Eagles Vs Cardinals: What To Watch For

Not shockingly, our "what to watch for" this week centers again around Michael Vick, but this is less about him personally and more about the Eagles passing offense altogether. The Cardinals have quietly become a team very adept at stopping the pass.

As ESPN Stats & Info points out, the Cardinals D has allowed just 10 TD passes in their last 11 games dating back to last season. It may not be terribly impressive shutting down rookie Russell Wilson in his first start, but going on the road and neutralizing Tom Brady is a pretty major feat.

And they've also given Michael Vick his problems. Last year against Arizona, Vick had maybe the worst game of his Eagles career completing just 47% of his passes for 128 yards, 2 picks and no TDs.

However, this time around Vick will have something at his disposal that he didn't have last time, DeSean Jackson. It remains to be seen whether Jeremy Maclin will be ready to go though. That said, it will likely take a near total shutdown of the Eagles offense to get a win here, because as ESPN also points out, The Cardinals offense is really bad.

The Cardinals have generated almost nothing from their RBs. In fact, more than a third of their total rushing yardage this year doesn't even come backs. They have no runs of 20 or more yards as a team this year, while LeSean McCoy already has 2 of his own.

They are one of just 6 teams without a pass play of more than 30 yards and are facing an Eagles defense that has limited opposing QBs to a 6.7 "QBR," the 2nd lowest in the league. If you look at ESPN's QBR stat over this year and last, the Eagles have the best pass defense in the NFL "by a wide margin."

The Cardinals defense is for real, make no mistake about that, but their offense is not. The Eagles offense may have some struggles in Arizona, but it shouldn't need to produce much to get out of there with a win.