Pride Until the End: Patrick Robinson, Eagles' Secondary Batter Cardinals' Receivers

It was difficult to tell who did a better job in coverage Sunday: the Eagles' secondary or the Cardinals' wide receivers.

Eagles defensive backs were able to get their hands on a number of passes during a 34-7 win, yet Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer miraculously escaped the game without an interception (see breakdown). Palmer can thank his receivers for turning into defenders on the fly and breaking up a handful of surefire turnovers.

"Those guys were getting their hands in there, making great plays as far as getting the ball out," Eagles cornerback Patrick Robinson said. "It sucks for me."

Robinson had more opportunities than anybody, finishing the game with three passes defensed, at least two of which he figures he should've come up with. His Eagles teammates didn't disagree, either, giving the eight-year veteran a hard time as the near-misses continued to pile up.

"They've been getting on me the whole game," Robinson said. "This whole game - 'Oh, Pat, that's two!' And then it came at three. 'Oh, that's four!' C'mon, man."

Eagles cornerback Jalen Mills also had three pass breakups, at least one of which could've gone for a pick (see Roob's 10 observations). And it probably would've, too, were it not for some heady plays by the Cardinals' wideouts.

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"They're over there with (wide receiver) Larry Fitzgerald, they're over there with a veteran," Mills said. "I'm pretty sure if those were a couple of rookies over there, we probably would've came down with a couple of those balls.

"You can see those guys are coached well, because we were high-pointing the ball, and they weren't just letting us catch it. They were coming back down and trying to knock the ball out of our hands, so good one for the bad guys."

By the secondary's own estimates, the Eagles probably should've come up with at least a trio of interceptions against Palmer.

"We wanted to get three, but the way that their receivers were playing DB, they were making it real hard for us to get them," Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins said.

"We were in position, we knew they were going to stretch the field, and we thought we could come up with some, but they really did a good job of making sure that even when we had those opportunities, they're punching the ball out."

Even without the interceptions, the Eagles' defensive backs - still shorthanded without injured cornerbacks Ronald Darby and Jaylen Watkins - did an outstanding job against the Cardinals.

Palmer completed 28 of 44 passes for 291 yards, but for only a 6.6 average and one touchdown. The Cardinals were trailing almost the entire game as well, so a lot of that production came late, when the outcome was all but decided - 113 yards in the fourth quarter alone.

It could've been worse had the Eagles come up with just one misfired pass. Instead, they finished with nine pass breakups as a team in a dominant performance (see report card).

Again, this is a unit that is missing key contributors and entered Week 5 ranked 30th through the air.

"It's been tough, but the guys on the field, we just did our job," Robinson said. "There's no secret formula. If you just do the small things right, stuff like that happens."

The Cardinals nearly managed to pad their stats with a cheap, late touchdown in the game's final minutes. Robinson allowed wide receiver J.J. Nelson to break a tackle and slip away for Arizona's longest offensive play of the game - what appeared to be a 29-yard touchdown.

Yet even with 1:12 remaining on the clock and the outcome decided, Eagles safety Rodney McLeod was hustling. Replays determined McLeod knocked the ball out of Nelson's hands just before crossing the goal line, and the football had rolled out of the end zone for a touchback.

Play reversed. No touchdown.

"For us, that would've been probably the biggest play of the game," Jenkins said. "We went into the game saying we didn't want any big plays, so for Rodney to get that one, it's one of those things, it's a pride deal. To make that play, it's just pure hustle and want to.

"At the end of the game, if they would've scored, it would've [not] meant anything. He could've easily just given up on the play, but I think it just shows the fight we have as a defense, the mentality we have that as long as the ball is in play, we're gonna go hard."

It was a major departure and huge confidence boost for the Eagles, who had given up at least 14 points in the fourth quarter in three straight contests. On Sunday, there were zero fourth-quarter points - not even in garbage time.

This was a different game than the previous weeks. The Eagles were able to jump out to a huge lead early, and this time, they were never really in danger of losing momentum.

While it may not have manifested with interceptions in the box score, the secondary was a huge reason for that. In this one, unusual instance, the Cardinals' receivers happened to be the Eagles' equals in coverage.

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