By: Kylan Watson
The Philadelphia Eagles entered today’s primetime match-up against the Arizona Cardinals looking to stay in playoff contention and pull off another upset. However, they were not able to pull off the upset because of dumb penalties, suspect o-line play, and drops by receivers. The Cardinals took advantage of all of them to beat the Eagles 33-26.
Early in the game it did not look good for them. The Cardinals were able to put pressure on quarterback Jalen Hurts and force him to throw the ball away in the end zone. This led to a safety and the Cardinals were able to connect on two touchdown plays. Before the Eagles knew it, they were down 16-0 by the end of the first quarter.
Hurts would not let the Eagles get blown out though he was able to connect with rookie wide receiver Quez Watkins early in the second quarter for a 36-yard score off a screen pass. That got the Eagles back in the game and was a great play-call by Doug Pederson. They were able to catch the Cardinals in man coverage and take full advantage. Every time the Cardinals threaten to put the game away Hurts would put the Eagles back in it. Hurts may have had the best game of his young career. He completed 24/44 passes for 338 yards, two passing touchdowns, and one rushing touchdown.
On the first quarter performance, “self-destructed” in the first quarter. They staged an impressive comeback, but they couldn’t overcome it,” said Head Coach Doug Pederson.
The Eagles were outgunned against the Cardinals. They lost crucial parts of their secondary to injury safety Rodney McLeod (torn ACL), and cornerbacks Darius Slay (concussion) and Avonte Maddox (knee injury). Their absences loomed large as the Cardinals were able to get what they wanted in middle and perimeter of the field. DeAndre Hopkins was able to take full advantage of the rookie cornerbacks the Eagles put on him. He was able to catch the game winning touchdown with an Eagles defender right on him. Hopkins caught 9 passes for 169 yards and caught one touchdown pass. The Eagles had no answers for the Cardinals receivers.
On the team performance, “I look back on this game, I look at it simply not being enough. Left money on the table. I could care less to hear the young stuff, second start stuff, rookie stuff. I have a standard I want to play to. It’s definitely a learning experience,” said Hurts.
They also could not stop Kyler Murray. Who carved them up in the first half and late in the second half. He completed 27/36 passes for 406 yards and had three touchdowns. The Eagles were able to force Murray into some bad decisions as he fumbled and was picked off by safety Marcus Epps.
When the Eagles look at the tape of this game, they will see that some previous weaknesses showed up again. The offensive line once again did not play well they allowed six sacks this week, receivers dropped the ball and were unable to get separation when it mattered most, and the secondary of the Eagles gave up the ghost when it mattered most. Ultimately the Eagles were outgunned by a healthier Cardinals team.
Now the Eagles will seek to rebound next Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys.
