Tennessee vs. Philadelphia: What Are Experts Saying About Philadelphia?

Both the Philadelphia Eagles and Tennessee Titans are coming off of brutal losses in Week 11. 

For the Eagles, their 53-20 beatdown at the hands of Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers is their worst loss of the season. Not only did Rodgers torch the Eagles for three touchdowns, but the Packers also scored three non-offensive touchdowns. The game was essentially over when Micah Hyde returned a punt 75 yards for a touchdown to give the Packers a 17-0 lead late in the first quarter.

For the Titans, their 11-point blown fourth-quarter lead against the Pittsburgh Steelers essentially summed up their season. The Titans led 24-13 before surrendering two late touchdown drives. They fell to 2-8 in veteran head coach Ken Whisenhunt's debut season. 

The Eagles will be starting backup Mark Sanchez for the second straight game, while the Titans have moved on to rookie third-string quarterback Zach Mettenberger. 

Although the Eagles never defeated the Titans in four tries under Andy Reid, expect that streak to end this Sunday. The Eagles' explosive offense will be too much for the Titans, while the Eagles should also get back on track defensively against Tennessee's 30th-ranked offense.

Don't Overreact on Mark Sanchez

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The sample size for Mark Sanchez is too small to judge whether the veteran quarterback has a) revived his career under offensive genius Chip Kelly, or b) continued to show, as he did in New York, that he doesn't deserve to be a starting quarterback in the National Football League. 

Just like Sanchez wasn't the reason why the Eagles beat the Carolina Panthers on Monday Night Football, the 28-year-old wasn't the reason why the Eagles lost to the Green Bay Packers last Sunday. 

Sanchez is an above-average backup quarterback who will likely play better than he ever did in New York while he's in Philly, surrounded by talented offensive weapons. He's not going to lead the Eagles to a Super Bowl title, but don't expect his performance to cost this team a playoff spot. 

Chris Burke of SI.com summed up the Eagles' current quarterback situation the best:

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Let's all make sure we save some overreactions for next Sunday, when there is a pretty good chance Sanchez bounces back and lights up the Titans in Philadelphia. Should that happen, the discussion again will shift to how well Sanchez fits Chip Kelly's system, what a wizard Kelly is with quarterbacks and so on and so forth.

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Has LeSean McCoy Lost a Step?

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There's been a lot of concern in Philadelphia over the disappointing play by All-Pro running back LeSean McCoy. Per Max Cohen of the Philadelphia Inquirer, last year's rushing champion openly talked during the offseason about his quest for 2,000 rushing yards in 2014, but at this pace, it would take a miracle for McCoy to even reach last year's total of 1,607 yards. 

Although McCoy has rushed for more than 80 yards in five of the past six games, he's still averaging a disappointing 3.7 yards per carry, more than a full yard below his 2013 pace. He's had three games with double-digit carries and fewer than two yards per carry. 

At 26, it's unlikely that McCoy has started the decline phase of his career. He did touch the ball 391 times last season, including the playoffs, but he's also carried just 1,345 times in his career. By comparison, the active leader in career carries, Steven Jackson, has almost twice as many (2,681). But Brian Westbrook, the predecessor to McCoy, carried just 1,385 times during his career, and he was an extremely similar running back. 

NJ.com's Mark Eckel highlights five potential reasons for McCoy's disappointing year, touching on everything from the loss of DeSean Jackson to the injured offensive line. 

The one that makes the most sense is the offensive line, as Evan Mathis and Jason Kelce both missed time with serious injuries and haven't looked the same since returning. Todd Herremans is out for the year with a torn bicepsm and Lane Johnson missed the first four games of the season with a PEDs suspension. Only Jason Peters has been his usual dominant self all year.

Jordan Matthews Joining List of Elite Rookie Receivers

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Without question, this is the greatest rookie wide receiver draft class in NFL history. With Sammy Watkins, Mike Evans, Odell Beckham, Brandin Cooks and Kelvin Benjamin, there are five first-round receivers who look to be future Pro Bowlers. There's also a sixth who is quietly playing as well as any of them over the past few games, and that's second-round pick Jordan Matthews. 

Matthews has demonstrated some serious chemistry with backup quarterback Mark Sanchez, catching 12 passes for 245 yards and three touchdowns over the past two games.

His confidence is growing too, as Matthews told Matt Lombardo at NJ.com. 

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I think it's around this time when the game really does start slowing down for you," Matthews said after Thursday's practice. "I asked [Eagles tight end] Zach [Ertz]; 'when did the game start slowing down for you, when did you start feel like you were back in college again?' He told me it was around Week 8 or Week 9.

"That's really come to fruition for me this year. I'm just continuing to try and get comfortable. I'll never say 'hey, I've arrived, I'm here now,' when that happens I'll need to take a step back. I feel like I'm still chasing after it and trying to get better each week.

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Eagles Still Super Bowl Contenders Despite Secondary

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Much talk has been made of the Eagles' porous pass defense against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, as Rodgers lit up the Eagles for 32 points and three touchdowns. 

To put it bluntly, cornerbacks Cary Williams and Bradley Fletcher are both struggling this year. Former second-round pick Nate Allen won't be back when he hits free agency this season. Only veteran Malcolm Jenkins is playing well. 

But Bleacher Report's Brad Gagnon argues that the Eagles are still a Super Bowl contender despite their weak secondary.

Gagnon says that the Eagles' performance against Rodgers was right in line with the rest of the NFL this season, and not every quarterback will be an MVP candidate in the middle of perhaps the best quarterback season ever. 

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The advanced stats gurus at Football Outsiders have the Philly D ranked 13th in the NFL against the pass. 

Is that 28th-ranked pass D still probably more of a liability than an asset? Sure, but consider that the two teams sandwiching them on that list—the Indianapolis Colts and Arizona Cardinals—also lead their respective divisions. 

As we've established, Philly's pass D was worse last year than it has been this season. And even without much of a pass rush, that team had the ability to make a Super Bowl run. 

This is the NFL, and it's 2014. Your secondary can be an asset, but if you get good quarterback play and can generate enough pressure, it's almost impossible for it to become a season-destroying Achilles' heel.

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Eagles Need Improvement Against Elite Teams

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The Eagles have now lost games to three potential NFC playoff threats: San Francisco 49ers, Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers. Those losses could be the difference between playing in the Wild Card Round instead of the divisional round, or even staying at home in January instead of playing in the Wild Card Round. 

The Eagles have just one impressive win against a potential playoff team this season, and that was when they defeated the Indianapolis Colts 30-27. They did win four straight games late last season against teams in contention for a playoff berth, defeating the Arizona Cardinals, Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears and Dallas Cowboys. 

But they've lost to great quarterbacks (Philip Rivers), great teams (2013 Chiefs) and both (2013 Broncos and 2014 Packers). 

Andrew Kulp of Bleacher Report discussed at length the Eagles' struggles against successful teams during the year-and-a-half of the Chip Kelly era. 

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In addition to claiming their sole victory against a playoff opponent over a Packers team minus Rodgers in '13, the Eagles only notched one more win against an opponent with a winning record all year—theArizona Cardinals. That includes a home loss to the New Orleans Saints in the opening round of the postseason tournament.

All told, Philadelphia has a 3-7 record against opponents with winning records under Kelly, including playoffs.

Where are the victories that make observers say Philadelphia is a legitimate threat to make noise when it gets into the playoffs?

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