The Eagles put their foot on the throttle Sunday afternoon, using Carson Wentz’ arm and the pass rush’s motor to completely drub the Cardinals 34- and more to 4-1 on the year.
In a game with highlight after highlight, nothing was better than the team’s first quarter touchdown celebration after a Torrey Smith strike.
the best end zone celebration I have ever seen in my life. pic.twitter.com/GL5ywbPiLW
— chris jones¯_(ツ)_/¯ (@LONG_DRIVE) October 8, 2017
Here are some other things we won’t be soon forgetting about the Eagles’ Week 5 triumph:
Perfect Wentz, almost
Carson Wentz missed some throws to be sure, but the ones he made were spectacular Sunday as the Eagles’ second year quarterback threw for 304 yards and four touchdowns.
Wentz started the scoring when he floated a high-arching pass to Trey Burton in the corner of the end zone to put Philly up 7-0 on Phily’s opening drive. The score was the fourth for the Eagles in five games on their opening drive.
Later, Wentz stepped into the pocket to launch a 59-yard touchdown bomb to a wide open streaking Torrey Smith. A second bomb, this one to Agholor for 72 yards, solidified the Eagles’ cake-walk victory as the speedy wide out ran down a deep pass and used an Allen Iverson-esque crossover move and spin to find his way into the end zone giving Philly a 31-7 lead.
Wentz did make some mistakes though, unnecessarily forcing a pass late in the first half that resulted in a Patrick Peterson interception in the corner of the end zone, essentially taking three points off the board for Philly as it looked to rebuild it’s big lead. He also missed several open receivers — and could have had an even bigger day if he made just a few more high-quality throws.
Sproles 2.0
Kenjon Barner always seems to fall through the cracks, and his performance Sunday left many wondering why? In a first quarter punt return Barner scampered for 76-yards to set up Philly’s second score. He also filled in well for the injured Wendell Smallwood, gaining 23 yards on five carries. He had a key 16-yard run for a big first down in the first half.
The Philadelphia run game as a whole continued to roll, (despite Wentz scrambling for a pair of big first downs) collecting 124 yards after running for over 400 in the last two games.
Not the only run-contributor, LeGarrette Blount picked it up in the second half as he led the Eagles with 74 yards on the ground.
Locked in D
The Eagles forced back-to-back-to-back three-and-outs in the first quarter to help amass their 21-0 lead before the first horn, thanks in very large part to intense pressure on Cardinals’ Carson Palmer. Brandon Graham, Vinny Curry recorded sacks as the limited time for Palmer allowed the secondary to gel perfectly, batting balls left and right as Arizona did not gain a first down until the second quarter. The shut out was not meant to be, as John Brown did find paydirt on a slant route from Palmer to cut into Philly’s lead, 21-7.
Picking up the offense after Wentz’ pick, Patrick Robinson got a hand on Phil Dawson’s field goal attempt as the first half ended, preserving a 21-7 halftime lead.
In all, every position group seemed comfortable and potent defensively, as Philly allowed just 279 yards total (31 rushing)— with many coming in garbage time late in the game.
