After a thrilling and well earned win in Week 2 against perennial favorites the Baltimore Ravens, the Eagles face one of only two remaining undefeated teams on their schedule: The Arizona Cardinals.
Let's look what I predicted back when the schedule first came out...
Week 3: Eagles at CardinalsThe Angry Birds tour continues as the Eagles look to avenge their scorching loss to the John Skelton led Cardinals last season. I still cannot believe I saw that game in person. Vick should have sat out. I believe the team responds to him. When he is down, so is the rest of the team. Had Vick stepped out and encouraged guys on the sideline, and the run game was utilized more to spell Vince Young, I think the Eagles could have won that game and beaten out the Giants for the playoffs. Such is hindsight. Hopefully the Eagles will have a better answer this time around for Larry Fitzgerald and Beanie Wells. I see this actually being a higher scoring game than it should be, combined with a superstar receiver, Cardinals fans being jacked at their ownership of the Eagles lately, but the fact of the matter remains it is still the more dynamic Eagles offense overcoming the solid effort of the Cardinals. Eagles 30, Cardinals 24. (3-0)
I just got this joke here... How many Cardinals does it take to win a Super Bowl? Nobody knows, and we may never will. Well, wouldn't you look who else is 2-0 heading into week 3? Currently, the Cardinals are thirtieth in the league in total offense (248 yards per game), 27th in points per game (20), First in lost fumbles (tied with Eagles at 3), 13th in yards per game allowed (320.5), 5th in points allowed per game (17). Conclusions - their offense is terrible and their defense is at least top half of the league. I have seen games that the Cardinals played and their defense is indeed something decent. They have an outstanding cornerback and stable linebacker play, plus they have an average looking defensive line. This seems to be a norm for most teams, so why are they so statistically talented? Well, first is Patrick Peterson. That dude is almost everywhere anytime, and he is also providing to be a good return man PLUS he is also used on the offensive side of the ball occassionally in the wildcat package. They also faced a rookie quarterback who has nobody to throw to in Week 1 and allowed Marshawn Lynch to tear them up (while hurt) and then in Week 2 they uprooted the intimidating New England offense when Aaron Hernandez went down. They still had to play pretty gritty to stave off their opponents, so I will give them credit for that. Good teams find a way to win, even if they try to hold on to a win rather than play to win.
The Eagles have been playing to win, and their attitude has paid off so far as they have yet to quit in two straight games where they spent more time trailing in the game than leading. The Cardinals jumped out to leads in both games then had see-saw battles. A big deal can be made over the Cardinals last thirteen games being 10-3. Over the last 13 games, the Eagles were 9-4, including three games with Vince Young at the helm (record of 1-2) and one lost to these Cardinals. That loss to the Cardinals helped their resurgence. However, that game was totally horrible, and we found out later that Vick had cracked ribs, Jackson was benched, Maclin was injured during the game, and the defense was a still a mess in the secondary. But it was in Philadelphia and John Skelton led the team down the field several times and held the Eagles scoreless. The combination of Skelton and Fitzgerald ruined the Eagles and ultimately (along with any other loss) hurt their season in the long run.
So, now former Eagles destined starter Kevin Kolb is the opposing quarterback. Who beat out the rising John Skelton due to being of sound body (for now) with two good legs. The pundits will tell you that Kolb didn't win the past two games, and neither did their run game. Their defense kept them alive, and with Maclin already suggested to have minimal playing time on Sunday, their defense will do their best to do it again.
I put the Eagles down originally to win the game 30-24. Seeing how they held Tom Brady to what, 16 points in week 2(?), that score may be a bit of a stretch. However, the Patriots plan went under and they had to use the [for some unknown reason] maligned Wes Welker. Stevan Ridley was able to make some moves on Arizona, and Brady was just getting rushed. It has been stated in other articles I read that the pass rush is okay-tough in Arizona.
The Eagles will be without superb second year starting center Jason Kelce, and left tackle is still a mystery that will require frequent rotation. The Eagles running game has not quite taken off yet, but it was stagnant last season as well when fans were up in arms about blowing 4 straight fourth quarter leads due to turnovers and poor judgement in trying to continually execute big plays. I saw a more balanced offense against a much better defense on Sunday. The Eagles quickly took the time to show the Ravens they had 4 major offensive pieces (Vick, Jackson, McCoy, Celek) who would require attention. When the Ravens focused their attention on these guys, some backups like Bryce Brown, the backup receiver (I forget his name - Demarus Johnson perhaps?), and Clay Harbor hit up the Ravens for some decent spot yardage. The run game was used more frequently in Week 2 and McCoy looked REALLY good. So did Bryce Brown. This is a great thing as McCoy can be spelled a little more and keep his legs fresh for some of his great moves being more crisper when his number is called. Celek also, as he has for the past half season's worth of games, showed that he has a drive where it takes three defenders to bring him down - two dragging behind him and then the one coming at him head on - and will take on renowned players like Ed Reed. He also apparently got his clock cleaned on a play in the first half, gathered his wits, then jumped up and did the first down sign before having a career game (157 yards).
The defense matched up well against a no huddle offense, but they should not rest on their laurels of Sunday and expect the Cardinals to lay down. Kolb is good at shuttling the pass out quickly, but it is when he is in a panic at the pocket collapsing. One of his preseason foes called him "skittish." I watched them play the Patriots and saw it, but less than what he exhibited in the preseason. For what they paid this guy they want him to be more than a subpar game manager. The Eagles have a rolling pass rush that they can jack up Kolb all day with. Their offensive line is terrible and boast one of the worst rushing attack/duos in the league. Of course, leave it to the Eagles to allow banner days for both of the Cardinals backs. Let's hope not. Their linebackers are more above average than below average and combined with the corners and pass rush they have been made to look like stars. Which they may well develop completely into by the end of the year.
In summation, I just do not see the Cardinals being able to get it going on offensive. I see Andy Reid being agressive and trying to build up a lead on an opponent that EMBERASSED him last year ("Fire Andy" chants throughout the afternoon), and force Kolb to throw the ball. Larry Fitzgerald, formerly awesome receiver and Eagles killer, has 67 yards on the year (7 of which came last week). He will most likely draw Asomugha who hopefully can hang with him this year. If the Eagles don't get the big play, I hope they actually try the medium to short yardage game again that eventually dismantled the Ravens. How about you put them away before there are 2 minutes left on the clock? Eagles 20, Cardinals 10. And McCoy has a MONSTER game.
OTHER NFL NOTES:
Dear NFL Network,
When you have a blowout of a game and the fans are leaving the stadium, there is no way to hide that. I am sure you have enough people changing the channel when they see the Giants score repeatedly in the fourth quarter. Especially when the backup quarterback comes in. However, there is still a game going on the Panthers, while maybe conceding a loss themselves, are still running plays to at least get the offense rolling or defense to correct themselves before the game ends. I don't need to hear you describe how disappointing of a blowout the game is and more talk about last week's Giants win than their current game. I want the plays called. I am a fan of the game, and I would rather see how Derek Anderson handles his relief role in a losing effort than 10 shots of Cam Newton looking angry because he has to. Sell me the game, all four quarters of it. It may have been boring, but I wouldn't have fallen asleep if you were actually talking about something other than what just Giants fans would care about.
-Duba
Also, I hope the replacement refs are continually trained throughout the week so that maybe by the end of their time in the NFL they can call a game without having the first quarter (15 minutes) last one hour.
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