Eagles’ virtually nonexistent run defense enables the Cardinals to control the ground game — and the clock

Back in his home state of Pennsylvania on Sunday afternoon, Arizona Cardinals running back James Conner hit the ground running and didn’t stop.

The former Pitt Panther and Erie native spearheaded the Cardinals’ overwhelming performance in the running game in their 35-31 upset victory over the Eagles, contributing 128 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries for his most productive day of the season. In total, the Cardinals racked up a whopping 221 rushing yards plus Conner’s touchdown on 40 carries, marking the Eagles’ worst day against the run in Nick Sirianni’s tenure as head coach.

Third-stringer Michael Carter was the Cardinals’ most efficient back, averaging 8.7 yards per carry (seven carries for 61 yards). The Eagles’ defensive front had no answer for Conner and the Cardinals’ ballcarriers all day long as they plowed through Lincoln Financial Field, which gave way to other issues for the entire defense.

“I think that when you can’t stop the run, it’s hard to win games at any level of football,” rookie defensive tackle Moro Ojomo said. “So you make a team two-dimensional. And they basically can run or pass, which doesn’t make them predictable. Since we did that, they did what they wanted to do, basically.”

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Starting with their first possession of the game, the Cardinals made a point of eating up the clock, keeping the Eagles offense off of the field in the process. This was uncharacteristic of the Cardinals, who were tied for No. 17 in the league in average time per drive (2 minutes, 35 seconds) before Week 17.

The Eagles held the Cardinals to a field goal on their opening drive, but on 14 plays for 64 yards, the Cardinals burned 7:46 off the clock. Conner contributed to that lengthy drive, collecting five carries for 27 yards. The Cardinals stuck to that strategy of bleeding out the clock as the game continued. They dominated time of possession, hanging on to the ball for 39:19 while the Eagles kept possession for 20:21, although one lengthy Cardinals drive ended in a Sydney Brown pick-six returned 99 yards.

The visitors posted their most time-consuming drive of the night in the second quarter on a 16-play, 59-yard, 9:54 drive in which they ran the ball on 12 of those plays (50 rushing yards). Conner accounted for nine of them (37 rushing yards). They stalled in the red zone and settled for a field goal.

Given Conner’s talent and “tough” style of running, defensive tackle Jordan Davis said he knew that going into the game, the Cardinals were going to do their best to establish the run. However, he said he was “surprised” by the time-of-possession disparity.

“We have to get off the field,” Davis said. “Have to get the ball back to our offense. ... That’s what good teams do. And we didn’t do what good teams do.”

The Eagles defense looked like anything but a good team, especially in the second half when they conceded four straight touchdown drives as the Cardinals overcame a 21-6 halftime deficit. They struggled with missed tackles as the game wore on, affecting their ability to limit the yardage gained by rushers and receivers.

On second-and-4 early in the third quarter, Carter deked Eli Ricks in the open field and picked up 16 yards, the rookie cornerback falling to the ground as a result. The drive culminated in a 6-yard touchdown reception from Carter, who broke an attempted tackle by inside linebacker Shaquille Leonard as the Cardinals trailed, 21-13.

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After the Eagles offense went three-and-out on the following possession, the Cardinals rattled off another touchdown drive without facing a third down on nine plays for 77 yards. The Cardinals’ most substantial chunk came from Conner, who ripped off a 22-yard run, breaking an attempted tackle from defensive tackle Milton Williams. The drive ended with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Conner, who made a one-handed snag. The Cardinals tied the score at 21 on a successful two-point conversion.

“We just didn’t do a good job,” defensive end Brandon Graham said of the missed and broken tackles. “And when we look at the film, we’re going to look back and it was just like little stuff. It’s always little stuff that we can definitely learn from. I don’t make excuses. I just say that it’s just those little things. We didn’t get over the hump today on those little things.”

Not only did quarterback Kyler Murray have his best day of the season as a passer, completing 80.6% of his passes (25-for-31 for 232 yards and three touchdowns) and posting a 116.7 passer rating, but he also contributed to the Cardinals’ success on the ground. He finished the day with five carries for 24 yards in his seventh game back after starting the season on the reserve/physically unable to perform list following an ACL tear that ended his 2022 season.

Murray flaunted his speed in the first quarter on second-and-4 at the Eagles’ 9-yard line. He scrambled toward the left sideline, picking up 6 yards and a first down in the process while edge rusher Haason Reddick trailed in his wake. In the fourth quarter, Murray notched a 14-yard run, his longest of the day, on a quarterback draw that ultimately helped set up another game-tying touchdown, 28-28.

“He’s a great player,” Davis said of Murray. “He’s a great athlete. Shoot, you’re just seeing him outrun Haas. Haas is one of the fastest people I know. So definitely, we had to keep them in the pocket. Got a little loose on that. We didn’t contain him as much as we could. Just a lot of cause and effect. It’s a death by inches.”

A death by inches, and on Sunday, a death by rushing yards that pushed the NFC’s No. 1 seed firmly out of the Eagles’ reach and into the hands of the San Francisco 49ers.