Five reasons the Eagles beat the Cardinals

The Eagles are the best third-down team in the NFL after five games, converting 53.4 percent of their opportunities, including nine of 14 Sunday against the Cardinals.

Seven of those 14 third downs were 11 yards or more. The Eagles converted four of them, including Carson Wentz's 72-yard touchdown pass to Nelson Agholor on third-and-19, and a 17-yard completion to Agholor on third-and-11.

Wentz, who finished 28^th in the league in third-down passing as a rookie, is first this season after five weeks with a 137.8 passer rating (Tom Brady is a distant second at 120.4). Wentz has completed 71.1 percent of his passes on third down and is averaging 11.0 yards per attempt.

He was 11-for-12 for 225 yards and three TDs on third down against the Cardinals. Nine of his 11 third-down completions resulted in first downs and/or touchdowns.

Thirty-five of the Eagles' 73 third-down situations have been 8 yards or more, which puts them ahead of last year's pace when their 103 third downs of 8-plus yards were the third most in the league, behind only Cleveland and San Francisco.

The difference this year, however, is that they're converting those third-and-longs. Last year, they converted just 21.4 percent of their third-and-8-pluses (22 of 103). So far this year, they've converted 37.1 percent (13 of 35).

Dave Fipp's units turned in their best overall performance of the season against the Cardinals. In his second game as Darren Sproles' punt-return replacement, Kenjon Barner had 19-, 76- and 15-yard returns that gave the Eagles' offense short fields with which to work.

The 19-yarder gave the Eagles the ball near midfield on their first possession and led to a 10-play, 54-yard touchdown drive.

His 76-yard return shortly after that gave the Eagles a first down at the Arizona 15 and set up Carson Wentz's 11-yard touchdown pass to Zach Ertz that made it a 14-0 game.

Jake Elliott and the Eagles' kickoff coverage unit kept Arizona pinned in its own end of the field. The Cardinals' average drive start on Elliott's seven kickoffs was the 21.3-yard line. Their best field position off kickoffs was on Elliott's three touchbacks. On the four the Cards returned, the Eagles stopped them at the 18, 21, 22 and 13.

Just one of Donnie Jones' three punts was returned, and for only 7 yards. The Eagles' punt-coverage unit has allowed just 21 yards on seven returns in the first five games.

The Eagles didn't have Fletcher Cox again, but against the Cardinals and their overmatched offensive line, they didn't need him. With the offense scoring on its first three possessions, the defense was able to tee off on Carson Palmer all day.

They sacked him only twice but had a ton of hits and hurries that forced him to get the ball out sooner than he wanted.

Jim Schwartz blitzed a season-high 32.6 percent of the time (15 of 46 pass plays) and got the desired results. Both of the Eagles' sacks of Palmer came on six-man blitzes – one by Brandon Graham on a second-and-9 play, and another by Vinny Curry on a second-and-10. Palmer was just 6-for-13 for 44 yards and one TD when the Eagles blitzed.

Those daily tackling drills paid off Sunday as the Eagles played mostly off-coverage against the Cardinals' speed receivers, kept them in front of them, and limited their yards after the catch with excellent tackling.

Cornerbacks Rasul Douglas and Jalen Mills both had solid games. Slot corner Patrick Robinson probably had his best performance as an Eagle.

The Cardinals entered the game with 20 pass plays of 20-plus yards in their first four games. Against the Eagles, they had just two: a 20-yarder from Carson Palmer to Jaron Brown on a third-and-10 early in the second quarter, and a 28-yard catch-and-run by J.J. Nelson late in the game on one of the Eagles' few missed tackles (by Robinson) of the afternoon.

The Cardinals converted just four of 14 third-down opportunities Sunday. Ten of those third downs were 8 yards or more. Palmer was 7-for-10 on those 10 third-and-longs, but converted only three into first downs.

Ertz, the Eagles' tight end, and Agholor, their slot receiver, combined for 10 catches, 154 yards, and two touchdowns. Seven of those 10 catches – four by Ertz and three by Agholor – came on third-down plays, including both their touchdowns.

Ertz caught an 11-yard scoring pass from Carson Wentz on a third-and-6 play late in the first quarter that gave the Eagles a 14-0 lead. Agholor's 72-yard TD catch-and-run in the third quarter came on a third-and-19.

The Cardinals came with a seven-man blitz on the play. Agholor ran an across-the-field route that took time to develop. But Wentz got excellent blocking from both his line and running back Kenjon Barner and was able to step up in the pocket and deliver the ball to Agholor, who then faked out rookie safety Budda Baker and scored.

Wentz has completed 37 of 52 third-down passes in the first five games. Nineteen of those completions have been to Ertz (10) and Agholor (nine). Eight of Ertz's 10 third-down catches have been for first downs. Last year, he had 16 third-down catches the entire season (10 for first downs). Agholor has converted seven of his nine third-down receptions into first downs. Last year, he had just six third-down catches, four for first downs.