John Brown drops 3 passes in the first half and you kinda figure it has got to be your night… but no, the fickle finger of fate went in the direction of the Cardinals anyway.
And we helped.
Four (4) miserable turnovers later, and a disastrous play-call at 4th-and-1 at the Cardinals 8 which failed at the end of the first half… add it all up and we flopped on the national stage… and possibly just blew our chances of taking the NFC East title.
Oh yes, if we win out over Washington and the Giants, mathematically we win the division… But based upon what I viewed against the Cardinals, we don’t have any right to complain if that doesn’t happen.
We seem to go forward one step, then back two steps…
I think Bruce Arians and his coaching staff deserve a lot of credit for this big Cardinals win. But I also think Chip Kelly and Bill Davis devised a clueless game plan against Arians.
How could you be so unprepared for stopping the Cardinals running game? And how could you not anticipate the Cardinals’ all-out defensive push against the run?
David Johnson ran for 187 yards and three touchdowns, Carson Palmer threw a TD pass and the Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Eagles 40-17 on Sunday night to clinch the NFC West title.
The Cardinals (12-2) will earn a first-round bye with a win over Green Bay next week. They still have a chance to secure the No. 1 seed if they win out and Carolina (14-0) loses its last two games.
The Eagles (6-8) would win the NFC East title if they beat Washington (7-7) at home and the Giants (6-8) on the road.
Johnson, a rookie (3rd round pick out of Northern Iowa) filling in for injured backs Chris Johnson and Andre Ellington, had a pair of 1-yard TD runs and a 47-yarder.
Palmer gave Cardinals fans a brief scare when he came out for one play in the 3rd quarter after injuring his right index finger on a throw. But he returned to toss a 16-yard TD pass to John Brown and finished 20 of 32 for 274 yards.
Deone Bucannon returned Sam Bradford‘s interception 39 yards for a touchdown to give Arizona a 37-10 lead early in the fourth quarter, sending fans to the exits.
Bradford threw for 361 yards and two TDs.
Tyrann Mathieu intercepted Bradford’s pass late in the fourth quarter and limped off the field. There was no immediate word on his injury.
The Eagles had fumbles end consecutive drives in the third quarter. Bradford lost the ball on a sack by Markus Golden at Arizona’s 44 and Ryan Mathewsturned it over at midfield.
Johnson broke several tackles on his long run to give the Cardinals a 17-10 lead in the second quarter. He appeared stopped for a short gain, but came out of a pile and sprinted down the right sideline while fighting off defenders.
The Eagles were driving for the tying score at the end of the first half, but went for fourth-and-1 at the Cardinals 8 and Mathews was stopped for no gain. DeMarco Murray is 14 for 14 on third and fourth downs of 2 yards or less, but he didn’t get a carry until the third quarter.
After forcing Arizona’s first punt, the Eagles quickly drove 53 yards to tie it at 10-10 in the second quarter. Mathews started the drive with a 20-yard run on the first play and Bradford connected with Zach Ertz over the middle for a 22-yard TD pass.
The Cardinals easily moved the ball on their opening drive and Johnson ran in from the 1 for a 7-0 lead. Palmer would’ve had a 78-yard TD pass on the first play from scrimmage but Brown dropped a deep throw in stride.
Bradford went down for one play and Mark Sanchez came in for a handoff. Fans stood up, yelled and motioned for Bradford to get up while he was lying on the field. It was somewhat of an ugly moment. I felt at that exact moment we did not deserve to win this one.
Final:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARI | 7 | 10 | 13 | 10 | 40 |
| PHI | 3 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
Scoring Summary:
| FIRST QUARTER | ARI | PHI | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
TD
10:44
David Johnson 1 Yd Run (Chandler Catanzaro Kick)
8 plays, 78 yards, 4:16
|
7 | 0 | |
 |
FG
6:00
Caleb Sturgis 36 Yd Field Goal
12 plays, 56 yards, 4:44
|
7 | 3 | |
| SECOND QUARTER | ARI | PHI | ||
|
FG
14:08
Chandler Catanzaro 28 Yd Field Goal
13 plays, 73 yards, 6:52
|
10 | 3 | |
|
TD
8:26
Zach Ertz 22 Yd pass from Sam Bradford (Caleb Sturgis Kick)
4 plays, 53 yards, 1:55
|
10 | 10 | |
|
TD
4:00
David Johnson 47 Yd Run (Chandler Catanzaro Kick)
3 plays, 67 yards, 1:23
|
17 | 10 | |
| THIRD QUARTER | ARI | PHI | ||
|
TD
9:48
David Johnson 1 Yd Run
8 plays, 87 yards, 4:12
|
23 | 10 | |
|
TD
0:40
John Brown 16 Yd pass from Carson Palmer (Chandler Catanzaro Kick)
5 plays, 50 yards, 2:44
|
30 | 10 | |
| FOURTH QUARTER | ARI | PHI | ||
|
TD
14:50
Deone Bucannon 39 Yd Interception Return (Chandler Catanzaro Kick)
3 plays, 19 yards, 0:50
|
37 | 10 | |
|
TD
14:32
Jordan Matthews 78 Yd pass from Sam Bradford (Caleb Sturgis Kick)
1 play, 73 yards, 0:18
|
37 | 17 | |
|
FG
2:55
Chandler Catanzaro 38 Yd Field Goal
10 plays, 49 yards, 5:22
|
40 | 17 | |
| Matchup | |
|
|---|---|---|
| 1st Downs | 28 | 19 |
| Passing 1st downs | 15 | 15 |
| Rushing 1st downs | 12 | 4 |
| 1st downs from penalties | 1 | 0 |
| 3rd down efficiency | 8-14 | 6-12 |
| 4th down efficiency | 0-0 | 0-2 |
| Total Plays | 74 | 63 |
| Total Yards | 493 | 424 |
| Total Drives | 12 | 12 |
| Yards per Play | 6.7 | 6.7 |
| Passing | 263 | 350 |
| Comp-Att | 20-33 | 28-41 |
| Yards per pass | 7.5 | 8.1 |
| Interceptions thrown | 0 | 2 |
| Sacks-Yards Lost | 2-11 | 2-11 |
| Rushing | 230 | 74 |
| Rushing Attempts | 39 | 20 |
| Yards per rush | 5.9 | 3.7 |
| Red Zone (Made-Att) | 3-4 | 0-2 |
| Penalties | 1-10 | 5-38 |
| Turnovers | 0 | 4 |
| Fumbles lost | 0 | 2 |
| Interceptions thrown | 0 | 2 |
| Defensive / Special Teams TDs | 1 | 0 |
| Possession | 37:28 | 22:32 |
| C/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | SACKS | QBR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Bradford | 28/41 | 361 | 2 | 2 | 2-11 | 54.4 |
| TEAM | 28/41 | 350 | 2 | 2 | 2-11 | — |
| C/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | SACKS | QBR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carson Palmer | 20/32 | 274 | 1 | 0 | 2-11 | 80.8 |
| Drew Stanton | 0/1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0 | 0.1 |
| TEAM | 20/33 | 263 | 1 | 0 | 2-11 | — |
| CAR | YDS | TD | LONG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Mathews | 11 | 58 | 0 | 20 |
| Darren Sproles | 6 | 9 | 0 | 3 |
| Sam Bradford | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| DeMarco Murray | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| TEAM | 20 | 74 | 0 | 20 |
| CAR | YDS | TD | LONG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Johnson | 29 | 187 | 3 | 47 |
| Kerwynn Williams | 6 | 34 | 0 | 18 |
| Stepfan Taylor | 2 | 11 | 0 | 10 |
| Drew Stanton | 2 | -2 | 0 | -1 |
| TEAM | 39 | 230 | 3 | 47 |
| REC | YDS | TD | LONG | TGTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jordan Matthews | 8 | 159 | 1 | 78 | 11 |
| Zach Ertz | 8 | 78 | 1 | 22 | 13 |
| Josh Huff | 4 | 52 | 0 | 22 | 4 |
| Brent Celek | 2 | 31 | 0 | 21 | 2 |
| Riley Cooper | 2 | 22 | 0 | 15 | 4 |
| Darren Sproles | 3 | 16 | 0 | 6 | 4 |
| Ryan Mathews | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Nelson Agholor | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| TEAM | 28 | 361 | 2 | 78 | 41 |
| REC | YDS | TD | LONG | TGTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Floyd | 5 | 70 | 0 | 29 | 8 |
| Darren Fells | 3 | 54 | 0 | 36 | 3 |
| Larry Fitzgerald | 3 | 43 | 0 | 20 | 5 |
| David Johnson | 4 | 42 | 0 | 12 | 4 |
| John Brown | 3 | 38 | 1 | 19 | 9 |
| Jaron Brown | 1 | 15 | 0 | 15 | 1 |
| Kerwynn Williams | 1 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 1 |
| J.J. Nelson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| TEAM | 20 | 274 | 1 | 36 | 32 |
| FUM | LOST | REC | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Bradford | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Ryan Mathews | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| TEAM | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| INT | YDS | TD | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deone Bucannon | 1 | 39 | 1 |
| Tyrann Mathieu | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| TEAM | 2 | 42 | 1 |
| TOT | SOLO | SACKS | TFL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mychal Kendricks | 11 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Malcolm Jenkins | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Byron Maxwell | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Fletcher Cox | 6 | 5 | 1 | 2 |
| E.J. Biggers | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Taylor Hart | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| Bennie Logan | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Marcus Smith II | 3 | 2 | 0.5 | 0 |
| DeMeco Ryans | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Eric Rowe | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Seyi Ajirotutu | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Connor Barwin | 2 | 1 | 0.5 | 0 |
| Cedric Thornton | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brent Celek | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Riley Cooper | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Brandon Graham | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Walter Thurmond III | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Vinny Curry | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Kiko Alonso | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Matt Tobin | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jaylen Watkins | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Ed Reynolds | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TEAM | 66 | 52 | 2 | 3 |
| TOT | SOLO | SACKS | TFL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deone Bucannon | 11 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Kevin Minter | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Tony Jefferson | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Tyrann Mathieu | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Jerraud Powers | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Markus Golden | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Josh Mauro | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| D.J. Swearinger | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Alex Okafor | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Troy Niklas | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Justin Bethel | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Jaron Brown | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Ed Stinson | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Frostee Rucker | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Red Bryant | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Sean Weatherspoon | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Patrick Peterson | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Dwight Freeney | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Calais Campbell | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TEAM | 58 | 50 | 2 | 1 |
CB Eric Rowe left the game with an apparent concussion. CB Byron Maxwell suffered some kind of thigh injury. We will keep you posted on those injuries. Sadly, at this point of the schedule, I wonder if losing those two guys will matter. Well of course I want those guys healthy, and of course it matters when you’re going up against Jaccpot and ODB in the next two games… but if our offensive play-calling and running game should stumble next week like it did Sunday night against the Cardinals, the missing cornerbacks won’t matter.
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