Arizona Cardinals Passing Was The Key To Win Over Eagles

It came down to the final seconds, but fans were able to breathe a sigh of relief, as the Arizona Cardinals was able to secure a 24-20 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. The victory pushed the Cardinals to 6-1 on the year, padding their lead in the NFC West. Arizona now has a two game lead over both the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks, who are both 4-3 on the year.

Let’s start with the defense. The run-defense showed up like it does every week. While the Eagles were able to get a few big yardage plays in the running game, but never seemed to ever get it going. LeSean McCoy carried the ball 21 times for 83 yards but was not able to get into the end zone.

The pass defense allowed Nick Foles to throw the ball for over 400 yards, but Antonio Cromartie was able to pick off two of Foles’ passes. It was good to see Cromartie bounce back this week after seeming to beat consistently the last two games. The coverage of Jeremy Maclin was questionable at best. He was able to catch seven balls for 187 yards and two touchdowns. Part of that can be attributed to the absence of Patrick Peterson, who left the game after colliding with Maclin. Peterson failed the concussion tests that were administered in the locker room, according to in-game reports, and did not return to the game. But credit the defense for being able to stop the Eagles from scoring the go-ahead touchdown in the final seconds.

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The offense was staggering along in the first half, but seemed to pick it up in the second half. Carson Palmer finished the day with 329 yards passing with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Palmer has still only thrown one interception this year.

The receivers were the biggest key to the win on Sunday. Larry Fitzgerald had seven catches for 160 yards and a touchdown. Fitzgerald finally had his breakout game, as he was targeted throughout the entire game. His touchdown was on a short pass that Fitzgerald turned into an 80-yard run. That touchdown was the longest of Fitzgerald’s career.

Once again, you cannot understate how important John Brown has been to this Arizona Cardinals team. He had five catches for 119 yards and, most importantly, scored the go-ahead touchdown as Palmer hit him on a deep route for the 75-yard score. Brown has three touchdowns this season and continues to come through in the clutch for the Cardinals.

The Arizona Cardinals will look to push their record to 7-1 next week but will have a very tough time doing it. Arizona travels to Dallas next week to take on a rolling Cowboys team. The Cards will have a tough test against DeMarco Murray, who has rushed for at least 100 yards in every game this year. Of course you can’t forget the Cowboys have Dez Bryant and Jason Witten, who are arguably two of the best at their respective positions. If the Cardinals can get pressure on Tony Romo, they’ll have a better chance to obtain win number seven. Kickoff is at 11 a.m. next Sunday.

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