The Arizona Cardinals face the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday in search of their fifth straight win. They are hoping to keep pace in the NFC playoff race. With the game coming up, here is your fact sheet about the matchup.
Stats:
The two teams will be a matchup of two strengths. The Cardinals are second in the NFL in rushing defense. Philadelphia is the league's top rushing offense. Overall, Arizona has the seventh best defense, while the Eagles sport the league's fourth best offense.
Clearly, something will have to give.
Eagles starting quarterback Nick Foles has yet to throw an interception on the season. Arizona has intercepted fifteen passes.
The Eagles have not allowed more than 21 points in the last seven weeks. The Cardinals have not scored less than 27 in their last four games.
The Eagles have not gone more than two games without scoring 30 points in a game. They have gone two games since the last time they did. Arizona has given up at least 30 in three of their four losses.
Arizona has the league's 13th best passing offense, and Carson Palmer has been one of the league's best passers over the team's four-game winning streak. Philly has the league's worst pass defense. They are 31st in overall defense.
History:
This is the 114th time the two teams have played in the regular season. Arizona leads the series 55-53-5. They lead 2-1 in the postseason series, too. Arizona used to be part of the NFC East, so the two teams would play each other twice yearly.
Arizona has not lost to the Eagles since Thanksgiving 2008, when Philly beat Arizona handily by a score of 48-20. The Cardinals then beat them in the NFC Conference Championship to earn a berth to the Super Bowl following that same season.
Last season, when both teams were 2-0, Arizona trounced the Eagles 27-6. They sacked Michael Vick five times and forced and recovered three fumbles, including a 93-yard touchdown return by James Sanders at the end of the first half when Philadelphia was at the goalline.
Larry Fitzgerald is a very good against the Eagles, as he averages over 130 yards receiving and almost two touchdowns a game against them.
Connections:
There are not many connections with players. No Eagles are former Cardinals. The Cardinals have two former Eagles -- backup center Mike Gibson and starting right guard Paul Fanaika. Gibson was drafted by the Eagles in the sixth round in 2008, spent all that season on injured reserve and then 2009 on the practice squad. Fanaika was drafted by Philly in 2009 in the seventh round and spent part of that season on the practice squad.
The biggest connection between the two teams is the fact that both teams' defensive coordinators held the same position for the other team. Cardinals DC Todd Bowles was the defensive coordinator in Philly in 2012 after Juan Castillo was fired. Arizona then hired him. Eagles DC Billy Davis was the Cardinals DC in 2009-2010.