Eagles avoiding Mexico trip doesn’t change tough challenge with Cardinals

Even though the Philadelphia Eagles won’t be traveling to Mexico City in 2020 to face the Arizona Cardinals, Kliff Kingsbury and company will still give the defending NFC East champions plenty of trouble.

Once the Philadelphia Eagles discovered they would be facing the Arizona Cardinals during the 2020 season, there was speculation over the possibility of Doug Pederson and company being part of the international games.

Originally, the Cardinals were scheduled to play one of their home games down in Mexico City this upcoming season, but those plans changed on Monday after the NFL announced all overseas games for 2020 would be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

From a realistic perspective, this decision doesn’t really impact Philadelphia as much as it would have if the game were being played in London since traveling to Mexico City instead of Arizona really isn’t all that bad.

But as great as it is for the Eagles to be off the hook for the extra traveling from this international game, the actual contest against the Cardinals won’t be any easier.

For starters, Philadelphia will still be facing a tough challenge against an Arizona team that many believe is capable of emerging as a playoff contender in the NFC this upcoming season, if all goes according to plan.

Not only is there plenty of excitement surrounding Kyler Murray on offense now that the former No. 1 pick has a year of starting experience under his belt, but the Cardinals also struck gold this offseason by acquiring DeAndre Hopkins from the Houston Texans.

There aren’t many players who are capable of single-handedly helping teams make a serious leap to playoff contender, but Hopkins is a top receiver in the NFL for a reason, and seeing how the Cardinals didn’t even need to give up a first-round pick for the star wideout was a steal.

Take this into consideration with all of the other key changes made by Arizona both through free agency and the draft, Arizona is the last team Philadelphia can afford to take lightly in 2020, especially since there’s a chance the two teams could meet again down the road in January.

So while a potential trip to Mexico City is officially off the board for the Eagles in 2020, their approach towards the Cardinals should still be the same since the toughness behind the contest will remain the same.