Philadelphia Eagles defensive line is foundation needed to beat Arizona
The Philadelphia Eagles have built a strong foundation around a ferocious defensive line. That may be all they need against a depleted Arizona Cardinals offense.
When the Arizona Cardinals storm onto Lincoln Financial Field to face the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday afternoon, they will come with bad intentions. The last time Arizona visited Philadelphia it resulted in a 40-17 Arizona victory as Cardinals running back David Johnson galloped for 187 yards on 29 carries.
That game saw former Philadelphia quarterback Sam Bradford under center for the Eagles, and he was…well…Sam Bradford. Good numbers but the decision-making and the timing of the bad decisions were pure Bradford-esque.
David Johnson, out 2-3 months due to injury,will not be participating in this meeting, and is one of a few major injuries that will have an impact on the outcome of Sunday’s game. This game will most likely be won in the trenches, and in the trenches is where it would seem that the Eagles have a distinct advantage.
Whether or not the Eagles defensive line can dominate is a key factor in deciding this critical Week 5 matchup.
Why does Arizona’s 2-2 record seem to be a dismal start to what was initially a promising season? Well the Cardinals were poised to really make some noise in the NFL this year and if they can weather the storm of injuries that have plagued the team since Week 1 they may still be able to salvage a playoff berth.
Philadelphia Eagles
However, this week, the 3-1 Philadelphia Eagles don’t have that “must-win” hurdle to overcome. While the Cardinals hold the overall series edge 59-55, the Eagles hold a slight edge at home (29-28-3).
The strength of the Eagles, its defensive line, must stand up to cause chaos up front which results in protecting their injury depleted weakness, the secondary.
With the entire left side of the Cardinals offensive line in scramble mode, the Eagles can take advantage of what has become an anomaly in Arizona. They have not figured out how to protect veteran QB Carson Palmer, and the double whammy to boot, they can’t run the ball.
The Cards have been decimated by injuries through the first quarter of the season with starting left tackle DJ Humphries and left guard Alex Boone both missing valuable game time. Mike Iupati have been battling his own injuries, and Arizona has had a hard time protecting Palmer who through four games has been sacked a staggering 17 times while absorbing 43 hits.
The NFL record for quarterback sacks in a season is 76, allowed by Houston in David Carr‘s rookie season.
How the Eagles game plan to take advantage of this Achilles heel in the Arizona offense should be a treat to see. Already defensive guru Jim Shwartz has adjusted to a limited attack since defensive tackle Fletcher Cox has been hampered by injury. Backup DT Beau Allen and fellow DT Tim Jernigan will have to set the pace against a depleted Cardinals offensive line.
The Cardinals coaching staff has brought back lineman Earl Watford to give some experience to the reeling line, but with the speed and tenacity that the Eagles front four have been playing, the Cards will be hard-pressed to buy Palmer time to throw the ball.
Where the Eagles are hoping to assert themselves would be completely shutting down Arizona’s running game, and then focusing on Palmer to ratcheting up that hit and sack total. The Cardinals have struggled all season getting their running game started without Chris Johnson, who leads the team with 93 yards rushing this season averaging 2.6 yards per game.
There have been few, if any, running lanes open through the first quarter of the season for Arizona.
The Eagles use a fresh rotation of defensive linemen to apply constant pressure on opposing quarterbacks. It has resulted in a lot of hurries and knockdowns of opposing quarterbacks, but through four games the Eagles defense has only tallied 10 sacks. Cox, Jernigan, Brandon Graham, Vinny Curry, Barnett, Allen, Elijah Qualls and Destiny Vaeao are all called on to battle in the trenches.
Who will step up this week? Will Barnett find his rhythm and be the difference maker that he was drafted to be? Is Cox back to full strength and ready to wreak havoc on a depleted Cardinal O-line?
And on offense, what the hell will this young, great, tough, gritty, Philly quarterback Carson Wentz do next to gain more of our respect? Throw the accurate deep pass to Alshon? Will Torre Smith cancel out a great defensive line performance with more critical drops?
Will this good blossoming into great, front seven start to put their hands up once their progress to the quarterback is impeded? (It’s the difference between 3 interceptions through 4 games and 5 or 6 interceptions through 4 games. check the tapes) Will the overachieving Eagles secondary be able to play up to their potential and shut these the redbirds down?
The Eagles stand 3-1. First place in the vaunted NFC East. We are the Philadelphia Eagles. Our defensive foundation is our defensive line. Its time that they allow us to build on them.