Eagles vs. Cardinals Week 5 game preview and predictions

The Philadelphia Eagles should beat the Arizona Cardinals today.

By every measure, the Birds in midnight green are the better team.

The difference in SB Nation Reacts fan confidence polling data speaks to how the Eagles are the more inspiring side.

Check out the Eagles flying high at 99% for the third straight week:

And then check out the Cardinals at 29%:

Only five teams rank below the Cardinals in this category right now: the Los Angeles Rams, the New Orleans Saints, the Washington Commanders, the Indianapolis Colts, and the Carolina Panthers. Not exactly the best company to be in!

Of course, the low expectations might be working in the Cardinals’ favor. There’s always the chance that the Eagles overlook their opponent with a huge NFC East matchup against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 6 looming large.

But I don’t think that’ll be the case. Jalen Hurts seemed to caution against trap game vibes by making an effort to praise the Cardinals after not being asked much about them in his weekly press conference. The Eagles should know that they can’t merely show up and sleepwalk to a win. Winning in the NFL is rarely that easy.

That said, there are multiple matchups working in the Eagles’ favor. Arizona’s pass defense is vulnerable in part because their pass rush has been unable to get home. That they only have four sacks in four games is ... not good for them. The Cardinals are good at batting passes, so that could be an issue for Hurts when it comes to throwing a tipped pick. Hurts will also be tested by the frequency of the Cardinals blitzing.

At the end of the day, though, the Eagles’ passing game should be able to get back on track after pivoting to a run-heavy style during last week’s inclement weather.

On the other side of the ball, Jonathan Gannon’s defense has tightened up since a concerning outing in Week 1. And allowing the Detroit Lions to score 35 points suddenly doesn’t look so bad considering they’re the top scoring team in the NFL.

The big thing to watch here, though, is how the Eagles handle Kyler Murray’s mobility. He’s going to be able to make plays off script. It’s up to Gannon to make sure Murray doesn’t find a way to successfully hero ball the Cards into a victory.

The feeling here is the Eagles will be able to ultimately outmatch Murray and Kliff Kingsbury. They’ve earned the benefit of the doubt. For the first time all season, I’m ready to predict the Eagles to cover. It’s a comfortable win for them today.

For more, check out BGN’s weekly NFL game predictions and NFL picks against the spread.

Suggested format:

Score prediction:

Bold prediction:

My predictions:

Score prediction: 33 to 17, Eagles win.

Bold prediction: DeVonta Smith, A.J. Brown, and Quez Watkins all score touchdowns. (The three Batmans.)

Your predictions:

Leave your own score predictions in the comments.