Eagles-Carolina: What Did We Learn?

For the first time this season the Eagles delivered in all phases and the end result was predictable: A 45-21 beat down of the Panthers on Monday night. The Eagles offense didn't turn the ball over and the defense forced five turnovers. As one would expect with a +5 turnover differential, Chip Kelly's squad raced out to a 38-point lead before Carolina tacked on two meaningless touchdowns to the final score. Let's take a closer look:

1. It's way too early to crown Mark Sanchez the starting quarterback. All in all, Sanchez played well, but tossed a number of head-scratching passes that under normal circumstances could have proved costly. He got a break when he threw one up to Jeremy Maclin and a Panthers cornerback caught the ball but barely stepped out of bounds. Sanchez has to get better with his bubble screens. He was never very efficient with those throws in New York, but the Eagles offense likes to take advantage with those quick hitters outside. Sanchez was effective in several other areas, though. If you were to compare him to Nick Foles, I would say Foles has a stronger arm and is more accurate, but Sanchez runs the up-tempo offense more efficiently, gets the ball out quicker and moves better in the pocket. A lot of his best throws came when he glided up in the pocket and stepped into his throws. "I had a chance to step up and get vertical in the pocket, and those are the ones that feel the best, where you move forward and really just cut one loose," Sanchez said. Aside from the near-interception, Sanchez avoided potential turnovers and it was only the second game this season that the Eagles didn't have a turnover from their quarterback. It was obviously pivotal even though Sanchez completed only 54 percent of his throws (20 of 37). Some may be hopping onto the Sanchez bandwagon after Monday night's win, but it's still early and he didn't show enough to convince that the starting job will be his even when Foles returns from injury. But it was a solid start.

2. Sanchez ran Chip Kelly's up-tempo offense the fastest it's been run in the NFL. Kelly has never seemed completely pleased with the pace of his up-tempo offense since coming to the NFL. Even when it seemed like it was moving at a breakneck speed and defenses were huffing and puffing, you'd ask for his take on the pace and he'd go, "It was OK." I asked him about it again after the Panthers game, specifically the tempo during the Eagles' 91-yard drive in the second quarter, and he said, "I thought we had a good rhythm going on that one." For Kelly, that's overwhelming praise. Sanchez had the offense moving so fast that Jason Kelce once snapped the football before the officials were set and time was called. Friday after practice, Sanchez worked extra with a trainer running with bands. He was late for his press conference, but reporters can now say they know why. "I was doing some extra running just to get used to the pace," Sanchez said. "You take on the backup role for a few weeks and you don't quite get as many reps and then you get thrown into the game. Last week in Houston there were a couple of times where we were chasing the ball after a big play and I was kind of huffing and puffing over there and thinking, 'Dang, am I out of shape or what? What's the deal?'"

3. The Eagles pass rush is legit. From the stats department: Over the last six games, the Eagles have compiled 29 sacks, and with 32 on the year, they rank second in the NFL behind the Bills (34). And Connor Barwin, after notching 3-1/2 sacks against the Panthers, has 10-1/2 sacks this year, tying him with Elvis Dumervil for second in the NFL behind Justin Houston (12). But Barwin wasn't the only Eagle to take down Cam Newton. Brandon Graham had 1-1/2 sacks and his fourth forced fumble of the season, tying him with Antoine Cason for the league lead in that category. He has 4-1/2 sacks in his last six games. Fletcher Cox, who has been getting into backfield consistently all season, finally recorded his first sack and that was all Barwin could talk about after the game. "I know that the guys are happy for me, but the best part of the night was Fletcher finally getting one because he's been so close so many times this year," Barwin said. Trent Cole picked up a sack, as did Mychal Kendricks, and Vinny Curry set a career high with his fifth sack of the season. Last season, there were stretches when the Eagles couldn't buy a sack. But Bill Davis' pass rushers are moving quarterbacks off their spots more frequently this season and the payoff has been more quarterback takedowns. Bringing back most of the same defensive players and giving them another year in the scheme seems to be paying off in dividends.

4. It's pick your poison against the Eagles offense. The Panthers were intent on stopping LeSean McCoy and the run and keeping Maclin from exploding for another big game, but they didn't account for the middle of the field. Jordan Matthews (seven catches for 138 yards and two touchdowns) and Brent Celek (five catches for 116 yards) had their best receiving games of the season. I wrote my newspaper column on Matthews' breakout performance. He joined Maclin as the only Eagles rookies ever with at least 130 yards and two touchdowns in the same game. McCoy (12 carries for 19 yards and a touchdown) may have been his own worst enemy on some of those runs, but he really had little room to roam. I'll have to check the coaches film to get a better idea of what went wrong, but I'll take the word of Kelly and the Eagles, who said the Panthers were crowding the box. Nevertheless, the Eagles had an answer with an offense that is designed to take advantage of a defense with playmakers at each spot. "They never know what is coming," Maclin said. "We are going to take what the defense gives us. There was a lot of space on the inside tonight and those guys won their matchups. It's going to be like that sometimes. I am not always going to go for 150 yards and two touchdowns. I don't expect to do that."

5. Brent Celek can still be a downfield threat. Celek entered the game with only 14 catches for 90 yards and a 6.4-per catch average. He didn't seem to mind. Celek has been a model teammate and has taken to his ever-expanding role as a blocker. But he showed that he can still catch the ball in space and pulled in a number of tough catches, including a 29-yard reception that was just a knee shy of being his first touchdown of the season. Celek left the game with an ankle injury and went into the locker room for a look-see, but returned to the sideline, if not the game. He said afterward that he was fine, which is what you would expect from a guy that has missed only one game in his career. Celek didn't want to talk much about his individual performance, but the Eagles can appreciate him being rewarded for often doing a tight end's dirty work. Celek's 116 receiving yards marked his seventh-career 100-yard game and his first in over two years.

6. The offensive line will need time to gel. The all-22 will give a clearer picture on how the line blocked and protected Sanchez, but the unit appeared to have more success in the latter. Sanchez was sacked only once and that occurred when Kelce grounded a snap to him that he had to just fall on. Kelce's snaps have been a little shaky since his return last week. But Sanchez, for the most part, had plenty of time to hit his receivers downfield. With Evan Mathis' return, the Eagles now have 4/5's of their starting line with Todd Herremans done for the year. It looks like Matt Tobin will get the nod at right guard for the rest of the season, so baring further injury a Jason Peters-Mathis-Kelce-Tobin-Lane Johnson fivesome will be the starting unit the rest of the way. It'll take some time to fully integrate Tobin into the program, but Monday night was a positive start even though the run game was stagnant. Despite all the lineup shuffling -- the Eagles have started six different combinations in nine games this season – the o-line has continued to improve with each week and should only get better.

7. The Panthers didn't respect Darren Sproles and paid for it. On the Panthers' first punt, the Panthers' Brad Nortman skied a high-arching 55-yard boot right down the middle of the field. It was a thing of beauty, but it made zero sense considering the man that was waiting to receive it. With plenty of space, Sproles hit a hole, had great execution from his blockers and scooted 65 yards for his second punt return touchdown on the season. What were the Panthers thinking? Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins was asked if he was surprised teams still punt to Sproles in the middle of the field. "At this point, yeah, I am," he said. "He's one of the best returners in this game right now. People keep giving him opportunities, so we'll keep trying to take them back." The Panthers, naturally, angled the rest of their punts to the sidelines. Sproles joined DeSean Jackson (two in 2009) and Brian Westbrook (two in 2003) as the only Eagles with multiple punt return scores in the same season. He leads the NFL with a 17.0 punt return average.

8. Eagles cornerbacks have rewarded Bill Davis' patience. If not for a few busted coverages in the Cardinals loss, the Eagles secondary would have had four straight strong efforts following the fourth quarter debacle vs. the Rams over a month ago. After the St. Louis game, Davis was asked repeatedly about moving slot corner Brandon Boykin outside for either Bradley Fletcher or Cary Williams. He backed his starters and said then that it wasn't nearly the time for a lineup change. He's been proven right – at least over this four-game stretch. Newton probably deserves more credit for the Eagles' three interceptions, but Williams made a strong play on the ball for his pick and Fletcher took an errant throw back for the first NFL touchdown of his career. Nate Allen's interception came just before the half on a jump ball. It was the first interceptions of the season for all three defensive backs. But Fletcher really has been solid over the last month and against the Panthers he had several pass breakups. He was targeted nine times and allowed only two catches for 18 yards, per Pro Football Focus. A real test for the Eagles secondary, though, will come Sunday against the Packers and arguably the NFL's best quarterback in Aaron Rodgers.

9. The Eagles may be the deepest team in the NFL. There is no way to quantify depth, but the Eagles have sustained injuries on both sides of the ball without hardly missing a beat and their special teams units are at the least one of the three best in the NFL. If that doesn't suggest a team with great depth, I'm not sure what does. Complete teams win Super Bowls. The Eagles have a long road to traverse if they want to get that far, but they've proven in nine games that they are legitimate contenders. For the second time this season, the Eagles scored touchdowns on offense, defense and special teams. If they had this special teams a year ago, they probably would have gotten by the Saints in the first round of the playoffs. The defense is also playing sound football. No one will mistake Davis' unit for the 1985 Bears, but the Eagles are consistently better on that side of the ball this season. The only part that hasn't lived up to expectations has been Kelly's offense. But it is still far more effective than most offenses.

10. A few quick notes. DeMeco Ryans was in the Eagles locker room after the game rolling around in a Roll-A-Bout with his injured right leg suspended. He had surgery to correct his ruptured Achilles tendon on Wednesday. The man still commands the respect of his peers. … Graham left the game late, but said after that he was fine and that he was only dealing with cramps. … The Eagles were 4 of 4 in the red zone and have now converted on 7 of 7 opportunities inside the 20 with Sanchez at quarterback. … Chris Polk was fielding kickoffs ahead of Josh Huff. … Five of Cody Parkey's eight kickoffs were touchbacks. … The Panthers won time of possession, 38:05 to 21:55. Ho-hum.