3 things to watch in Arizona Cardinals week 15 matchup
By Sion Fawkes
The Arizona Cardinals are looking to prepare the brooms against their former division rivals but a resurging Philadelphia Eagles team makes for a difficult encounter.
The Cardinals appeared to fix their month-long issues on offense with a convincing win against the New York Giants last Sunday. Though it wasn’t a perfect offensive performance, we once again saw what we thought we were getting from the Cardinals in a 26-7 beatdown over the Giants.
Now the Eagles remain, a team who started rookie quarterback Jalen Hurts in a week fourteen win against the New Orleans Saints. To be fair, the Saints were still without Drew Brees and Hurts was spotty in the passing game. But his legs propelled the Eagles to the upset win and now the Cardinals get to face the still-unknown NFL product.
The Eagles have one of the best pass rushes in football and while the Cardinals are good at getting to the quarterback (thank you, Haason Reddick), the Eagles are second in the NFL with 43 sacks, behind only the Pittsburgh Steelers (45 sacks). That said, expect the Cardinals offensive line to have their hands full against one of the league’s most dangerous pass rushes.
Despite the Eagles phenomenal pass rush, they’re weak against the run. While they allowed just 4.2 yards per carry, teams love to melt their through the ground. Fortunately, the Cardinals have one of the best rushing attacks in football and it must be on full display come Sunday.
The next sections will break down three things to watch for in Sunday’s game. And if the Cardinals win, not only will they sweep the NFC East, but their playoff hopes increase substantially. Let’s see what the Cardinals need to do.