The Philadelphia Eagles played down to the level of their competition…and lost.
By Chris Murray
For the Philadelphia Sunday SUN
ABOVE PHOTO: The Cardinals’ Michael Wilson makes a touchdown conversions against the Eagles. Photo: Webster Riddick
At this point of the season, Philadelphia Eagles fans are hoping that their team can find their groove during the playoffs.
If we’re honest with ourselves, the 2023 Eagles may not be good enough to survive the first round of the playoffs, which will probably be on the road after their fourth loss in their last five games.
The Eagles’ stunning 35-31 loss to an Arizona Cardinals team that sits in last place in the NFC West is a clear indication that the Birds are a long way from peaking and playing their best game of the season.
It’s safe to say they have hit rock bottom.
And you know what, they probably won’t get there, especially when you consider how the Cardinals’ offense dominated the Eagles’ defense up and down the field. They scored on six of seven of their offensive possessions — two field goals and four touchdowns. Arizona never punted because the Eagles’ defense didn’t come close to getting the Cardinals off the field.
Arizona rolled up 449 yards of total offense on the hapless Birds defense. The Eagles allowed the Cardinals to rush for 228 yards with most of that coming from running back James Connor who gained 128 yards rushing on 26 carries. The Cardinals converted 5-of-10 of their third-down conversions. They had a nearly 2-1 advantage in time of possession.
“Obviously, they controlled the game by running the football. Obviously, we weren’t’ good enough there stopping the run,” said Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni. “They were able to take a lot of chunks off the clock. They did a good job executing. We have to be better putting guys in position to succeed.”
In the second half, the Cardinals had four drives of 70-plus yards that resulted in touchdowns — including Arizona’s game-winning seven-play, 70-yard drive that was capped by a two-yard run by Connor with 32 seconds left in the game.
“It is tough when you don’t get off the field as a defense,” Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham said after the game. “As a defense, we didn’t come through like we did last week. I know it’s on us as a whole, especially that last drive when we couldn’t get off the field. We take that to heart. We’re going to get it right.”
The Eagles offense played well for the most part, but their next last possession after the Cardinals tied the game 28-28 was the one that warranted the most scrutiny and probably had you scratching your head and saying, ‘They did what?!’
On the ensuing kickoff after the Cardinals’ game-tying touchdown, kicker Matt Praetor attempted an onside kick that was recovered by the Eagles at the Arizona 44. An offsides penalty on that same kickoff moved the ball to the 39. After an 18-yard pass from Jalen Hurts A.J. Brown moved the Eagles to the Arizona 20-yard line, and things began going sideways.
On first down, left tackle Jordan Mailata got flagged for holding. On the next two plays, the Eagles ran Hurts on two quarterback runs. One gained four and the other resulted in a three-yard loss. On third and 19 from the Cardinals 19, Hurts hit running Kenneth Gainwell with a four-yard pass that was nowhere close to the first down.
Instead of going for a go-head touchdown, the Eagles had to settle for a 43-yard field goal by Jake Elliott. What were Nick Sirianni and offensive coordinator Brian Johnson thinking on this series of downs when they had all the momentum in their favor?! You can’t overthink the game in this situation.
I know Hurts is a great player, but you can’t call two quarterback runs when you need to score a touchdown and you have all the momentum in your favor.
“You get the holding call and we kind of go backward…They give us the ball inside of the 50 …We just have to execute and manage that situation a lot better.”
On the other hand, it wouldn’t have mattered anyway because the defense couldn’t stop anybody and that was how it went in for the entire game.
In the first half, the Arizona Cardinals offense outgained the Eagles, had more first downs, a better third-down conversion rate, and a 2-1 advantage in time of possession. In the second quarter, the Cardinals had the football for all but 1:50 of the second quarter.
Despite moving up and down the field on the Birds’ defense, the Cardinals could only muster two field goals in the first half.
But the Eagles dominated on the scoreboard where it counted. A pair of Jalen Hurts touchdown passes to wide receiver Julio Jones and a 99-yard pick-six by Sidney Brown of a poorly thrown pass by Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray gave the Eagles a 21-6 lead at the break.
In the second half, Cardinals continued to move the ball up and down the field on the beleaguered Eagles’ defense and scored touchdowns instead of field goals.
Leave a Comment