Cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha's third interception of the season came in the fourth quarter of Sunday's game against Arizona and the Eagles capitalized with a 36-yard Alex Henery field goal to take a 17-14 lead with 5:06 left in the game.
It looked as if the defense had provided the spark needed to get the Eagles over the top. However, the defense needed to get one more stop and were not able to get the job done. The Cardinals marched 87 yards on 11 plays and scored on a 5-yard pass from quarterback John Skelton to wide receiver Early Doucet to sneak out of Philadelphia with a 21-17 win. It was the fifth time that the Eagles had lost a game after leading in the fourth quarter.
There were three critical plays that defined the drive. Here's a look into them.
1. With 3:10 left on the clock, the Cardinals faced a fourth-and-2 from their own 32-yard line. Linebacker Jamar Chaney was aware of the situation. The Cardinals ran a play that the Eagles practiced during the week. Skelton lined up in shotgun with running back LaRod Stephens-Howling to his left. At the snap, tight end Jim Dray, who was covered by safety Kurt Coleman, picked Chaney. With the Eagles in man coverage, Howling ran a wheel route and Skelton dropped in the pass over Chaney for a 30-yard gain.
2. After two incomplete passes, the Cardinals faced third-and-10 from the Eagles' 38-yard line. The Cardinals lined up in shotgun with one back in with Skelton to the quarterback's left. A receiver ran left to right in motion to lineup in a stack formation with wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. As the ball is snapped, the Eagles were in banjo coverage, a zone scheme, with Asante Samuel taking the outside, Joselio Hanson on the inside and safety Jaiquawn Jarrett deep. Hanson took the receiver that came underneath. Samuel manned his area of the field on the outside, but Fitzgerald was able to get behind Jarrett for a 37-yard gain. Free safety Kurt Coleman said that "not everyone was in their right spots," but would not expand as to who was out of position.
3. Still, the Eagles had a chance to hold the Cardinals to a field goal. Defensive tackle Derek Landri's tackle for loss on Beanie Wells on second-and-goal left Arizona facing third-and-goal from the 5-yard line. The Eagles recognized the play and it was one that they had practiced against all week. Skelton lined up in shotgun with two backs, but the one to his left was wide receiver Early Doucet. The Eagles practiced the play against a defense with their four cornerbacks - Samuel, Hanson, Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. But with Rodgers-Cromartie out due to an ankle injury, the Eagles had a linebacker on the field in his place.
"It affected us versus four wide receivers. We saw that that's what they did against the Rams at the end," defensive coordinator Juan Castillo said. "So we had a package and weren't able to use it."
Skelton took the snap and threw a screen to Doucet in stride. Coleman was the one player who could have come up to make the stop at the 2-yard line, but missed the tackle and Doucet scored the game-winning points.
"Frustrating, just didn't get myself in the right position to do it," Coleman said. "I just didn't make the play."
And just like that, the Eagles go back to the drawing board trying to figure out how a talented team is now 3-6 on the season.
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