Eagles stunned at home by Cardinals, clinching NFC’s No. 1 seed for 49ers

Kyler Murray and the Cardinals rallied from a 15-point deficit at halftime to beat the Eagles 35-31 on Sunday. (Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

The Philadelphia Eagles not only blew a 15-point lead on Sunday, but they also blew their shot at a first-round bye in the NFC playoffs.

The Arizona Cardinals rallied back in the second half to stun the Eagles 35-31 at Lincoln Financial Field. The loss was Philadelphia’s fourth in its past five games and keeps the Dallas Cowboys in the running to win the NFC East next weekend.

Perhaps more important for the Eagles, because the San Francisco 49ers beat the Washington Commanders 27-10, the 49ers clinched the No. 1 seed in the NFC and the coveted first-round bye in the playoffs.

Kyler Murray, with Arizona down by three points in the final minutes, led the Cardinals storming down the field on a game-winning drive. He hit Greg Dortch on back-to-back passes for a combined 46 yards, which suddenly put the Cardinals at the 5-yard line.

James Conner then punched in a 2-yard run that gave the Cardinals a four-point win.

The Eagles took a comfortable 21-6 lead into halftime on Sunday — thanks in part to a 99-yard pick 6 from Sydney Brown in the second quarter — and seemed poised to run away with the game. That didn’t leave anyone surprised, either, considering the Cardinals entered the game with just three wins under their belts and fresh off a rough loss to the Chicago Bears.

Yet it was in the third quarter that Murray and the Cardinals finally took off. They opened the second half on a 10-play, 75-yard drive that Murray capped with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Michael Carter. Then after forcing a three-and-out to get the ball back right away, Murray mounted another drive and hit James Conner — who made a ridiculous grab after Murray had to scramble in the pocket for a second touchdown.

The 2-point conversion tied the game, leading to a chorus of boos from Eagles fans.

Hurts responded right away in the fourth quarter and hit Dallas Goedert for a 9-yard touchdown to take the lead right away again. But the Cardinals tied it up again after Murray hit Michael Wilson on a fourth down for a 4-yard touchdown on the next drive.

Although the Cardinals went for the onside kick with more than five minutes left and failed, which gave the Eagles great field position, the Cardinals stopped them and forced a 43-yard field goal from Jake Elliott. That set up Murray’s game-winning drive.

Murray went 25-of-31 for 232 yards with three touchdowns and an interception in the win for Arizona. Conner had 128 yards and a touchdown on his 26 carries, and Dortch had 82 yards on seven receptions.

Hurts went 18-of-23 for 167 yards and had three touchdowns and an interception for the Eagles. D’Andre Swift had 61 yards on 13 carries, and A.J. Brown had 53 yards on four catches.

49ers claim No. 1 seed in NFCThings haven’t gone great for the Eagles in recent weeks. After going 10-1, they’ve gone 1-4 in December and have slipped from the top of the NFC standings.

The 49ers, on the other hand, claimed the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs on Sunday. They rolled past the Commanders 27-10 behind a two-touchdown day from quarterback Brock Purdy, who set the franchise record for passing yards in a single season. San Francisco will have home-field advantage through the NFC playoffs.

The NFC East now runs through Dallas, too. The Cowboys, who narrowly beat the Detroit Lions in a controversial finish, can claim the division with a win over the Commanders next week. That would suddenly send Philadelphia into a wild-card spot and force it to play its first playoff game on the road.

The Eagles will wrap up their regular season against the Giants on Sunday.