3 Keys to a Philadelphia Eagles win versus Arizona Cardinals in Week 15
By Hunter Doyle
1. The Philadelphia Eagles need to get the ball out of Jalen Hurts’ hands quickly.
Arizona is a very blitz-happy defense. They like to put their fastest and most athletic players at the line of scrimmage and disguise looks. At times, it can be impossible to judge where defensive coordinator Vance Joseph is going to bring pressure from. It won’t be like last week where Jalen Hurts can just outrun Cameron Jordan on zone reads. Instead, it will be guys like Haason Reddick, Isaiah Simmons, and Budda Baker.
Pederson will need to stick with a similar gameplan this week though. Teams still only have five quarters of game film on Hurts. The Birds implemented a lot of stuff from his time at Oklahoma to get him comfortable like the shallow cross-screens with option plays built in to quarterback draws. They’ll need to continue to keep him comfortable.
If Arizona is going to load up guys at the line of scrimmage, the Eagles can run some wide receiver screens. Last week, they motioned Jalen Reagor to the field side with two other receivers on the same side. The Saints were crowding the line. It was disguised and they dropped back into coverage but they all had to bail from the line of scrimmage and run all the way to the field side to catch Reagor. It went for a seven-yard gain. Fans wouldn’t mind seeing more plays like the fake triple-option end around to Jalen Reagor.
Quick hitters like that can work well in this game. If Doug lets Hurts sit in the pocket for too long, he’ll be eaten alive. Arizona’s run defense is not nearly as strong as their pass rush. Establishing the run early with Miles Sanders could also be a huge help.