Who will win the Arizona Cardinals-Philadelphia Eagles game and why?
Arizona Cardinals (3-12) at Philadelphia Eagles (11-4)
Time/site: 11 a.m. MST, Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia
TV: FOX. Radio: 98.7 FM, 106.7 FM.
Last time they played: It was Week 5 of the 2022 season, and the Eagles improve to 5-0 for the first time since 2004 with a 20-17 victory in Glendale. Jalen Hurts ran for a pair of 1-yard touchdowns and the Eagles avoided going to overtime when Matt Ammendola’s late 43-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right. Ammendola was elevated to the active roster because of a hip injury to Matt Prater. It was Arizona’s third home loss of the year and eighth straight dating back to 2021 – its longest home skid since an eight-game streak from 1956-58 when the franchise was in Chicago.
Series history: This will be he 120th meeting between the teams in a series that dates back to 1935 with the Cardinals holding a 58-56-5 edge. The Cardinals’ 58 regular-season wins over the Eagles are their most against any NFL team. Arizona has won 13 of the past 21 meetings, including six of the past nine which began with a 32-25 win in the 2008 NFC Championship game in Glendale. The Cardinals have won five of the last 10 games in Philadelphia.
Cardinals-Eagles coaching matchup
Arizona: Jonathan Gannon returns to the city where he spent the past two seasons as defensive coordinator for the Eagles, leading a unit that ranked second overall in total defense, first in pass defense and paced the league with 70 sacks last season. Gannon’s defense, however, allowed 17 fourth-quarter points to the Chiefs during a loss in Super Bowl 57 in Glendale. Gannon’s Cardinals have just one road win this season – four weeks ago at Pittsburgh.
Philadelphia: Nick Sirianni is in his third season as the Eagles’ coach and is 34-15 in regular-season games. His club presently controls the No. 2 seed in the NFL but still holds out hope of grabbing the No. 1 spot. Philadelphia can win the NFC East with a win plus a Dallas loss or tie. The 49ers would clinch the No. 1 seed with a win over Washington plus a loss by the Eagles and Lions.
Storyline: The Cardinals might just be finishing out the string, but an upset over the Eagles, who are 10.5-point favorites, could do wonders from a confidence standpoint. It would help set a new tone heading into the offseason and potentially do what it did for the Lions a year ago when they closed out the season with an upset win in Green Bay. It’s also another chance for Kyler Murray to show he should remain Arizona’s starting quarterback. He’s 2-4 since returning from a torn ACL. The Cardinals’ run defense, which ranks last overall (147.0 yards per game), will be tested by the Eagles’ sixth-ranked rushing unit (131.1) after getting run over by the Bears last Sunday (250 rushing yards allowed).
Arizona will win if …
The defense keeps Jalen Hurts in the pocket: Granted, Hurts could still torch the Cardinals with his arm, but when he’s on the move and gets out on the edge, he’s a double trouble. Arizona’s depleted defensive line will need great push and outside containment and the missing pass rush must somehow find a way to rediscover itself.
Kyler Murray does more rollouts and utilizes more RPO plays: We haven’t seen nearly enough of this since Murray’s return from injured reserve and although offensive coordinator Drew Petzing said the calls have been there, it hasn’t materialized with any frequency. Not only will it help Murray see his pass catchers more clearly, but it can set things up to maximize his own speed, mobility and extend plays.
The run defense can dominate: The Cardinals have had their moments this year, but they’re allowing an average of 174.5 rushing yards per game over their past six games. Arizona needs to buckle that up, fill gaps and running lanes, and prevent any and all potential explosive runs. D’Andre Swift ranks fifth in the league with 988 rushing yards and Hurts, as always, is another big threat when he’s on the run.
Philadelphia will win if …
The Cardinals can’t cover A.J. Brown: Philadelphia’s No. 1 wide receiver is elite and rarely if ever gets shut down. He ranks third in receptions (101) and receiving yards (1,394) and will be facing an unsteady, youthful group of Arizona cornerbacks, which includes three rookies. If they don’t step up, Brown could have a career day.
The defense corrals James Conner: Arizona’s featured running back is averaging 69.2 rushing yards through 11 games played, but when he’s fed the football, he’s a threat to go off. His only two 100-yard games this season have come when he’s gotten 20 or more carries. If the Eagles keep him hemmed in, they stand to win this one rather easily.
The Eagles outcoach the Cardinals: Gannon has downplayed his return to Philly, as has defensive coordinator Nick Rallis, who served as the Eagles’ linebackers coach the past two seasons. They both desperately want to score an upset and can’t try anything cute to prove a point. If they stray too far from the game plan, Sirianni and his assistants could pull the rug from underneath them and make this game a laugher.
They said it
“During the team meeting this morning, I almost interrupted JG because I was thinking in my head, ‘I better see no shaking hands, kissing, hugging babies before the game. You do that after the game.’ ” – Cardinals safety Budda Baker referring to Gannon’s homecoming to Philadelphia and the coach’s message to the team early Wednesday.
“Jonathan knows some of the things we know and we know some of the things he knows about us, so there’s going to be a little bit of that. You can’t think too much into that. You’ve got to account for it, but not let it just completely dictate what you’re doing offensively. But there’s familiarities on both sides. The familiarity of the players is different, but it’s almost like a division game in the sense of there’s a lot of familiarity on both sides of what’s happening.” – Eagles coach Nick Sirianni on knowing Gannon’s tendencies and schemes, defensively, and Gannon knowing Sirianni’s tendencies and schemes, offensively.
“Strong as a horse. Yeah, he breaks a lot of tackles. He’s very strong. He’s hard to bring down and he’s extremely quick. There’s free runners on tape at times and he makes them miss, so he’s who he is for a reason. We’ve got a big-time challenge ahead of us.” – Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon on Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, who ranks second overall with 15 rushing touchdowns this season and is third among QBs in rushing yards with 576.
By the numbers
4 – Interceptions this season by Cardinals safety Jalen Thompson. Three of the four have come in his last five games played. Only two other safeties have had more picks this year (Jessie Bates and Geno Stone with six apiece).
11 – Games since the Cardinals have held an opponent to fewer than 100 rushing yards. They’ve done it twice with the last time coming in Week 5 against the Bengals, who ran for 93 yards in a win.
16 – Combined field goals made from 50 or more yards this season between the Cardinals’ Matt Prater (nine) and the Eagles’ Jake Elliott (seven).
17 – Rushing plays of 20 or more yards by the Cardinals in 2023. That’s the second-most in the league behind only the Ravens (19).
50.6 – Punting average for the Cardinals’ Blake Gillikin this season, which ranks fourth in the league. He’s averaged 50 yards or longer in eight of his 11 games played.
77 – Distance of Gillikin’s career-long punt last Sunday in Chicago. It was one of just four punts in the NFL this year of 77 or more yards. It was the longest for a Cardinals player since Mike Wood had an 81-yard punt against at the Giants in 1978.
15,153 – Career passing yards by Kyler Murray, who surpassed the 15,000 mark at 26 years, 139 days old. In NFL history, only Buffalo’s Josh Allen (26 years, 137 days) reached 15,000 passing yards and 2,000 rushing yards at a younger age.
1994 – The last time the Cardinals beat both the Eagles and Steelers in the same season.
Who will win and why
Eagles 28, Cardinals 13: It’ll be interesting to see how long the Cardinals can make a game of this or if they’ll fall behind early and Philadelphia stomps on their throat. The gut feeling here is Arizona will hang tough for a while but simply get outmatched because of the difference in roster talent and overall stability in the Eagles’ advantage. An upset win by the Cardinals would be a season-defining moment for Gannon and his team. Hey, anything is possible. Even with this club.
Reach McManaman at bob.mcmanaman@arizonarepublic. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @azbobbymac and listen to him live every Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. on Roc and Manuch on Fox Sports 910-AM.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Gannon returns to Philadelphia to lead Arizona Cardinals against former team
