Mark Sanchez' poor play vs. Seattle Seahawks opens door for Eagles to start Nick Foles in playoffs
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PHILADELPHIA — The Eagles missed an opportunity to control their own destiny in the NFC playoff race with Sunday's resounding defeat at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks, but the loss may have been costlier for quarterback Mark Sanchez.
Falling to the Seahawks 24-14 at Lincoln Financial Field and letting virtually any chance of securing the number two seed in the NFC playoffs slip through their fingertips, the Eagles once again find themselves in a precarious position ahead of Sunday's NFC East rematch against the Dallas Cowboys.
The winner of Sunday's game will likely win the NFC East and secure a home game in the playoffs.
However, the loser could go from a 9-4 record in Week 15 to potentially missing out on the playoffs altogether.
For the Eagles, the question of who will be the team's starting quarterback should they make the postseason was once again brought to the forefront after Sanchez finished with just 90 passing yards, two touchdowns, one interception and three sacks against the Seahawks.
Prior to Sunday, the former Jets quarterback was in the midst of authoring one of the great redemption stories in the NFL this season after posting career highs in completion percentage and quarterback rating ahead of Sunday's game.
He also was coming off authoring his first turnover free effort of the season in a 33-10 blowout victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day.
Before Suday's game, It was believed that even once Nick Foles returned to health, Sanchez was playing well enough to remain the starting quarterback for the playoffs. Should the Eagles be fortunate enough to make it that far.
Now, with Foles entering his seventh week since suffering a broken clavicle against the Houston Texans in a 6-8 week recovery time frame, the idea of sticking with Sanchez isn't as open and shut as was once thought.
Sanchez didn't just struggle against Seattle, his flaws were brought to the forefront.
He had a terrible miscommunication for the second consecutive game with Riley Cooper that led to an interception. He struggled to connect with Cooper, Jordan Matthews and Jeremy Maclin on the long ball in the wicked South Philadelphia December wind. The Eagles' longest drive of the day was seven plays and they only held the ball for 18:04 of the entire game.
"We expected to be able to do a lot of things better," Sanchez said after Sunday's game. "We came in very confident and I thought we had a great game plan, but we just didn't play very well."
Foles certainly did not set the world on fire in his eight starts this season. He threw 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. However, the third-year quarterback spent a majority of the time playing behind at times as many as four backups along the offensive line.
His 59.8 percent completion percentage actually rose four points in his final two starts and he showed glimpses against the Giants and Arizona Cardinals of reverting back to his historic 2013 form.
Foles is scheduled to have his second follow up examination this week after his doctor's appointment last week showed that his broken bone is healing on schedule. A clean bill of health may be all that stands between Foles and a return to the starting lineup -- something that seemed unfathomable as recently as Sunday morning.
Eagles head coach Chip Kelly won't need to make a decision on his starting quarterback in all likelihood for at least another week, but after Sanchez' lackluster effort, the decision on who will take the reigns as early as Week 16 against the Washington Redskins just became a much more difficult one.
Eagles_416597_22.JPG
PHILADELPHIA — The Eagles missed an opportunity to control their own destiny in the NFC playoff race with Sunday's resounding defeat at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks, but the loss may have been costlier for quarterback Mark Sanchez.
Falling to the Seahawks 24-14 at Lincoln Financial Field and letting virtually any chance of securing the number two seed in the NFC playoffs slip through their fingertips, the Eagles once again find themselves in a precarious position ahead of Sunday's NFC East rematch against the Dallas Cowboys.
The winner of Sunday's game will likely win the NFC East and secure a home game in the playoffs.
However, the loser could go from a 9-4 record in Week 15 to potentially missing out on the playoffs altogether.
For the Eagles, the question of who will be the team's starting quarterback should they make the postseason was once again brought to the forefront after Sanchez finished with just 90 passing yards, two touchdowns, one interception and three sacks against the Seahawks.
Prior to Sunday, the former Jets quarterback was in the midst of authoring one of the great redemption stories in the NFL this season after posting career highs in completion percentage and quarterback rating ahead of Sunday's game.
He also was coming off authoring his first turnover free effort of the season in a 33-10 blowout victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day.
Before Suday's game, It was believed that even once Nick Foles returned to health, Sanchez was playing well enough to remain the starting quarterback for the playoffs. Should the Eagles be fortunate enough to make it that far.
Now, with Foles entering his seventh week since suffering a broken clavicle against the Houston Texans in a 6-8 week recovery time frame, the idea of sticking with Sanchez isn't as open and shut as was once thought.
Sanchez didn't just struggle against Seattle, his flaws were brought to the forefront.
He had a terrible miscommunication for the second consecutive game with Riley Cooper that led to an interception. He struggled to connect with Cooper, Jordan Matthews and Jeremy Maclin on the long ball in the wicked South Philadelphia December wind. The Eagles' longest drive of the day was seven plays and they only held the ball for 18:04 of the entire game.
"We expected to be able to do a lot of things better," Sanchez said after Sunday's game. "We came in very confident and I thought we had a great game plan, but we just didn't play very well."
Foles certainly did not set the world on fire in his eight starts this season. He threw 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. However, the third-year quarterback spent a majority of the time playing behind at times as many as four backups along the offensive line.
His 59.8 percent completion percentage actually rose four points in his final two starts and he showed glimpses against the Giants and Arizona Cardinals of reverting back to his historic 2013 form.
Foles is scheduled to have his second follow up examination this week after his doctor's appointment last week showed that his broken bone is healing on schedule. A clean bill of health may be all that stands between Foles and a return to the starting lineup -- something that seemed unfathomable as recently as Sunday morning.
Eagles head coach Chip Kelly won't need to make a decision on his starting quarterback in all likelihood for at least another week, but after Sanchez' lackluster effort, the decision on who will take the reigns as early as Week 16 against the Washington Redskins just became a much more difficult one.
