Eagles Vs Cardinals Studs & Duds

This one was ugly. So ugly in fact that finding studs from the Eagles' 26-7 debacle in Arizona was a rather difficult task.

Directing the blame wasn't as arduous. There were plenty of culprits in Glendale. The lackadaisical offense again handed the the ball away like candy on Halloween, sudden lapses cost the defense huge chunks and points, shabby tackling led to unfathomable first downs, and incompetence plagued special teams (the return game in particular).

Yep, it was an all-around disastrous loss for the Eagles. Surely it took some deep thinking, but you still managed to find a stud. (Thanks for the votes.) And, not surprisingly, more than a few duds were nominated. Here are your winners and losers.

The People's Dud

Mike Vick - His numbers 17-of-37 passing, 217 yards, 0 TDs and 0 INTs were pedestrian. They don't tell the full story though. Vick was awful. He held the ball forever. By my count, Vick took 10 hits in the first half, and seven of them were self-inflicted. That means he held onto the ball too long or didn't slide/get out of bounds when he could have seven times in the first half. And then there was the killer at the end of the half when Vick saw the blitzer (safety Kerry Rhodes) pre-snap at the line of scrimmage and still didn't get rid of the ball quick enough to avoid the blindside hit, fumble and game-ending touchdown return. It was one of two unnecessary Vick fumbles in the contest. Not a good game for the Eagles QB.

Raanan's Dud

Andy Reid - Call me Captain Obvious. I'm going with the other easy choice if only because of the way the game ended. It's almost like Andy and Marty Mornhinweg ran the ball early in the fourth quarter just so the final run-pass ratio wasn't quite as tilted in favor of the latter. After the Eagles passed seven straight plays on a drive late in the third quarter, they ran on three of four plays on their first drive of the fourth quarter down 18 points. It's hard to decipher whether it's incompetence or insulting. Overall with an offensive line feature two of five new starters due to injury, the Eagles called for 46 passes and 17 runs. That's imbalance at its finest. The Eagles coach came to Arizona with an awful game plan.

The People's Stud

Jason Babin - It was hard to locate studs in this muck. Some even suggested to go with Alex Henery because he provided the only points. While that's not a ridiculous line of thinking given the circumstances, more people highlighted Babin's effort. The Eagles' defensive end had five tackles, 1.5 sacks, 2 tackles for a loss and three quarterback hurries. In the first quarter alone he had both his sacks and stuffed Beanie Wells on a running play. It was a nice bounce-back for Babin after struggling in the run game against Baltimore.

Raanan's Stud

Darryl Tapp - I could have easily gone with Brandon Graham here as well. Graham played well once again. But I settled on Tapp because he seemed to be around the ball every time he was on the field. Tapp had six tackles (a big number for a part-time DE), officially a 0.5 sack and a quarterback hurry. He would have finished with 1.5 sacks but for reasons I'll never understand the Eagles accepted a 10-yard holding penalty instead of taking an 8-yard sack in the second quarter. Regardless, Tapp did a better job Sunday against journeyman left tackle D'Anthony Batiste than Trent Cole. Tapp also stuffed a pair of running plays as well. It was easily his best effort of the season.

Jordan Raanan has covered the Eagles and the NFL since 2005. Follow him on Twitter @JordanRaanan, on Facebook or email him at jraanan@hotmail.com.