Eagles-Cardinals player matchups to watch in Week 17 originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Eagles (11-4) host the Cardinals (3-12) on Sunday afternoon at the Linc.
Here are some key matchups to watch:
Eagles’ pass rushers vs. Kyler Murray’s legs
The Cardinals’ offensive line isn’t very good but that’s just one part of bringing Murray to the ground. Murray is extremely fast and he has the ability to get away from rushers chasing him down. The Cardinals have allowed 40 sacks this year, which ranks as the 11th highest total in the NFL. Murray has been sacked 16 times in 6 games and his sack percentage is 7.2%, which ranks 22nd in the NFL.
But the point is that if Murray wasn’t so mobile, he’d probably be getting sacked even more.
Murray will also take off. While he hasn’t been running wild since his return from an ACL surgery, he has been averaging 31.2 yards per attempt.
“He does a great job with the angles,” Eagles de facto DC Matt Patricia said. “He manipulates the angles on the field, and you can see where his other sports athleticism comes into play here. He just does a great job, and he sets you up. He’ll go and he’ll get real tall and then you start to rise up and all of a sudden he’s gone. He’s just down and he moves and he’s quick.
“The biggest thing with him that’s interesting since he came in the league that I’ve noticed is, he will hit top speed right now. Like there’s no buildup to it. It’s not like he has to get going for five yards before he’s running full speed. He can just go. I think that’s what surprises everybody right away is how fast he moves and how quickly he can get to that top speed. So, you start there obviously with him.”
Eagles’ linebackers vs. Trey McBride
The Cardinals granted Zach Ertz his release earlier this season but they have a really talented young tight end in McBride. The 2022 second-round pick out of Colorado State had a quiet rookie season but has come on in Year 2. He actually leads the…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/eagles-cardinals-player-matchups-watch-135500473.html
Author : NBC Sports Philadelphia
Publish date : 2023-12-29 13:55:00
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