked out in the second half, returned to the sideline and looked OK.

Inactive
QB Nick Foles, S Earl Wolff, CB Jaylen Watkins, G/C Julian Vandervelde, G/T Dennis Kelly, WR Jeff Maehl DE Taylor Hart (see story).

Did you know?
Matthews became the fifth Eagles rookie to have at least five touchdown catches and the first in 24 years. The last Eagles rookies to have at least five TDs were Calvin Williams (nine) and Fred Barnett (eight) in 1990.

Up next
The Eagles are back at Lambeau Field for the second time in two years to battle the Packers in Green Bay, Wisconsin. On the strength of Aaron Rodgers’ six first-half touchdown passes Sunday against the Bears, the Packers (6-3) cruised to a 55-14 home win over the Bears.

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