The Philadelphia Eagles’ season came to an abrupt end on Monday in a 32-9 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the road in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.
It was not how anyone thought the season would end after they were coming off a Super Bowl loss and started 10-1.
Then they lost five of their last six games in the regular season, losing the division lead and having to play on the road in the Wild Card round of the playoffs, only to get blown out and overmatched.
Sounds familiar?
It is to Cardinals fans because the Arizona Cardinals experienced a similar collapse in 2021.
Arizona was 10-2 and running away with the division but then lost four of their final five games. Their defense allowed 28.4 points per game over the final five games of the regular season and then allowed 34 in their playoffs loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
People questioned Kyler Murray’s ability to lead.
They lost J.J. Watt and cornerback Robert Alford. DeAndre Hopkins also got hurt.
The Eagles allowed 30.3 points per game over their final six regular season games and then allowed 32 to the Bucs.
Cornerback Darius Slay got hurt. They changed defensive playcallers.
A.J. Brown got hurt.
Jalen Hurts is being questioned now.
There is a big difference, though. The Eagles already made it to the Super Bowl before suffering their collapse.
Now they face losing several key veterans.
The Cardinals tried rolling it back in 2022, only to fail spectacularly, leading to the firing of head coach Kliff Kingsbury and the departure of general manager Steve Keim.
What’s next for the Eagles is going to be critical.
Can they rebound or will they spiral downward like the Cardinals did in 2022?
Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.
