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NFL Week 3 Preview: Eagles at Cardinals
By: Steve Bennett - StatFox
Published: 9/23/2012  at  2:06:00 AM
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PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (2-0)

at ARIZONA CARDINALS (2-0)

Kickoff: Sunday, 4:05 p.m. EDT
Line: Philadelphia -3, Total: 42

Two undefeated birds fly into one another on Sunday afternoon when the Eagles visit the Cardinals.

Philadelphia has turned it over nine times, but is 2-0 thanks to a high-powered offense, a very good defense and some timely playmaking. Arizona is coming off an upset in New England, beating the Pats despite just 245 yards of offense thanks to an improved D (four sacks of Tom Brady) and strong special teams (including a blocked punt). The Cards came to Philly last November and upset the then red-hot Eagles behind some John Skelton heroics. Skelton (ankle) will likely miss this game though as former Philly QB Kevin Kolb expects to start under center again. Arizona also beat up Michael Vick last year, sacking him twice, intercepting two passes and holding him to 128 passing yards.

Can the Cardinals win their third straight game outright as an underdog? For the answer, connect to The Platinum Sheet for all the StatFox Experts picks for every NFL game throughout the 2012 season and playoffs.

Vick has already had an eventful season, leading his team to a pair of one-point wins with touchdowns in the final two minutes of regulation. Vick has thrown for more than 300 yards in both games, but has committed seven turnovers, including an NFL-high six interceptions. Vick also had trouble protecting the football in last year’s 21-17 loss to Arizona, as he threw for just 128 yards on 34 attempts (3.8 YPA), 0 TD and 2 INT. Considering how well Philadelphia ran the football in that loss to the Cardinals (166 yards on 24 carries, 6.9 YPC), it would be best served to let Vick and LeSean McCoy try to win this game on the ground, even with a beat up O-line. Vick will be without his top WR in Jeremy Maclin, who re-injured his hip last game while throwing a block. DeSean Jackson is another injured wideout (hamstring), but he will likely play on Sunday. Look for WR Jason Avant (6 rec, 60 yards this year) to assume a bigger role in the offense, and for TE Brent Celek to continue to add to his team-high 19 targets. The Eagles defense looks pretty much intact, and it has been disruptive in two games, forcing six turnovers and allowing just 268 total YPG.

Kolb will be facing his former team for the first time, and looks to improve upon a subpar game in New England when he completed 15-of-27 passes for 140 yards, 1 TD and 0 INT. Star WR Larry Fitzgerald caught just one pass for four yards last week. The ground game has also been terrible with just 74 rushing YPG (5th-fewest in NFL). The two main running backs have both been atrocious as Beanie Wells has 58 yards on 21 carries (2.8 YPC) while Ryan Williams is even worse with 18 carries for 22 yards (1.2 YPC). The defense surrendered 387 total yards to the high-powered Patriots offense, but did not allow a touchdown until less than three minutes to play. Arizona does have a few noteworthy injuries in addition to Skelton, as TE Todd Heap (knee), G Adam Snyder (elbow), S Adrian Wilson (ankle) and S Rashad Johnson (hamstring) are all questionable for Sunday, with Wilson having the best chance of starting amongst the four players.

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