Eagles In For Big Challenge Against Well-Rounded Cardinals Sunday Night
By Kevin McGuire
The Philadelphia Eagles look to prove they are for real in the NFC with a huge game against the high-powered Arizona Cardinals on Sunday night at Lincoln Financial Field. Coming off a two-game winning streak against AFC East opponents, the Eagles look to see what they are made of against one of the NFC's best.
Season Record
The Arizona Cardinals will roll into Philadelphia with the best record in the NFC outside of Carolina's perfect mark so far. The Cardinals are 11-2 and looking to lock in a first-round bye week in the upcoming NFC Playoffs. The Cardinals have been road warriors this season, going 6-1 when away from home. Arizona has won seven straight games since losing on the road on the other side of Pennsylvania against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
These two teams met last year out in Arizona, with the Cardinals sending the Eagles home with a tough 24-20 loss. Arizona will be looking for its first win in Philadelphia since 2011, when they returned home with a 21-17 victory.
Cardinals on Offense
Arizona is doing just about everything exceptionally well on offense this season. The Cardinals own the NFL's third best passing offense, averaging just under 300 yards per game with Carson Palmer at the helm. Palmer has already gone over 4,000 yards this season (4,003 yards to be except) and he has 31 touchdown passes thrown. Wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald continues to amaze and leads the team with 1,088 receiving yards along with his seven touchdowns. The Cardinals also run the ball well, ranking 10th in the league with 118.4 rushing yards per game.
As you might expect, Arizona also has one of the top scoring offense sin the NFL with an average of 31.2 points per game. That is good for second in the NFL. Clearly, the Eagles will have to be effective on offense to keep pace with this Arizona offense, and the Eagles defense will be put to the test.
Cardinals on Defense
Oh yeah, Arizona is also a pretty solid defensive team as well. Arizona is holding opponents to just under 20 points per game (19.7 ppg allowed) and has kept each of its past three opponents to 20 points or fewer, including two road opponents. The Cardinals are playing a 3-4 system, and as a result are not a team likely to cause too many problems in the trenches and for quarterback Sam Bradford. Arizona does have 24 sacks this season though, and they have the NFL's fourth-best total defense going for them. Gaining yards against Arizona does not come easily, especially on the ground. Arizona is allowing 87.7 yards per game on the ground, which means the Eagles will have to be patient with its renewed focus on distributing the football between DeMarco Murray, Darren Sproles and Ryan Mathews.
We could also be ready to see a number of turnovers in this game. The Eagles and Cardinals are tied for the second-most takeaways this season with 15 each, with a fairly equal split between interceptions and fumble recoveries (the Eagles have one more fumble recovery than the Cardinals). The Eagles have done well to avoid making costly turnovers in recent weeks. That must continue to be the case to get by Arizona.
Arizona's Players to Watch
WR Larry Fitzgerald: When the Eagles have gone up against premier wide receivers this season, the results have not been great. Just as Calvin Johnson was unstoppable against the Eagles on Thanksgiving, Larry Fitzgerald figures to be a difficult challenge for the Eagles secondary as he continues to put up huge numbers this season.
S Tyrann Mathieu: In his third season, Mathieu has picked off four passes and forced a fumble for the Cardinals. By doing so, Mathieu has proven to be a big playmaker in the middle of Arizona's defensive secondary, and few coaches know how dangerous he can be like Chip Kelly. Mathieu had a breakout game for LSU against Kelly's Oregon Ducks a few years ago in Cowboys Stadium.
Outlook
There is no question that Arizona has the advantage in just about every facet of this matchup. The good news for the Eagles is regardless of the outcome, the Eagles still have control of the NFC East with two games remaining against Washington and New York. This Arizona game merely serves as a good test to see what needs to be improved before a possible playoff matchup, if the Eagles are so fortunate to make the playoffs. And if the Eagles win the game, it serves as a bonus coming down the stretch and perhaps even sets the Eagles apart from the rest of the NFC East if things work out. That doesn't mean the Eagles or Cardinals will be taking this game lightly. It just simply means the consequences are not nearly as vital for either team win or lose.
Kevin McGuire is a Philadelphia area sports writer covering the Philadelphia Eagles and college football. McGuire is a member of the FWAA and National Football Foundation. Follow McGuire on Twitter @KevinOnCFB. His work can be found on Examiner.com.
