By Josh Liddick, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Eagles are going to have their work cut out for them on Sunday in one major area, even though they are favored by many to go 4-1 to start the season.
Two words: Larry Fitzgerald.
At 34 years old, Fitzgerald hasn't lost a beat, he's still one of the NFL's most dominant wideouts, and a game-planning disaster for defenses. With the ball in his hands, Fitzgerald is one of the best in the league for receiving the ball and making incredible, jaw-dropping plays.
Even though, yes, the Eagles are favored to win this game, Fitzgerald is still on pace to have a huge game for the Cardinals today at Lincoln Financial Field. He's been one of the best performers against the Birds in the amount of games he's played against them.
Thanks to Football Reference and Sports Talk Philly's Jesse Larch, he tweeted just what Fitzgerald has been up to all these years against the Eagles.
This is a picture of Larry Fitzgerald's career numbers versus the #Eagles. 6.25 Receptions 105.6 Yards 1.37 TDs per game across 8 games. 🐐 pic.twitter.com/KLKurN1g7s
— Jesse James Larch (@JesseLarch) October 5, 2017
While history may not repeat itself today, with the Eagles' secondary situation still very much banged up, Fitzgerald may just have all the field in the world to run all over the Birds today.
The Eagles are still very much injured, however without the Cardinals having David Johnson playing once again, the Birds are favored, because the Cardinals just haven't figured out how to get their offense moving without Johnson.
The Eagles are 3-1 to start the season, with sole possession of first place in the NFC East. With the way the schedule is looking, the next handful of games are very winnable. The Eagles may face some struggles when the start getting into the butt-end of the slate.
But for now, their offense looks in good enough shape to get another close, hard-fought win.
The Cardinals are coming off of an 18-15 overtime win over the 49ers. Carson Palmer had an efficient, yet imperfect day throwing the ball, going 33-for-57 with 357 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
Fitzgerald ended up with the TD catch, though Jaron Brown and Andre Ellington were the Cards' leading receivers on the day.
Interesting to note, that the 49ers defense, one of the bottoms of the league, sacked Palmer six times. The Cardinals' offensive line struggled against the Niners' front line, and that bodes very well for the Eagles, who have one of the best defensive lines in the NFL this year.
Without LT D.J Humphries and LG Alex Boone in the lineup due to injuries, Arizona's O-Line is just so banged up.
The Eagles will be without many key players once again, but Wendell Smallwood has been confirmed Sunday of being out with an injury. So, LeGarrette Blount, Corey Clement, and Kenjon Barner will have to step up this week.
#Eagles RB Wendell Smallwood, who is listed as questionable with a knee injury, is not expected to play vs. the #AZCardinals, I'm told.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 8, 2017
Pederson was successful last week against the Chargers with utilizing Blount, Smallwood, and Clement in situations that they are all good at. Blount was impressive last week running the ball, but with an Arizona run defense that gives up just 88 yards a game, the Eagles may be forced to pass the ball more than they have been the last few weeks.
Will this be the week Torrey Smith comes out of his shell and actually proves he deserves a spot on the Eagles as a wide receiver? Smith has been virtually invisible for the Eagles this season, only catching 10 passes for 134 yards and no touchdowns as of yet.
As a deep threat option, granted Carson Wentz has yet to truly utilize his deep ball throw this season, but Smith needs to prove he's more of a versatile wide receiver, unless he's just going to take up roster space.
The Cardinals secondary has been surprisingly good at forgetting how to cover the deep ball pass this season, so Smith might just have an opportunity to shine, but he's going to have to do a lot more than he's been doing lately to make an impression.
The key to winning the game today is to limit is to cover Larry Fitzgerald to the point where Palmer must find another target to throw the ball to. But without Ronald Darby or Corey Graham, and an again banged up secondary, doing that is going to be very difficult.
The front line is going to have to continue to put pressure on Palmer so he just doesn't have the time to go out and throw the ball. Sacking the QB, forcing turnovers is how great defenses win football games and get the ball back to their offense.
When Fitzgerald is on, he's on, and the Cardinals are very hard to stop against the Eagles.
In fact, Arizona has won five of the last six games against the Eagles, two of the last three coming at Lincoln Financial Field.
Injury Report:
For the Eagles, RB Wendell Smallwood (knee), DT Fletcher Cox (calf), and CB Ronald Darby (ankle) are all listed as out. Another week without Cox is misery for the Eagles, who is considered to be the undisputed leader of the defense, along with Malcolm Jenkins. The defensive line is just all-in-all better when Cox is out there with his teammates.
S Corey Graham (hamstring), CB/S Jaylen Watkins (hamstring), and DT Destiny Vaeao (wrist) are all questionable. Vaeao may return this week for the first time in three weeks.
For the Cardinals, LT D.J. Humphries (knee) and DT Robert Nkemdiche (calf) are both out for Sunday's contest. LG Alex Boone (chest), and WR's Jaron Brown (quad) and J.J. Nelson (hamstring/foot) are listed as questionable.
Broadcast Information:
Time: 1:00 p.m. ET
Television: FOX commentated by Chris Myers, Daryl Johnston, Laura Okmin (Sideline Reporter)
Radio: 94.1 WIP commentated by Merrill Reese and Mike Quick
