The Arizona Cardinals' playoff hopes may have ended early, but it isn't stopping the team from finishing the season on a high note. On New Year's Eve, the Cardinals pulled off a shocking upset win over one of the league's heavyweights, the Philadelphia Eagles.
In the thrilling come-from-behind win, Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon made an interesting choice of play in the fourth quarter that would prove to be a successful gamble.
With 5:26 remaining in the clock and the game tied at 28 apiece, Arizona placekicker Matt Prater went for an onside kick instead of going for a long kick down the field. While the Eagles were able to recover the ball, the first part of Gannon's gamble paid off as the Cardinals defense forced stops, which left Philadelphia no choice but to settle for a field goal with over two and a half minutes left on the clock.
It was the Cardinals offense's turn to finish the job — and they did. Arizona kept their composure during those final possessions, resulting in a touchdown by James Conner with over 30 seconds left, eventually sealing the game for the Cardinals.
After the game, Gannon explained that everything went according to plan on his end.
“It worked. That’s what we talked about,” Gannon said as per NBC Sports' Josh Alper. “The reason for that is you don’t want to get bled out. I trusted the defense to get a stop right there and make them kick a field goal, which is what they did. But with five minutes left, what they’ve shown is they’re not going to give you the ball back. And I wanted to make sure at all costs Kyler (Murray) had the ball in his hand,” he added.
And just like that, with one simple onside kick, Jonathan Gannon just showed everyone a way to make sure one's opponent doesn't keep possession of the ball during the final five minutes of play.
Moving forward, the Cardinals look to bring the momentum from New Year's Eve and finish their season on a high note against the Seattle Seahawks next Sunday.
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