In spite of their best efforts, the Arizona Cardinals (2-2) have manged to end the first month of the season with a .500 record. They’ll get a chance to fix that when they travel to Lincoln Financial Field to take on the NFC East leading Philadelphia Eagles (3-1).
The game will be broadcast on your local FOX affiliate at 1 p.m.
The Game: Arizona Cardinals at Philadelphia Eagles (-6.5)
O/U: 44.5
The History
This is an old rivalry dating all the way back to 1935, with the then Chicago Cardinals winning that first game 12-3.
The two teams have played 119 games in total with the Cardinals holding a 59-55-5 advantage in the rivalry.
The Cardinals and Eagles were in the same division, the NFC East, until the NFL re-aligned in 2002. They’ve met in the playoffs once with the Cardinals winning 32-25 on January 18, 2009. Kurt Warner outdueled Donovan McNabn to the tune of 21 of 28 for 279 yards and four touchdowns. McNabb was 28 of 47 for 375 yards, three touchdowns and one pick.
ARIZONA CARDINALS (2-2)
When David Johnson went down in Week One, the Cardinals offense went down too. Since that opening 35-23 loss to the Detroit Loins, Arizona has scored 16, 17 and 18 points. And that 18 points took an extra period in overtime to get there.
Somehow, in spite of not mustering much on the scoreboard, Carson Palmer continues to put up meaningless stats. Last week against the San Francisco 49ers, he was 33 of 51 for 357 yards, one touchdown and one interception. It resulted in exactly one trip to the end zone and that came in overtime.
Chris Johnson, the erstwhile CJ2k, will be lucky to get to CJHalfK with his consistent lackluster performances. Last week he rushed 13 times for 32 yards and a long of eight. He’s still Arizona’s best option in the backfield. The desiccated remains of Andre Ellington are his only competent back up.
The Cardinals defense remained strong against the run and sacked Brian Hoyer three times with seven stops in the backfield. They’ll need to consistently pressure second year quarterback Carson Wentz to have a shot in this one.
Arizona will be without D.J. Humphries on the offensive line and Robert Nkemdiche on the defensive line. Nkemdiche is a talent, but that talent rarely shows up on the field so it might not make that big a difference.
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (3-1)
The Eagles lone loss this season is a one-score, 27-20, defeat at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs, who just might be the best team in football. Even that one came down to the wire. They’ve won two significant games on the road, including a 30-17 win over the Washington Redskins that looks better every week. They had no reason to go to the West Coast and beat the Los Angeles Chargers last week, but they did, 26-24, in a game that wasn’t really that close.
Wentz continues to show why the team gave up picks to draft him at No. 2 overall last year out of North Dakota State. He’s completed 60.5 percent of his passes for far this season for 1,058 yards, six touchdowns and just two interceptions for a quarterback rating of 90.5.
Philly’s defense held Philip Rivers and the Chargers to just 10 points in the first three quarters last week, but wilted a little in the fourth quarter. They sacked Rivers twice, which is tough to do with his quick release, and got 5.5 tackles in the backfield. The unit surrendered 400 yards and that has to be a concern coming into a game against a quarterback who likes to throw it deep.
It won’t help that star defensive tackle Fletcher Cox won’t play with a calf injury. Everyone else, other than Ronald Darby, should suit up.
The Pick
The Cardinals bandwagon is emptier than a Trump rally in San Francisco for good reason. This team is too old and too inconsistent on offense to do anything other than finish 8-8 at best. Philadelphia could be heading for the playoffs. They’ll take another step toward that Sunday. Eagles 26, Cardinals 16
This week
Straight up: 1-0
Against the spread: 1-0
Last week
Straight up: 9-7
Against the spread: 10-6
Season
Straight up: 37-26
Against the spread: 32-31
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