It’ll be close, but the Philadelphia Eagles will lose.
Prior to Slay being ruled out, I genuinely thought the Philadelphia Eagles were going to win this football game. Betting odds and roster talent aside for the moment, Doug Pederson does this weird thing where he operates the best with his back against the wall.
There was zero reason for him and Hurts to string together a win against the Saints last week, and yet they did. As long as the defense showed up the way it did against NO, I felt the Eagles could do just enough offensively to salvage yet another late season victory.
With Slay not available – that thought process has done a complete 180.
There’s just no way the Eagles are going to be able to contain DeAndre Hopkins, Christian Kirk, Kyler Murray, and Larry Fitzgerald. They’ll likely move Jalen Mills out to corner for the afternoon, making the team’s safety situation even worse with Rodney McLeod out as well.
Love me some late season magic, but even I have my limits. The Cardinals are a young, explosive team fighting for a playoff spot – and they’re just simply way better than Philadelphia.
I think it’ll end up being pretty close when it’s all said and done (closer than the Cards would prefer), but it’s hard to imagine a scenario where Arizona doesn’t walk out victorious. Something like 27-17 in favor of the home team seems reasonable.