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Joe Miegoc
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The Pick
It’s come down to this. Eagles against Cardinals for a spot in Super Bowl XLIII.
For me, it’s a little hard to believe Philly made it to this point. When Andy Reid benched Donovan McNabb for the second half against Baltimore Nov. 23 I thought for sure McNabb’s days in Philly were numbered and that the Kevin Kolb era was about to get underway. But then Kolb threw two picks in the second half and Reid had no choice but to name McNabb the starter for the game against Arizona four days later on Thanksgiving. Had Kolb fared better against the Ravens (nearly impossible for a quarterback with no experience against a dominant defense) that might not have been the case, but that’s for speculation only.
Since the benching McNabb has been outstanding. After turning the ball over seven times in the previous seven quarters, McNabb has thrown 11 touchdowns against just four interceptions in the next 28 quarters. You can argue he’s playing the best football of his career right now and he’s pretty much had to with Brian Westbrook ailing from a balky knee.
As well as McNabb has played, the Eagles’ defense has been even better. Asante Samuel has finally shown why the Eagles gave him a $57-million contract in the offseason and Akeem Jordan’s play at weakside linebacker has images of William Thomas flashing in my head. Quintin Mikell is the best strong safety in Philly since Andre Waters locked down the position so many years ago. Jim Johnson is known for his exotic blitz packages, but because of how good the Eagles’ front four is he doesn’t have to rely so much on extra help anymore.
When these two teams met on Thanksgiving the Eagles were a desperate team and the Cardinals seemed to have no interest in playing that night. Thus a 48-20 decision went in the Eagles favor and it wasn’t nearly that close. Early in that game, Johnson decided to rush four and drop seven in passing situations and it worked as Kurt Warner threw two first-quarter interceptions that helped the Eagles go up early and force Arizona to be one dimensional on offense. I see the same thing happening today and McNabb will shine, finally quieting some of his critics.
Eagles 31, Cardinals 14.