Special teams woes burn Cardinals early vs. Eagles; Arizona LS injured
Oct 8, 2017, 10:41 AM | Updated: 4:18 pm
The 76-yard Kenjon Barner punt-return for the #Eagles. Newly signed, already an impact pic.twitter.com/HgyWmGsKuw
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) October 8, 2017
An Arizona Cardinals three-and-out, a 54-yard punt by Andy Lee and a 19-yard return by Philadelphia set up the Eagles’ first offensive drive of Sunday at their own 46-yard line.
Another stalled drive, a 56-yard punt to the Philadelphia 9-yard line and a 76-yard return by Kenjon Barner thanks to four missed tackles gave the Eagles the ball at the Arizona 15-yard line.
That is the summary of the first two special teams plays by the Cardinals in their Week 5 game at Philadelphia.
Unsurprisingly, both set up touchdown drives. Arizona couldn’t mount a comeback and fell 34-7.
Adding to the woes, Arizona long-snapper Aaron Brewer left the game on the second punt of the game after suffering a broken wrist, leaving defensive tackle Josh Mauro to do the long-snapping on punts. Arizona offensive lineman Evan Boehm snapped on the extra point to make it 21-7 early in the second quarter and also on a blocked field goal attempt in the first half.
Philadelphia’s third score in the final minute of the first quarter came on a 59-yard touchdown pass to Torrey Smith.
The Cardinals had a chance to cut the two-touchdown lead, but Phil Dawson’s 51-yard field goal attempt in the final seconds was blocked.
