The 5 Numbers That Tell The Story of How The Eagles Beat The Cardinals

Well, that was a nerve-wracking game. Apparently, the Eagles were nostalgic for the heart-pounding games we get from them every other year. We have been spoiled this year with easy wins where we can kick our feet up. But this was one of those weeks where you can't sit still and you nervously pace around your living room. There is nothing that gets the old heart rate going like a close Eagles game. But they did end up winning. They beat the Cardinals 20-17. Which means the rest of us can experience joy and happiness this week.

But how did they pull off the win? What went so wrong that the Cardinals were able to keep it so close? Here are 5 Numbers that tell the story of how the Eagles pulled out a narrow victory over the Arizona Cardinals.

It was not a great game for the offense. There were times it felt like they were driving down the field, only for it to stall and for them to have to settle for a FG or punt the ball. But the last time they got the ball, the offense stepped up. They put together a 7:56-minute drive to get the eventual game-winning FG and wind the clock down. Would it have been nice to score a Td instead? Of course. Was the play calling in the red zone a bit annoying? Yep. But the drive was nonetheless impressive. They let the O-Line do what it does best. The Eagles ran, and ran, and ran. They got down the field in chunks. And the one time they had to pass it to keep it alive, Jalen Hurts found Dallas Goedert for a first down.

The fact Eagles can flip this switch, and run the ball this well, is a very good sign. Even with Jordan Mailata out, and Jason Kelce and Landon Dickerson banged up, they still dominated on this drive. We have seen the Eagles score quickly multiple times this season. But being able to score slowly can also be beneficial. With extra time, maybe the Cardinals get closer and the FG is good. Or maybe they score a TD and the Eagles lose. Taking that much time off the clock, even if they failed to get in the end zone, was clutch.

On the less positive side, there is the defense. They struggled mightily to get off the field on 3rd down. The Cardinals converted third downs at a rate of 57.1%. Eight out of 14 times. Four of those conversions were longer than 5 yards. They gave up a 3rd and 17 at one point. It was a problem all last year. Hell, it has been a problem dating back to Jim Schwartz. But this year it felt like they turned a corner. Against the Vikings, Commanders, and Jaguars they were able to get off the field. But Sunday was a throwback game where they would get to 3rd down, just to cough it up and give the Cardinals new life.

6

Jalen Hurts is a truly elite red zone threat. He scored two rushing TDs vs the Cardinals. That brings him to 6 on the season. He had 10 last year. At this pace, he will match his season total from last year in 9 games. And he is on pace to score 20 in total. The standing record for rushing TDs by a QB is 14. If he keeps this up, he is going to pass Cam Newton by week 12. I can already see people knocking him for the low passing TD numbers. But they are only low because once he is in the red zone, he is deadly running the ball. Why throw it when him taking the ball himself works so well?

The Eagles' secondary has been very good this year. Until Sunday's game. For the first time all year, they allowed a completion rate of over 60%. After holding Jared Goff, Kirk Cousins, Carson Wentz, and Trevor Lawrence to 59% or lower, Kyler Murray completed 66.7% of his passes. And it didn't feel like it was that he was just so accurate he was beating good coverage. Too often you saw Zach Ertz, or Hollywood Brown streaking wide open. The Zone coverage was too soft, and it made it easy on Murray.

Maybe they didn't think Murray was capable of standing in the pocket and beating a zone defense. But he did. It wasn't as bad as what we saw sometimes last season from Jonathan Gannon's defense. But it was still incredibly frustrating to watch. Gannon has to ditch the super soft zone from the playbook. It is what killed them last year. It's what almost let the Lions back into the game in week 1. And it is why this game was so close. You have the talent to play tighter defense. Use it.

While I can't say the Eagles' defense played well, they did only give up 17 points. It is the second-lowest total the Cardinals have had all year so far. The adage bend but don't break may apply here. But I will say they cannot get away with that every week. And no matter how sturdy something is, if you bend it far enough it is going to break. It took missed FG to keep it at 17 points. But I just want to put everything in perspective. The defense has allowed 44 points on offense in the past 4 games combined. That is 11 per game. If your defense only gives up 11 points a game, you are going to win a lot of games.

They held every team besides the Lions this season under their average points per game. This is still a very good defense. They didn't shut down Justin Jefferson by mistake. Maybe they felt the loss of Avonte Maddox a bit this week. But he should be back soon. And with him, there are not very many secondaries better than the Eagles. Don't overreact to this uneven week. This is a very good defense. The defensive coordinator just needs to avoid falling back into bad habits.

Since 1990, only 6 teams have started 5-0, and missed the playoffs, that is out of 58 teams. Meaning 89.6% of the time, teams that start 5-0, make the playoffs. And given how bad the NFC looks, apart from their NFC East rivals, I would say their chances are even better.