With the New York Giants’ loss today, the path to the playoffs is clear for the Philadelphia Eagles (6-7). They just have to beat the Arizona Cardinals (11-2) first. This game was already important. Now it’s actually worth a prime time slot.
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First, here’s my pick from The FAQ.
Sunday Night
Arizona at Philadelphia (+3.5)
The Eagles can stay alive for the playoffs. All they have to do is beat the second best team in the league. Star Wars Spoiler: Three words: anatomically correct sarlacc. Cardinals 34, Eagles 24
And here are the entries from this week’s Power Rankings.
2. Arizona Cardinals – (11-2) The Cardinals also find themselves in a suddenly interesting game against an NFC East opponent fighting for a playoff spot. They’ll get the best the Eagles have to offer. Last week: No. 2
23. Philadelphia Eagles – (6-7) Chip Kelly and Sam Bradford have the Eagles on the roll they were supposed to start the season with. Maybe Kelly can cancel that meeting with a real estate agent after all. Last week: No. 23
And here’s some of Josh’s Calculated line.
The Philadelphia Eagles have been struggling on the offensive side of things. Over their last three games they’ve been the 3rd worst passing offense, averaging 170 yards per game. Much of this has been because of the inefficiency of Sam Bradford and his receiving corps.
Bradford has been the 6th least efficient passer, averaging a passer rating of 82.9 this season. He hasn’t been getting much help from his pass-catchers either, however.
Jordan Matthews was projected to be a great receiving option, but he has underwhelmed. He’s currently 37th in reception yards so far this year.
The Eagles’ passing game is going to have some decent competition this week in a tough Cardinals’ defense…
Carson Palmer is having a career year. Palmer is currently the 2nd best in yards [4,003], quarterback rating [107.2], and touchdowns [31]. He’s getting some help from his receiving corps this year, that’s for sure.
Michael Floyd has finally come into things. Over his last five games, Floyd has gone for over 100 yards in four of them. He’s also managed to get into the end zone four times as well.
John Brown has been another big play threat for the Cardinals. In his last four games, he has gone for 99 or more yards or a touchdown.
Larry FItzgerald has been playing more of the Mr. Consistent role out of the slot. Five of his last six games Fitzgerald has been targeted by Palmer 11 or more times…
The Philadelphia Eagles will need their offense to step up this week if they want to take home the win. Bradford’s play certainly hasn’t indicated that this is in the realm of possibilities in the last few weeks. Their pass-catchers are going to have to bail him out if there is any hope….
Las Vegas is currently favoring the Arizona Cardinals by 3 points, while predicting a 50 point over/under.
This seems like an easy pick to me, the Cardinals are the better team and should easily walk away with a win over 3 points.
Win Percentage: 65% Arizona Cardinals | 35% Philadelphia Eagles
Calculated Line: -5.5 Arizona Cardinals
The game is on NBC at 8:20 p.m. Let’s watch it.
