Eagles vs. Cardinals: Players and a Coach Among 5 to Watch

Philadelphia Eagles D'Andre Swift and (a quiet) A.J. Brown closing in on milestones in a Week 17 matchup with the Arizona Cardinals. Our 5 Who to Watch?

PHILADELPHIA – The three-game losing streak is over. Now, can the Philadelphia Eagles build on their mini one-game run?

It’s not like their 33-25, Christmas Day win over the New York Giants was a Mona Lisa or anything, but, like the five well-used words that accompanied many of their wins in a 10-1 start – a win is a win.

At this stage of the season, though, wins over a Giants team that had just five victories coming in should be more defining, more confidence-inspiring, not the kind that requires a last-second end zone interception from a rookie like Kelee Ringo.

DeVonta Smith wasn’t happy with the offense afterward, and we still have no idea why A.J. Brown wasn’t in the mood to talk after the game or all week in the locker room.

Maybe a more convincing win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field (1 p.m./FOX) will put more smiles on players' faces and Brown will revoke his self-imposed media silence.

Depending on how these final two weeks play out, this could very well be the Eagles’ final home game of the season.

The Eagles need not only another win in Week 17 but one that allows for a breezy, easy fourth quarter, where the outcome is already been decided and the now 11-4 Eagles are moving to 12-4 well before the clock hits all zeros.

Here are some players and a coach to watch:

D’Andre Swift. The running back is 12 yards away from the first 1,000-yard season of his four-year career. He didn’t make himself available to talk about in the locker room this week, but his running mate Kenny Gainwell was around.

“I’m pretty sure everybody in the running back room running behind that O-line could get a 1,000 yards here - easy,” said Gainwell. “Just have to get the touches. It’s really easy because, man, just run behind (Jason) Kelce and that dude will make it happen. Hope’s back next year so we can get it done again.”

It will be the second straight year the Eagles have had a 1,000-yard rusher after not having one since LeSean McCoy did it in 2014. Miles Sanders went over 1,000 last year.

A.J. Brown
A.J. Brown hasn't talked to the media all week leading up to the game with the Arizona Cardinals :: Ed Kracz/SI Eagles Today

A.J. Brown. He’s not talking to reporters, but he is still making big plays. If he can go over 100 yards receiving it would be his eighth such game and that would break a tie for the most in franchise history that he currently shares with Terrell Owens (2004). With 1,394 yards receiving, Brown is also just 103 yards away from setting the team record he set last year with most receiving yards of 1,496.

Gannon reaction. Most players have no hard feelings toward their former DC, but it will be fun to see how the fans welcome him home.

“No extra motivation because of how he left,” said cornerback Darius Slay, who will miss his third straight game after arthroscopic knee surgery. “It’s more motivation to beat him because we want to win. It’s an NFC game. That’s the motivation to beat him. There’s no bad blood with JG. He’s a great coach.

“He got a great opportunity to be a head coach and he is going to try to be one of the best head coaches in the league. He’s reaching out for his dream, so it’s not negativity about how he left. It’s more like we want to beat JG because it’s the next game and it’s the most important.”

Kelee Ringo. Each of the last two weeks, the rookie fourth-round pick seems to be improving and has become a must-watch to see how he performs. He logged the first interception of what figures to be a long career in last week’s win.

“I thought I played pretty decent,” he said. “Just going out there and sticking to the game plan, some things that we talked about that week. I feel like if we're able to do that and keep that to our standard, you're gonna be able to go out and execute things that we work on throughout the week continuously and have pretty good games.”

Ringo added that the moment isn’t too big for him.

"Actually, I like doing this,” he said. “You know, during my entire career, I've been that person to want to be in those situations and just make the most of the opportunities, That and just having that confidence in yourself in any situation.”

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The first-rounders. That would be Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith. There’s been some talk this week about a rookie wall that Carter is pressed against, especially after playing just 21 snaps (33 percent) against the Giants. It’s hard to argue, though, with the rookie who has five sacks, a blocked field goal, and a fumble return for a touchdown already on his resume.

Smith got some time at middle linebacker and some reps off the ball against the Giants and didn’t look bad there at all, though it was a very short sample size. Still, a linebacker role could be something he might grow into to supplement whatever time he gets on the edge.

Prediction: Eagles 31, Cardinals 17

Season record: 9-6


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Ed Kracz
ED KRACZ

Ed Kracz has been covering the Eagles full-time for over a decade and has written about Philadelphia sports since 1996. He wrote about the Phillies in the 2008 and 2009 World Series, the Flyers in their 2010 Stanely Cup playoff run to the finals, and was in Minnesota when the Eagles secured their first-ever Super Bowl win in 2017. Ed has received multiple writing awards as a sports journalist, including several top-five finishes in the Associated Press Sports Editors awards.