More Eagles-Cards Talk

Today could be an interesting test for Juan Castillo.  There wasn’t much for him to do in the opener.  We played a simple scheme and just overwhelmed the Browns.  Last week he did go with the wrinkle of having DRC shadow Torrey Smith.  The Ravens had a pretty balanced offense so again, you really didn’t need to do anything special.  Execution was key.

This game is different.  The Cardinals have one offensive weapon in Larry Fitzgerald.  There are some other players with ability, the talent gap is significant from Fitz to them.  So Castillo now has the question of how to shut down Fitz.  Does he build the gameplan around that?  Does he simply double team him a lot, but not do anything too unique?  Does he just single him with DRC and then adjust if Fitz starts to catch passes?

I’m also curious to see if we blitz.  The DL should get the best of the Cards OL.  However, since Kevin Kolb struggles with pressure so much, you wonder if going really aggressively after him might not be a smart course of action.  It might actually be smart to blitz early and get Kolb on his heels, then back off and just let the DL do their thing.  We really should win this game if the guys up front do their job.

Castillo has done a nice job this year of letting his players play and reaping the rewards.  He now has a game where he can come up with some interesting wrinkles.  We might just get a better feel for how much progress he’s made as DC.

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The inactives are now in:

WR Riley Cooper
WR Jeremy Maclin
RB Dion Lewis
OT King Dunlap
OL Nate Menkin
QB Trent Edwards

DE Vinny Curry

Big news for the Cards as Adrian Wilson is out.  That takes away an impact run defender.

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The Cards and Eagles have one of the more overlooked rivalries/histories.  The two teams used to play each other twice a year when they were NFC East rivals.  That stopped in 2002 when the NFL went to 4 divisions in each conference.  Here are some memorable games of the last 20 years.

1992 – The Goal Line Stand.  Cards had 7 plays from the 1-yard line and couldn’t score.  On a couple of those the Eagles were offside and that’s why they had to come up with 7 stops.  Final score:  7-3 Philly.

1994 – The Return of Buddy.  Arizona came to town with new HC Buddy Ryan, making his first trip to The Vet since his firing by Norman Braman.  Fred Barnett had a huge game 11-173 and accounted for both TDs in a 17-7 win.

1995 – The End of Buddy.  In the next to last game of the year the Eagles were 9-5 and fighting for a playoff berth.  The Cards were trying to stop a losing streak.  The Eagles led 21-20 late in the game when ARZ drove to the PHI 29.  On 3rd/7 they decided to pass rather than run and that led to a sack.  The ensuing FG came up short.  The Eagles went to the postseason and Buddy was fired a couple of weeks later.

1996 – The Wildest Ride.  After 3 quarters the game was 16-13, Arizona.  The 4th quarter became a major shootout.  The Cards built up a 29-20 lead with just 2:30 left in the game.  Derrick Witherspoon took the KO and went 95 yards to cut the lead to 29-27.  The Eagles then recovered an onside kick and marched down the field quickly.  The Eagles got inside the RZ and went conservative to make the Cards burn timeouts.  A FG gave the Eagles a 30-29 lead.  Arizona got the ball at their 34 with :45 left and no timeouts.  Boomer Esiason led a masterful drive that ended in a 24-yd TD with :14 left.  That game was one of the longest, crazies non-OT games I’ve ever seen.  So, so heartbreaking.  It was the Eagles third loss in a row after a 7-2 start to the season.

1998  – The Stupor Bowl.  At the end of 3 quarters, the score was 0-0.  One announcer said that was a first in NFL history.  I’ve never checked that stat out.  The Cards offense “got hot” and they won 17-3.  Bobby Hoying…ugh.

1999 – Heartbreak City.  The Eagles led the game 24-12 in Andy Reid’s debut as coach.  The lead melted away to 24-22 late.  Reid called a perfect pass play to WR Brian Finneran, who bobbled the ball and had it picked off by a DB.  The Cards then drove down and kicked the winning FG.  So much for the hot start with the new coach.

2001 – Another Blown Lead.  The Eagles led 17-14 late.  They had 4th/short, but were in FG range.  Reid decided to kick the FG and trust his defense with a 20-14 lead.  Jake Plummer led the Cards down the field.  He then hit MarTay Jenkins with a 35-yard pass to win the game. Even worse, Troy Vincent was the guy burned on the play.  He got turned around and left Jenkins wide open.  Another ugh moment.

2002 – Donovan McTough.  McNabb got hit early in the game and complained of an ankle injury, but he never came out.  The injury forced him to stay in the pocket and he did just that.  He shredded the Cards, going 20-25-255.  He threw 4 TDs and the Eagles won 38-14.  We found out later that McNabb played on a broken leg.

We played the Cards twice in 2008.  The first meeting was a Thanksgiving night blowout.  We won 48-20.  Kyle Eckel had plenty of touches if that tells you how much of a blowout it was.  The rematch came in the NFC title game.  Kurt Warner and the Cards dominated the 1st half.  McNabb led us back in the 2nd, but the defense gave up a late TD drive and we lost.  Ugh.  Again.

Last year’s debacle was memorable for Cards fans, but no one else.

Let’s hope today’s game isn’t memorable, but rather just a solid win for the Birds Eagles.

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