Every year, it seems like the promotion of the holiday season begins just a little bit earlier. After last week's loss in Green Bay, linebacker Connor Barwin described himself as a kid and this Sunday's game against the Tennessee Titans as Christmas.
Well, Barwin certainly enjoyed the gifts under the tree. Barwin and fellow linebacker Trent Cole each had two of the team's five sacks and the defense forced three turnovers in the 43-24 win over Tennessee.
"We just felt like our four could get after their front five," said Barwin, who is second in the league with a career-high 12.5 sacks this season. "We did a great job communicating up front, running our games together and then just won our one-on-ones across the board."
Since the Eagles were able to win those one-on-one matchups up front, defensive coordinator Bill Davis didn't have to send a lot of exotic blitzes at rookie quarterback Zach Mettenberger.
"I barely pressured. It was all four-man rush and the ball wasn't coming out as quick," Davis said. "Their patterns were more vertically oriented, so it took more time to get going, whereas a week ago they were just the go routes. These were concept-vertical routes and our four-man rush did a nice job."
Last week, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers effortlessly threw for 321 yards and three touchdowns. The Packers did not turn the ball over, snapping the Eagles' streak of 22 consecutive games of forcing at least one turnover. On Sunday, the defense forced the Titans to go three-and-out on their first four possessions as the Eagles raced out to a 17-0 lead. After taking a 27-17 lead into halftime, the Eagles forced the first of two fumbles on the opening drive of the second half. Defensive end Fletcher Cox knocked a Mettenberger pass into the air that was caught by center Brian Schwenke. As Schwenke was being tackled, linebacker Mychal Kendricks knocked the ball loose and it was recovered by safety Nate Allen.
Three plays later, quarterback Mark Sanchez found tight end James Casey for a 14-yard touchdown and the Eagles were ahead 34-17.
"We understood after the performance that we had in Green Bay we had to make a statement," said cornerback Cary Williams. "We understood that we had to right the ship, this was a must-win situation this week and we didn't want to lose at home. I think we did a great job in our game plan. I think we did a great job of preparing and it showed out there today."
The Eagles face the Titans in their last 2014 matchup against an AFC South opponent...
A big celebration for the #TheHunter
TE James Casey with his second touchdown of the season
WR Riley Cooper getting two feet down for the catch
LB Mychal Kendricks grabbing the jersey of the quarterback just before the ball was thrown away
S Malcolm Jenkins celebrating the pass defense
WR Josh Huff with the final stiff arm before reaching the end zone
WR Josh Huff with a big 107-yard kickoff return for a touchdown
WR Josh Huff will accept the opening kick
The offical game ball for today's game
RB LeSean McCoy getting ready for today's game
S Malcolm Jenkins getting the team pumped up for the game
DT Beau Allen walking back in after warmups
CB Bradley Fletcher is ready to go
MacAttack
LB Trent Cole getting warmed up for the game
WR Josh Huff returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown!
P Donnie Jones getting warmed up before the game
SWOOP in the tunnel before the game
TE James Casey and T Lane Johnson walking out to the field
WR Jeremy Maclin and RB Chris Polk heading out the field
The Eagles in the tunnel and ready to go
Running out through the smoke
RB LeSean McCoy charging out onto the field
The flag during the National Anthem
Eagles Cheer prior to the start of the game
WR Josh Huff running up the sideline during the his opening kickoff return
Eagles cheerleaders getting the crowd excited for the start of the game
LB Connor Barwin with a big sack
LB Connor Barwin celebrating the big sack
RB Darren Sproles cutting around the defenders
LB Connor Barwin staring into the backfield before the snap
QB Mark Sanchez back in the pocket
RB LeSean McCoy breaking through tackles
RB LeSean McCoy finding a good hole at the line of scrimmage
Eagles fans happy to be at the game today
TE Brent Celek taking on three Titans defenders
RB LeSean McCoy fighting through tackles
K Cody Parkey doing what he does best
G Andrew Gardener blocking on the pass
QB Mark Sanchez dropping back and slinging the ball
WR Jordan Matthews getting up field with the ball after the catch
RB Chris Polk with the carry
S Nate Allen on the tackle
RB LeSean McCoy cutting through the line
K Cody Parkey has made two field goals in the game thus far
RB LeSean McCoy making tacklers miss
LB Trent Cole diving to make the tackle
The Eagles defense getting pressure on the quarterback
WR Jordan Matthews diving forward to gain extra yards
RB Chris Polk fighting for extra yards
RB Darren Sproles making tacklers miss
CB Cary Williams making the tackle
TE Zach Ertz breaking the tackle
The flag flying across the end zone after a touchdown
RB LeSean McCoy celebrating his touchdown
WR Jeremy Maclin getting up to make the catch
LB Mychal Kendricks with the sack
QB Mark Sanchez back in the pocket
RB Chris Polk
RB LeSean McCoy breaking into the open field
RB Darren Sproles running down the sideline
S Chris Prosinski running down the field to make the tackle
WR Jordan Matthews throwing out the stiff arm
QB Mark Sanchez
TE Zach Ertz keeping his balance as he moves down field
QB Mark Sanchez throwing on the move
QB Mark Sanchez back in the pocket
A true team tackle
RB LeSean McCoy running up the sideline
WR Jeremy Maclin with the catch and run
LB Brandon Graham with the pressure
CB Brandon Boykin making the tackle
LB Brandon Graham charging the offensive line
DE Vinny Curry diving at the quarterback
TE Zach Ertz looking to juke a tackler
Head Coach Chip Kelly
QB Mark Sanchez looking down field at his target
RB LeSean McCoy taking the hand off
Some running back #BrotherlyLove
The offense celebrating RB LeSean McCoy's touchdown
RB Darren Sproles
The Eagles defense forcing a fumble
C Jason Kelce leading the way
QB Mark Sanchez making the pass
Celebrating the touchdown
LBs Brandon Graham and Mychal Kendricks on the tackle
RB Darren Sproles
RB Darren Sproles
An Eagles cheerleader getting the crowd pumped up during the game
DE Brandon Bair clogging up the line
LB Trent Cole on the tackle
WR Jeremy Maclin
Eagles fans getting loud today at the Linc
LB Trent Cole with the big hit
LB Trent Cole celebrating his sack
Some defensive line love
LB Trent Cole getting the crowd pumped up
RB Chris Polk finding the seam
C Jason Kelce leading the way
LB Connor Barwin causing the fumble
WR Riley Cooper diving forward
LB Trent Cole with the sack
Head Coach Chip Kelly picking up the flag for the referee
WR Riley Cooper
TE Brent Celek fighting through the tackles
The forced fumble
The defense with a great performance in today's game
The defense didn't stop, however. Cole recorded sacks on back-to-back plays to force a punt on the Titans' next series. After a Sanchez interception, the defense got the ball back on the very next play as nose tackle Bennie Logan forced a Bishop Sankey fumble that was recovered by cornerback Bradley Fletcher.
"Every game counts. I think the league is up for grabs right now," said Cole, who notched his 20th-career multi-sack game and claimed Mettenberger as the 50th-career sack victim. "A lot of teams are losing and I feel like we have a very strong team. I think that we can keep winning games as long as we go out there and play mistake free, be disciplined and beat the man across from us I think we can win games and keep this train rolling."
