Sunday’s matchup in Arizona will feature two dynamic, dual-threat quarterbacks who are familiar with each other going back to high school in the state of Texas.
Jalen Hurts will enter the matchup as the leading MVP candidate after amassing over 1,100 passing yards, 205 rushing yards, four touchdown passes, and four scores on the ground.
Hurts has been among the most accurate players in the league and he currently leads the NFL in yards per pass attempt (9.1).
Murray has willed Arizona to a pair of late-game wins over the Raiders and Panthers, meshing with Marquise Brown as the team awaits the return of DeAndre Hopkins from suspension.
Here are seven storylines to watch for Sunday’s matchup.
Eagles-Cardinals history
Longtime foes, this will be the 119th meeting during the regular season in a series that dates back to 1935.
The Cardinals’ 58 regular season wins vs. Philadelphia are more than they have against any other NFL team also.
Sunday’s matchup will be the sixth meeting in the past ten years and if you include the postseason, the Cardinals have won six of the last eight vs. the Eagles and enter Sunday’s contest, having won five consecutive home games against Philadelphia.
Jalen Hurts-Kyler Murray
Hurts and Murray are both former University of Oklahoma quarterbacks who hail from the state of Texas.
Murray and Hurts have developed into two of the league’s most exciting young signal-callers, with the latter firmly in the MVP race through four games.
Zach Ertz reunion
One of the top pass catchers in franchise history, Ertz played 123 games with the Eagles over nine seasons (2013-21), setting Philadelphia’s single-season record for receptions in 2018 (116)
and ranks second all-time in career receptions (579).
Kingsbury NFC East dominance
The former Texas Tech head coach may be just average against the rest of the NFL, but he’s dominated the NFC East since being hired by the Cardinals.
Under Kingsbury, the Cardinals have never lost to a team from the NFC East. Arizona enters Sunday’s game vs. Philadelphia with a 6-0 record vs. the NFC East dating back to 2019.
Haason Reddick returning home
Reddick returned home when he joined the Eagles, but the Camden, New Jersey native, will return to his first NFL team on Sunday.
Reddick was drafted by the Cardinals in the first round (13th overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft and appeared in all 64 games for Arizona between 2017-20.
Cardinals All Black Alternate jerseys
After debuting their new alternate helmet in a nationally televised preseason matchup vs. the Ravens, the Cardinals will wear them for the first time in the regular season when they host the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.
Sunday’s contest vs. Philadelphia is the first of two regular-season games in which
the team will wear the alternate helmet.
heating up in the desert 🔥 pic.twitter.com/SVXDxm2yDB
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) October 5, 2022
Eagles offensive juggernaut
Philadelphia ranks 2nd in the NFL in total offense (435.5 ypg), behind Detroit (436.8 ypg).
The Eagles’ 435.5 yards per game mark their 2nd most through the first four games of a season since the 1970 merger, trailing only Chip Kelly’s 2013 team (458.8 ypg).
Philadelphia has recorded 400+ total yards in 4 consecutive games for just the fifth time since 1950 (also 2019, 2013 (6 games), 2011, and 1953 (5 games)).
