James Conner rushed for a 2-yard touchdown with 32 seconds to play and the Arizona Cardinals stunned the host Philadelphia Eagles 35-31 on Sunday to leave the NFC playoff picture in disarray.
Needing a stop to halt their December slide, the Eagles’ defense fell flat, allowing touchdowns on all four second-half possessions to permit 29 points as Philadelphia dropped out of first place in the NFC East. With the Philadelphia (11-5) loss, the Cowboys (11-5) are in the driver’s seat in the division, and the San Francisco 49ers (12-4) clinched the No. 1 seed in the conference.
Kyler Murray was rarely pressured after a first-half interception and completed 25 of 31 passes for 232 yards and three TDs for Arizona (4-12). Conner had 26 carries for 128 yards and Greg Dortch caught a game-high seven passes for 82 yards.
Murray hit Dortch for a 36-yard gain to the Eagles 5 and a first-and-goal with 41 ticks left.
If Dallas beats the Washington Commanders next week, the Cowboys win the division and host a playoff game in the first round. That result would send the Eagles on the road for a wild-card game.
Jalen Hurts and the Eagles had only 275 total yards to Arizona’s 449. The Cardinals dominated time of possession behind Conner (39:39 to 20:21).
Hurts set the Eagles up for a go-ahead field goal with a short completion to Kenneth Gainwell to the Arizona 25. The Cardinals called timeout before Jake Elliott’s 43-yarder sailed through the uprights with 2:33 on the clock. Murray had the Cardinals at the Arizona 43 at the two-minute warning and at Philadelphia’s 41 just 34 seconds later.
Murray’s third touchdown pass of the second half, a 5-yard connection with Michael Wilson, tied the game at 28 with 5:26 remaining.
Arizona’s furious second-half comeback from a 21-6 deficit began with Murray’s 6-yard scoring toss to running back Michael Carter before Murray and Conner hooked up from 5 yards out just over six minutes later. Wilson snagged a two-point pass from Murray to tie the game at 21.
Hurts evaded pressure on third-and-4 with 9:55 left in the game, giving tight end Dallas Goedert time to shake loose two steps into the end zone for a 28-21 Eagles lead.
Murray overthrew everyone in the Arizona route pattern with the Eagles ahead 7-3 in the second quarter. Eagles safety Sydney Brown caught the third-down floater at the Philadelphia 1 and returned it 99 yards for a pick-6 and 14-3 lead.
Wide receiver Julio Jones caught the Eagles’ opening score from Hurts and tacked on another TD to give Philadelphia its 21-6 lead. It was Jones’ 14th career two-TD game and first since October 2020.
–Field Level Media