Cardinals beat Eagles 35-31 in Jonathan Gannon's return to Philly
The Eagles lost Jonathan Gannon's last game as their defensive coordinator and they lost their shot at the top seed in the NFC in his return to Philadelphia.
Kyler Murray threw three touchdown passes in the second half and the Cardinals came back from 15 points down at halftime to beat the Eagles 35-31. The final touchdown came on a two-yard James Conner run with 32 seconds left in the game.
That score came after Gannon made a bold decision with the score tied 28-28 with under six minutes left to play. He tried an unsuccessful onside kick, but the Cardinals defense was able to hold the Eagles to a field goal and Murray drove the Cardinals 70 yards for the game-winning score.
The biggest play on that drive was a pass that wide receiver Greg Dortch turned into a 36-yard gain. That left Murray 25-of-31 for 232 yards on a day when the Cardinals didn't have top wideout Hollywood Brown. It's the third win in seven starts for Murray and his performances in those wins should create some good feelings about what the Cardinals could do with a bit more firepower around him in 2024.
Conner finished with 26 carries for 128 yards and he made a spectacular one-handed catch for a five-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Wide receiver Michael Wilson and running back Michael Carter caught Murray's other touchdown passes.
The Cardinals will close out the season against the Seahawks and they'll head into that game with some good momentum. The opposite will be true as the Eagles make their way toward their Week 18 date with the Giants.
Jalen Hurts threw two touchdown passes to Julio Jones in the first half and safety Sydney Brown returned a Murray interception 99 yards to stake the Eagles to a 21-6 halftime lead despite only having the ball for eight minutes. Their issues possessing the ball continued in the second half as they went three-and-out on their only third quarter possession and their defense allowed 19 Arizona first downs over the final 30 minutes of play.
The loss means that the 49ers have clinched the top seed in the NFC and that the Cowboys will win the NFC East as long as they beat the Commanders next week. That's a stunning drop for an Eagles team that was 10-1 and in control of both races when December got underway.
The inability to get the Cardinals offense off the field will likely be a major theme for the Eagles in the aftermath of this loss, but their run of four losses in five games has featured enough negatives across the board that there's plenty of reason to think the Eagles are due for a short stay in the postseason.
