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Arizona Cardinals sweep NFC East with week 15 win

By Sion Fawkes

GLENDALE, ARIZONA - DECEMBER 20: Linebacker Zeke Turner #47 of the Arizona Cardinals celebrates with Tanner Vallejo #51 after catching a pass on a fake punt against the Philadelphia Eagles during the fourth quarter of the NFL game at State Farm Stadium on December 20, 2020 in Glendale, Arizona. The Cardinals defeated the Eagles 33-26. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
GLENDALE, ARIZONA - DECEMBER 20: Linebacker Zeke Turner #47 of the Arizona Cardinals celebrates with Tanner Vallejo #51 after catching a pass on a fake punt against the Philadelphia Eagles during the fourth quarter of the NFL game at State Farm Stadium on December 20, 2020 in Glendale, Arizona. The Cardinals defeated the Eagles 33-26. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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The Arizona Cardinals swept their former division with a week 15 win over the Philadelphia Eagles, completing what many may call a revenge tour.

The Arizona Cardinals played in the NFC East between 1970 and 2001, first as the St. Louis Cardinals then for a brief time as the Phoenix Cardinals before settling on the Arizona Cardinals moniker in 1994. They moved to a geographically-sound NFC West as part of the 2002 NFL Divisional Realignment which also saw the Seattle Seahawks join them in a move from the AFC West to the NFC West.

As members of the NFC East, they saw little success, making the playoffs just four times and winning just one playoff game against the Dallas Cowboys to score their first postseason victory since 1947 when they were the Chicago Cardinals. Ironically, 1947 was also the final year the Cardinals won an NFL Championship.

Often the weak sister of the NFC East, they won the division just twice during their 32 seasons as members of one of the NFL’s most storied divisions. Those wins came in 1974 and 1975 as the St. Louis Cardinals.

Fast forward to 2020, and the Cardinals didn’t just beat all four of their former division rivals, three of the four games were snoozers if you were a fan of the opposing team. Since most of us reading this post are Cardinals fans, we had a lot to love during the team’s 2020 NFC East Revenge Tour.

It started in September with a 30-15 win over the Washington Football Team in a game more lopsided than the score indicated. But the real showstopper came a few weeks later against the Dallas Cowboys, in which the Cardinals won 38-10 despite quarterback Kyler Murray completing just nine passes.

The Cardinals saw their lowest point of the season and faced off against a New York Giants team seeing their highest point of the season in week 14, with many starting to believe it was a Giants team turning the corner and a Cardinals team falling back to reality. The Red Birds proved the NFL universe wrong once again in a 26-7 beatdown over one of the NFL’s most visible franchises.

And this past Sunday, it looked like the Cardinals would end the tour with a mic-drop after they dashed out to a 16-0 lead that, if not for a DeAndre Hopkins fumble, could have been a 23-0 lead. But the lead slipped and the Cardinals found themselves falling victim to turnovers and penalties, something that plagued them all year.

The Eagles stormed back to tie the game at 26-all before the Cardinals embarked on a late drive to take a 33-26 lead. Despite a valiant effort by Jalen Hurts and company in the game’s final minute, the Cardinals defense held in crunch time, something they’ve had a tough time with all season, to finish 4-0 against the NFC East.

Next. Cardinals week 15 MVP. dark

Now, the Cardinals must finish the season 2-0 against their current NFC West rivals in weeks 16 and 17 if they’re looking to score their first double-digit winning season since 2015. With an ailing San Francisco 49ers team and a Los Angeles Rams team who somehow lost to the New York Jets, scoring two wins and finishing 10-6 is a realistic goal.

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