Sanchez leads Philly to W

Eagles backup quarterback Mark Sanchez has been the ... butt of jokes for years around the NFL. But he stepped up in a huge way on Sunday, filling in admirably for an injured Nick Foles.

Foles was sacked by Whitney Mercilus on the final play of the first quarter and landed on his shoulder; it's believed he may have suffered a broken collarbone on the play.

If that's the case, Foles is going to miss significant time. Chip Kelly should be reasonably confident -- at least based on a small sample size from Sunday -- Sanchez can fill in capably.

He was far from perfect against the Texans, but remember he was coming in cold off the bench. Sanchez finished 15 of 22 for 202 yards, two touchdowns and a pair of picks.

His first throw of the game -- and of the season! -- was a 52-yard laser down the field to Jeremy Maclin, who finished with his second-straight game of 150 receiving yards or more.

Mark Sanchez had a good afternoon Sunday. (USATSI)

His touchdowns were impressive too, with Sanchez dialing up a nice throw to rookie Jordan Matthews early in the second quarter.

And then late in the game, Sanchez found Maclin for a critical touchdown to push the Eagles lead into safe territory.

Sanchez probably isn't going to suddenly turn into a stat hog, racking up huge numbers and leading the Eagles on a dominant offensive stretch.

But he looks comfortable in Chip Kelly's system and certainly capable of running Philly's offense.

If Foles is out for a significant amount of time, Sanchez might look like one of the more shrewd offseason signings. And further proof about the magic Kelly's system can work.

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Eagles TE Zach Ertz wants more targets, especially in red zone



Zach Ertz wants the same things that any NFL player wants: to score and to win. The Eagles are 5-2, so the winning hasn't been a huge problem. But scoring in the red zone has been a team-wide issue. The Eagles rank last in the NFL with a red-zone touchdown percentage of 34.8. Put another way, they have reached the end zone on just eight of their 23 trips inside the 20. Ertz says he can definitely help raise that rate."Yeah, I think that's something I do very well, get open in tight spaces, in the red zone in particular," Ertz said via CSN Philly's Geoff Mosher. "That's something I've done throughout my career, whether it's in college or the pros."Sometimes it really doesn't matter who they put on me, I think I can get open. I think I showed that against the Giants on the corner route. Hopefully, my number gets called more. But at the end of the day, all I really care about is winning."



It's a worthy complaint, but it may not lead to anything. As stated, the Eagles have been generally successful this season and currently boast the fourth-highest scoring average in the league. Really, the Eagles could see improved numbers in the red zone if they just got their offensive line healthy and were able to run the ball better. Don't expect Ertz's public plea to make much of a difference, but in the short term, he could benefit in his created role as the squeaky wheel. He is a borderline TE1 this weekend against Houston, which has allowed the seventh-fewest fantasy points to TEs.Ertz is second on the team in receiving yards (354) but is fourth in targets (39) and receptions (24). He has scored just once -- against the Giants on that corner route -- since Week 1.