Cardinals fall short in Philly

Cardinals’ rising playoff hopes take big hit with bitter loss to Eagles

The Cardinals whittle a 17-point deficit to 3 in the closing minutes but can’t overtake the Philadelphia Eagles, falling to 7-5. Controversial calls riled some Cards players, but coach Bruce Arians refused to blame the officiating for the 24-21 loss.

Falling f lat in Philly

PHILADELPHIA — In the preThanksgiving playoff picture, the Cardinals enjoyed a prominent spot in the second row, next to other wild-card contenders.

If the Cardinals want to be in the post-Thanksgiving playoff picture, they are going to have to photo-bomb it.

Their 24-21 loss to the Eagles on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field wasn’t devastating, but the damage was significant. The Cardinals fell further behind a handful of teams. If they want to blame anyone, according to coach Bruce Arians, they need to start with themselves.

“We played good enough to play close but not good enough to win,” Arians said. “We self-inflicted ourselves with wounds in the first half that cost us points.”

Arians refused to blame the officiating for the loss, even though the Cardinals complained profusely about a lack of justice on at least three judgments in the final four minutes, after they had trimmed a 17-point deficit to 3.

“I’ll say this: The refereeing did not determine us losing the football game,” Arians said. “We didn’t make enough plays.”

But, he was asked, did officiating contribute to the outcome?

“I don’t make any comments about officials until I watch the tape,” he said.

If the Cardinals had played better in the first 21⁄ quarters, the decisions of the officials late in the game would have had less of an impact and they might have returned to Arizona with their fifth consecutive victory.

The Cardinals (7-5) committed three turnovers, didn’t force any, and missed a handful of opportunities to make a game of it earlier than they did, midway through the third quarter.

“Today, the Eagles played better than we did,” guard Daryn Colledge said. “We’re not going to try to point fingers. We’re going

HOWARD SMITH/USA TODAY SPORTS Cardinals receiver Michael Floyd reacts to the Eagles’ Bradley Fletcher (24) and Patrick Chung celebrating the Cardinals turning the ball over on downs during the fourth quarter at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday.