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Revenge of the Birds is back and bringing you week 8 of the NFL season. The Cardinals and the Eagles currently stand at 5-1, while both are fighting to remain with the Denver Broncos as the best team in the NFL since week 8 of last season (13-3).
Madden 15 is 4-2 in predicting these match ups. The game took place at the University of Phoenix Stadium using 8-minute quarters, a 10-second excel clock, and all-pro rankings. We hope that Madden drops to a record of 4-3 after the heartbreaker that it is predicting.
Final Score: 21-20 Eagles
Despite having a 17-3 lead at the half, the Cardinals could not get the ball in the end zone, or even the red zone the second half of the game.
The Cardinals receiving core struggled, as they have in the past, with drops. Leading receiver Michael Floyd had 8 receptions for 107-yards and a touchdown but recorded 3 drops. Larry Fitzgerald had 7 catches for 79-yards. Ted Ginn had 5 catches for 30 yards and a drop. Jarron Brown had 3 catches for 15- yards and a drop. Drops. Drops. Drops.
The leading receiver for the Eagle, Jordan Matthews, balanced out Floyd with 8 receptions for 103 yards and a touchdown. Riley Cooper recorded 7 catches for 69-yards. Surprisingly, Brent Celek recorded 6 catches for 63-yards.
Both quarterback were nearly equal on the stat sheet. Carson Palmer had a 65 percent completion percentage, 245 yards and a touchdown. Eagles quarterback Nick Foles had a 60 percent completion percentage, 289 yards, and a touchdown. However, Foles threw two interceptions, which should signal that Cardinals did better right? Wrong.
Cardinals did not earn any points off of their turnovers despite having a +1 ratio. The Cards had one fumble by their leading rusher, Andre Ellington, who only had 54-yards on 19 carries in the game. Stepfan Taylor had 14 yards on 8 carries and a touchdown, a big difference from his performance last week vs. the Raiders.
Most of the Eagles defense stemmed from LeSean McCoy who was nothing less than dominant with 110 yards on 27 carries and a touchdown. The Eagles nearly doubled the Cardinals combined yardage without their number two running back, former New Orleans Saint Darren Sproles, who has been sidelined with an injury.
The Cardinal defense was really what held them in this game. Larry Foote had 11 tackles. Free safety Tyrann Mathieu had eight. Kevin Minter, Jerraud Powers, and Patrick Peterson each had seven. Antonio Cromartie who recorded three tackles, caused both of the teams turnovers, intercepting Foles twice. John Abraham and Ed Stinson each recorded a sack.
But, the defense cannot hold the opposing offense the entire game. The Eagles had 11 points (FG, TD with 2 pt.) in the third, still holding onto a three-point lead. The final Eagles touchdown came from a 20 yard pass from Foles to Matthews with five second remaining in the game.
It is worth noting that Cody Parkey was 2/4 on the day, missing from 30 and 36 but successful from 39 and 40. As usual, Chandler Catanzaro was a perfect 2/2 from 32 and 36.
The Eagles had a 24 to 15 first down advantage and a 50 percent (1-2 with a touchdown) red zone percentage advantage compared to the Cardinals 25 percent (1-4 with a field goal).
Despite the outcome, we always put full confidence in our Cardinals. By the looks of it, however, our offense is going to have to drive the ball down the field and score six, not three.