Turnovers Finally Doom Eagles In 27-6 Loss To Cardinals

The Eagles played with fire over the first 2 weeks of the season and in week 3 they finally got burnt. Bad... Like, 3rd degree burns. The Eagles were crushed by the Cardinals 27-6 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Arizona.

Just like the first two weeks, they turned the ball over too much. But unlike those first two weeks, the defense didn't force a bunch of turnovers of their own, they didn't make big stops and the offense never got itself in a position for a big 4th quarter drive. Let's retrace the demise...

Turnover #1 - Damaris Johnson is stripped on a punt return in the first quarter. Cardinals recover and 8 plays later score their first TD of the game.

Turnover #2 - Early in the 2nd quarter Michael Vick runs for a first down to the Cardinals 36 but is stripped by Sam Acho. Cardinals recover, but are unable to score on the ensuing drive.

Turnover #3 - With 6 seconds left in the first half, the Eagles have the ball on the Arizona 1. Michael Vick drops back, holds the ball and is hit from the blindside by Kerry Rhodes, forcing a fumble. Arizona DB James Sanders picks it up and returns the ball 93 yards for a dagger of a TD. It's 24-0 and the game is over.

There were other issues (poor pass defense, horrific offensive line play) and we'll certainly get into them this coming week... But that's really the story of the game right there. You simply can't come back from those kind of mistakes week in and week out.

The Eagles now have 12 turnovers on the season, the most for an Eagles team after 3 weeks since 1977.