Open Thread: Eagles vs. Cardinals


Photo by: Jeff Fusco

Photo by: Jeff Fusco

It’s a bird battle on Sunday night as the Eagles and Cardinals face off. With a win, the Eagles would keep pace with Washington, who topped the Bills this afternoon, for first place in the NFC East.

We’ll pop in with some updates and thoughts from time to time. Feel free to join the conversation in the comments section below.

11:32 – Cardinals win, a lot to a little. Eagles move to 6-8. They have to win against Washington on Saturday for a chance at winning the NFC East and making the playoffs. A loss knocks them out of postseason contention.

11:23 – Cardinals 40, Eagles 17. Chandler Catanzaro buries a 38-yard field goal.

11:16 – The Eagles fail to convert on fourth down, and the Cardinals take over with a 20-point lead and just over eight minutes left to play.

11:13 – Zach Ertz shaken up after a modest gain. Looked to be favoring his hip.

11:11 – Marcus Smith registers his first career sack, splitting it with Connor Barwin. The Eagles take over, down 37-17, with 10:16 left in the fourth quarter.

11:03 – That Matthews touchdown was the longest offensive play of the Eagles’ season.

11:01 – Cardinals 37, Eagles 17. Sam Bradford finds Jordan Matthews absolutely wide open for a 78-yard touchdown pass. Matthews has eight catches for 159 yards and a touchdown.

10:57 – Deone Bucannon, who returned Bradford’s interception for six points, was selected one pick after Marcus Smith.

Stings even more.

10:54 – Cardinals 37, Eagles 10. Sam Bradford throws a pass behind his intended target, and the Cards return it 26 yards for a touchdown.

10:51 – End of 3rd quarter: Cardinals 30, Eagles 10.

10:48 – Cardinals 30, Eagles 10. Carson Palmer finds John Brown for a 16-yard touchdown pass, and the Eagles trail by 20 points with 40 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Cardinals have run 55 plays and piled up 424 yards of offense.

10:43 – Another Eagles drive, another Eagles fumble, this time from Ryan Mathews on a seemingly innocuous Arizona tackle.

Carson Palmer is back, and the Cardinals have the ball in Eagles territory.

10:41 – Palmer update.

10:39 – Big shift in the dynamic of this one. Carson Palmer left the field with a hand injury on third down. The extent of his injury is unknown.

10:34 – The Eagles make it past midfield, but the Cardinals sack Sam Bradford and force a fumble on a first down, and Arizona takes over at its own 44-yard line.

Meanwhile, DeMarco Murray finally had his first carry of the game, a one-yard run, midway through the third quarter.

10:24 – Cardinals 23, Eagles 10. An incredible catch-and-throw from Carson Palmer to Michael Floyd withstands a Chip Kelly challenge and leads to a one-yard touchdown run from David Johnson. Chandler Catanzaro misses the extra point.

Johnson has 143 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries.

10:15 – Injuries continue to pile up for the Birds.

10:14 – The Eagles go three-and-out on the first drive of the second half after Calais Campbell bats down a Sam Bradford pass attempt. The Cards take over on their own 11-yard line with 14:00 left in the third quarter.

9:57 – Halftime: Cardinals 17, Eagles 10.

Arizona has picked up 15 first downs to the Eagles’ eight, and averaged 7.6 yards per carry on 39 plays to the Birds’ 6.0 yards per carry on 31 plays.

9:51 – The Eagles get to the Cardinals’ eight-yard line, go for it on fourth-and-one, and Ryan Mathews gets stuffed. Arizona takes over with 45 seconds left in the first half, still up, 17-10.

9:48 – Byron Maxwell update. His return is questionable.

9:45 – One heck of a throw from Sam Bradford to Brent Celek on the Eagles’ current drive.

9:39 – Eric Rowe’s out. Byron Maxwell’s headed to the locker room. The secondary is in the hands of E.J. Biggers and Jaylen Watkins for the foreseeable future.

9:38 – Cardinals 17, Eagles 10. David Johnson breaks a number of tackles en route to a 47-yard touchdown run to put the Cards up by a score.

9:35 – Byron Maxwell returned, was beaten by Michael Floyd, and motioned to come off the field.

9:35 – Sam Bradford’s third down pass to Jordan Matthews falls incomplete, and Donnie Jones punts it away after the Eagles go three-and-out. Arizona takes over on its own 28-yard line with 5:23 to go.

9:33 – Tim likes what he’s seeing from the Eagles’ backup defensive back, who’s been pressed into action tonight.

9:32 – John Brown drops another big gain for the Cardinals, this time on a third down, and Arizona punts it away. The Eagles will take over on their own 15-yard line with 6:16 left in the first half.

9:22 – Eagles 10, Cardinals 10. Sam Bradford finds Zach Ertz for a 22-yard touchdown pass. Bradford is 9-of-11 for 102 yards and a touchdown.

Ryan Mathews has run for 30 yards on five carries.

9:21 – Finally, a DeMarco Murray sighting. The Eagles are in field goal range.

9:17 – The Eagles capitalize on a Cardinals holding penalty and force a punt on Arizona’s third drive of the game. The Eagles take over at their own 46-yard line.

9:16 – Eric Rowe injury update.

9:13 – DeMarco Murray update.

9:12 – The Eagles go three-and-out on their second drive of the game, and the Cardinals take over on their own 18-yard line.

9:07 – Fletcher Cox keeps making his Pro Bowl case.

9:05 – Cardinals 10, Eagles 3. The Eagles come up with a third-down coverage sack in the red zone, which goes to Fletcher Cox, and Chandler Catanzaro boots a 28-yard field goal.

9:03 – Byron Maxwell is heading back on to the field for the start of the second quarter.

9:01 – End of first quarter: Cardinals 7, Eagles 3. Arizona has the ball on the Eagles’ six yard line.

The Cards are averaging 8.6 yards per play through one quarter.

9:01 – The injuries keep coming; Byron Maxwell, who’s been having a rough night, heads off the field with an injury.

9:00 – Zach Ertz was evaluated for a concussion after the Eagles’ first drive, but he was cleared.

8:53 – The fans sure backed Sam Bradford when he went down, and when he returned a play later.

8:52 – Cardinals 7, Eagles 3. Sam Bradford was knocked out of the game for a play on the Eagles’ first drive of the evening after a huge hit on a third down pass. He returned to a standing ovation from the crowd after missing one play, but the Birds were unable to capitalize on momentum, and Sturgis booted a 33-yard field goal.

8:45 – A look at that brutal tackle attempt by Byron Maxwell.

8:38 – Not a great way for Byron Maxwell to start a huge game against.

8:37 – Cardinals 7, Eagles 0. Carson Palmer slices up the Eagles’ secondary, and the Cards strike first on Sunday Night Football. Palmer completes three passes for 62 yards, including a 36-yarder into the red zone, on the Cards’ first drive.

8:30 – The Eagles win the toss and elect to defer. Carson Palmer and the Cards will take the field first.