All season we’ve watched is dismay as the stacked, well coached, and seemingly pro-sticked Eagles ran their way to a 16-1 regular season record. With Saquon Barkley rewriting the NFL rushing records finishing with 2,254 yards and 31 TD’s on the ground, the NFC contenders knew that dethroning the reigning champs was a daunting task. After a 52-24 slacking of the Dallas Cowboys in the divisional round, the Eagles came into the NFC Championship game against the NFC West winning Arizona Cardinals, who had eeked by the Minnesota Vikings in their divisional round match up, 48-45. Although both teams were poised coming into the highly anticipated match up, no one really could’ve predicted what happened next.
52 First half points is what the Eagles put up against a non existent Cardinals defense. While the Eagles defense only allowed 21 in the same time, adding a 2nd half shut out to complete the pounding the final score was 79-21. Exactly how did we get here? Well the Eagles finished the game 4 yards shy of 700 total yards gained at 696. 484 of those yards were gained on the ground, with another 212 added in the air. The Eagles defense forced 6 total turnovers, 5 ints and 2 fumble recoveries were tallied by the defense, including a pick 6 returned late in the game by Kelee Ringo.
For a passing offense that posted 72 TD’s in the air, Kyler Murray was discombobulated, finishing an abysmal 14-34 with 3tds and 5 ints. Trey McBride who has a career game against the Vikings, was held to only 3 catches for 85 yards. While the Eagles defense was impressive, they were not the stars of the game. Saquon Barkley touched the ball 12 times in the run game and finished with a record 282 yards, with 4 TD’s. He also caught 4 passes for 87 yards. Not only that, but his back up Will Shipley also added 108 yards on 11 carries with an additional TD of his own. Jalen Hurts got in on the fun with 33 yards on 4 rushes, with back up QB Tanner McKee having the highlight of the night taking a QB zone rush 47 yards, pulling off explosive jukes, awing the audience while making defenders look silly.
In the end football is an unpredictable game. On any given Sunday any team can find the right mix of factors to cause them to have success. On this day it was the right mix of Eagles peak efficiency and the Cardinals with the wrong mix of play calling and user skill that resulted in this largely embarrassing and unforgivable outcome. Now we watch and wait as the AFC Super Bowl representative has yet to be determined as the Jaguars and Browns face off later. It remains to be seen who, if anyone, can put a stop to Saquon Barkley and the ram rodding Eagles
