The Arizona Cardinals face the Philadelphia Eagles this weekend on New Year’s Eve. It is their final road game of the season. It is also a homecoming for head coach Jonathan Gannon and defensive coordinator Nick Rallis, as both came from the Eagles’ staff from last season under head coach Nick Sirianni.
Gannon was Philly’s defensive coordinator and Rallis coached their linebackers. The Eagles, of course, had one of the best defenses in the league and went to the Super Bowl.
This year, Philly’s defense is not the same.
In 2022, they were eighth in points allowed. They are 25th now. They were 12 in third-down defense last season. They are 30th this year. They were 17th in red-zone defense. They are 29th this year. They had 70 sacks last year. They have 45 this year.
They lost some starters but largely have the same unit. Fletcher Cox is there. Haason Reddick is there. Darius Slay is there.
They lost linebackers T.J. Edwards to Chicago and Kyzir White to Arizona. But they added defensive lineman Jalen Carter in the draft.
The Cardinals might be able to move the ball on the Eagles.
Stop them? That’s a different thing completely.
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