Another game. Another game down in the desert. The last NFL game ever at Sun Devil Stadium. Another loss. Another ugly loss, really! Another embarrassment and now the Philadelphia Eagles guaranteed themselves of their first losing record since 1999. It has been a nice run: 11-5, 11-5, 12-4, 12-4 and 13-3 (last season) in five consecutive seasons since they finished 5-11 in Andy Reid’s first season as head coach of the Eagles. This was a sorry game to watch on the old television. Thank goodness for me as I am now headed south for Christmas down in Florida. I’m also glad I did not spend a couple of thousand dollars on this sad game as hundred’s of other Eagles fans who made the trip to Tempe. The competitive part of this game ended effectively early in the fourth quarter. That was when Cards QB Josh McCown hit Anquan Boldin for a 20-yard TD reception. The touchdown extended the Cardinals lead to 27-7. This is one game the Eagles should of won, as they are a much better team, even with all the injuries.

Just looking over the game’s final stats, you’d have to wonder how the Cardinals won this game so easily. Stats don’t lie! First downs: Cards won 19-11. McCown out-passed both Eagles QB’s, 285-146. That is almost double. Total yards; Cards win here too, 360 to 189. Lastly, time of possession: Arizona controlled the clock for almost 39 minutes compared to the Eagles, who held the ball for a measly 21 minutes. Eagles QB Mike McMahon gift-wrapped one pass to Karlos Dansby, who intercepted a pass deep in Eagles territory and easily returned the ball 11 yards for the Cards first TD of the game. At the time, that made the score 13-0 in favor of Arizona with 10:28 still left in the first half. But Philadelphia struck back on an 8-play 66-yard TD drive, which took only 3:50. The drive was capped by a nice 1-yard run by the quarterback himself. The 13-7 score held through most of the third quarter.

In the second half, Arizona dominated the Eagles. McCown drove the Cards on 2 long sustained TD drives to put the game out of reach. Just over halfway through the third quarter, Arizona drove 76 yards on just 7 plays to extend their lead to 20-7. A 25-yard pass to Larry Fitzgerald capped the drive. Then early in the fourth quarter, McCown drove the final stake in the Eagles heart with a 97-yard 13-play drive, which ate up 7:37 off the clock. Though the Eagles still had 11 ½ minutes left, you’d just know with the score 27-7, the game was over. McMahon was pathetic again and late in the game, Koy Detmer even came in after McMahon got hurt after he scored his second 1-yard TD drive to cut the lead to 27-14. But it was a little too late for the Eagles. Next week, the Eagles host the Redskins to end this misery of a season. And Washington must win to make the playoffs. The Eagles will probably lose this one anyway.