Cardinals Clinch NFC West, Win Big Against Eagles

The Arizona Cardinals are the 2015 NFC West division champions after improving to 12-2 on the season with a 40-17 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Cardinals won the NFC West with their 40-17 victory against the Eagles and will have an opportunity to clinch a first round bye in the playoffs with a victory against the Green Bay Packers next week.

David Johnson ran like a mad man on Sunday Night Football as he finished with 229 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns. Johnson had over 100 yards rushing at the half and provided a tremendous source of firepower to the high flying Cardinals.

Johnson got the Cardinals on the scoreboard with a one-yard touchdown run on the opening drive of the game. Following a pair of field goals by Caleb Sturgis and Chandler Catanzaro for the Eagles and the Cardinals respectively and a Zach Ertz touchdown catch, the fireworks began to happen for the Cardinals offense.

The Cardinals and Eagles were tied at 10-10 with 4:13 left in the first half when Johnson brought out his inner Marshawn Lynch “Beast Mode” style of running en route to his second touchdown of the game.

Johnson left the game shortly before halftime with a knee injury, but returned to the game in the second half and continued his fast start to the game by opening up the second half scoring with another one-yard touchdown run to push the Cardinals lead to 23-10.

Carson Palmer threw his lone passing touchdown of the game at the tail end of the third quarter on a 16-yard strike to John Brown. Palmer finished the game with 274 yards and a touchdown.

On the ensuing Eagles possession Sam Bradford threw an interception that Deone Buchanan returned to the house to put the Cardinals up 37-10. On the very next play, Bradford redeemed himself for the pick-six by throwing a 78-yard bomb to Jordan Matthews to cut the lead to 37-17. A Catanzaro field goal with 2:55 left on the clock in the fourth quarter closed out the scoring at 40-17.

Michael Floyd led the Cardinals’ receivers in catches (five) and yards (70). Larry Fitzgerald chipped in three catches for 43 yards and is now at 99 receptions on the season. One more reception by Fitzgerald will allow him to reach the 100-catch plateau for the first time since the 2007 season.

Next: Cardinals Fantasy Football Rankings: Week 15

The contest was the Cardinals fifth primetime game in their past eight games and the Cardinals won all five of those games. The Cardinals will be back in action next Sunday at University of Phoenix Stadium against the Green Bay Packers.