Philadelphia Eagles versus Arizona Cardinals: 5 Stories to watch
There’s always the games within the game when two NFL teams meet, and when the Philadelphia Eagles meet the Arizona Cardinals, it won’t be any different.
Week five of the NFL season is upon us and as far as records go, the Philadelphia Eagles are in the exact same spot they were in a season ago. Sure, the paths to those identical records was different, but the hope is the collapse that came a season ago doesn’t occur again in 2017.
This season, the fifth opponent on the Eagles’ schedule is one that seems to always give them issues, the Arizona Cardinals. As usual, there will be plenty of subplots in this one.
Here are five:
1. Will “Larry Legend” go off again?
Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald will end up in Canton, Ohio when his career is over. Before that happens, he’ll have to suit up against the Eagles.
Fitzgerald is getting a little “long in the tooth”, but for whatever reason, he’s always given the Eagles fits. With so many members of the secondary hobbling, the fear is it may happen again. Let’s hope it doesn’t.
Philadelphia Eagles
2. Will someone step up at wide receiver?
Cardinals all-star cornerback Patrick Peterson‘s lone job on Sunday is to shadow Eagles wide receiver Alshon Jeffery and shut him down. That may mean we won’t get much out of Jeffery seeing as how the Eagles haven’t gotten much out of him anyway. Someone else has to step up.
Will this finally be Torrey Smith‘s breakout game? Will Zach Ertz getthe bulk of the targets? Can we expect Philly to rely more on the ground game?
We’ll all know soon enough.
3. The Eagles’ defensive line should have a field day against the Cardinals offensive line.
Add injury concerns to a Cardinals offensive line that wasn’t that good anyway, and here’s a very interesting story. Philly’s rookie phenom, Derek Barnett doesn’t have a sack yet, but with D.J. Humphries and Mike Iupati on the shelf, that may change on Sunday.
Philly’s defensive line should have a field day. That would mean the Eagles secondary may not have to cover Fitzgerald for long periods of time. That’s a good thing.
Related Story: Will Barnett get first sack Week 5?
4. There won’t be another fourth quarter collapse will it?
The Eagles have given up a total of 52 points in the final quarter of the last three games. That can’t continue. Period. Let’s move on.
Next: Eagles versus Cardinals: How to watch, radio call
5. Wendell Smallwood is reportedly out. How will that affect the running game?
If Smallwood’s out, Corey Clement may be staring at his chance for a breakout game. That’s if his coach doesn’t use this as an excuse to abandon the running game again. He is an Andy Reid coaching disciple, you know.