Kurt Warner Leads Cardinals to 1st Super Bowl

SHARE     RSS Criticized for their success in the anemic NFC West and their regular season record, the Arizona Cardinals advanced to Super Bowl XLIII with a 32-25 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship. The Cardinals jumped out to a 24-6 halftime lead but the Eagles stormed back with 19 unanswered points in the second half to take a 25-24 lead with 10:56 left in the game. The Cardinals responded with a 14-play, 72-yard drive that was capped off by Kurt Warner’s fourth touchdown pass, an eight-yard shuffle pass to Cardinals running back Tim Hightower. The Cardinals were led by their determined quarterback, Kurt Warner, who completed 21 of 28 passes for 279 yards, 4 TDs and an amazing 145.7 passer rating.

On offense, Larry Fitzgerald led the air attack (9 receptions for 152 yards and 3 TDs), while Edgerrin led the ground attack (16 carries for 73 yards). Significant contributions came from Tim Hightower (11 carries for 33 yards plus 1 recption for 8 yards and a TD), J.J Arrington (2 Kick Returns for 51 yards, 1 reception 16 yards) and Steve Breaston (1 reception 10 yards, 1 kick return 29 yards).

All-pro receiver Anquan Boldin, hampered by a hamstring injury and utilized in key situations had 4 receptions for 34 yards.

The Cardinals defense was not as spectacular as they were in their previous 2 playoff games, but they did just enough to allow Kurt Warner and his offense to work its majic. Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson led the defense with 7 tackles, 2 sacks and 1 forced fumble. Safety Aaron Francisco came up with an interception which he returned for 27 yards.

Arizona Cardinals 32 Philadelphia Eagles 25

Sunday, January 18, 2009

The first half was dominated by the Cardinals offense as they exploited the Eagles defense with their playoff-style balanced attack.

On the opening drive of the game, the Cardinals drove 80 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead. The Cardinals started with the ball on their own 20.

After a 2-yard run by Edgerrin James off left tackle, the Cardinals caught the Eagles defense flat-footed on three successive short passes. Anquan Boldin advanced the first pass short right for 9 yards, followed by Larry Fitzgerald's 19-yard gain and Boldin's 9-yard gain to the Eagle's 43.

The Cardinals then countered with their running attack as Edgerrin James carried the ball for three consecutive gains (3, 16, 12) to reach the Eagles' 12-yard line. Two plays later, on 2nd and 7 from the Eagles 9, Kurt Warner capped off the 9-play 80-yard drive with a short pass up the middle to Fitzgerald good for 8 yards and the touchdown.

For the Eagles defense, it was the first touchdown surrendered in the first quarter over the past 9 games.

On the ensuing kickoff, Neil Racker kicked the ball out of bounds providing the Eagles with a solid headstart from their own 40.

Donovan McNabb scrambled off right tackle for a 21-yard gain and a first down from the Cardinals 39. The Eagles moved the ball down to the 28-yard line on a 7-yard reception by Brian Westbrook for a first-down. However, after running back Corell Buckhalter was penalized for a false start and McNabb's incomplete pass to DeSean Jackson, the Eagles were forced to settle for a David Akers 45-yard field goal.

After exchanging posessions, the Eagles mounted a drive that took them all the way to Arizona's 35-yard line and a first-and-10 to finish the first quarter. However, the Cardinals defense contained the Eagles offense and forced Akers on to the field for a 47-yard attempt. The usually reliable Akers missed the mark wide right surrendering the ball to the Cardinals at 38-yard line.

On the very next play, the Cardinals caught the Eagles defense off-guard and flat-footed as they executed a flea-ficker to perfection. Warner lateraled the ball to running back J.J. Arrington who passed it backwards to Warner. Kurt Warner found a wide-open Larry Fitzgerald for a 62-yard TD pass. Eagles defensive tackle Brodrick Bunkley was also penalized on the play between downs for roughing the passer.

One minute and 30 seconds into the second quarter, the Cardinals established a solid 14-3 lead. On first-and-10 from their own 34-yard line, Donovan McNabb connected on short pass to the left to wide receiver Kevin Curtis (4 receptions, 122 yards). Curtis turned the short pass into a 47-yard gain all the way to the Cardinals 19-yard line. Cardinals rookie cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie was beaten on the initial recpetion which Curtis turned up-field for the big gain.

However, the Eagles were unable to full capitalize on the big play as solid pressure and good tackling by the Cardinals defense forced the Eagles into kicking a field goal on 4th down. Akers' 33-yard field goal was good and narrowed the Cardinals lead to 14-6.

The Cardinals responded with a 9-play 73 yard drive capped by the 3rd TD-connection in the half between Warner and Fitzgerald from 1-yard out. Edgerrin James ignited the drive with a 22-yard run up the middle on the first play of the drive, followed by a sprinking of effective short play-action passes as the Cardinals extended their lead to 21-6 with 3:06 remaining in the half.

On the ensuing kick off, it appeared as if the Cardinals would have another opportunity to score as the Cardinals appeared to have recovered a muffed catch by Eagles defensive end Victor Abiamiri. The referees ruled that the Abiamiri was out-of-bounds when he muffed the ball and as such it was a dead-ball by spot. Initial replays showed that the ball was in-bounds. The Cardinals attempted to challenge the play for review, but the referees concluded that the play was not reviewable.

Starting from their own 27, the Eagles had gained momentum and advanced the ball on 2-plays to their 40. However, on first-and-10, McNabb was penalized for intentional grounding which resulted in 12-yard setback and a loss of down. Three downs later the Eagles punted from their own 36.

With 1:31 left in the half and from their own 16-yard line, the Cardinals drove the ball on 8-plays to the Eagles 31 yard-line and called timeout with 3-seconds remaining in the half to bring on the field goal team. Neil Rackers successfully converted his only field goal attempt of the game from 49-yards to close out the half. On the second play of the drive, a 32-yard pass completion from Warner to Boldin was challenged from the booth. Upon review the play was reversed as it was ruled an incomplete pass.

Eagles Mount Comeback

Trailing 24-6, the Eagles started the 3rd quarter from their own 39 and advanced the ball to the Cardinals 47. However, on 3rd-and-8, Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson sacked Donovan McNabb and forced a fumble which defensive end Bertrand Berry recovered at the Eagles 43-yard line.

However, the Cardinals were unable to capitalize as the Eagles defense made the necessary adjustments and held Kurt Warner's offense to a 3-and-out.

Starting from their own 10-yard line, the Eagles mounted a 13-play 90-yard drive to score their first touchdown of the game and edge closer, trailing only 24-13. The big play of the drive was a McNabb to Curtis connection for 50 yards on 3rd-and-18 from their own 31-yard line. Four plays later, the Eagles scored on 6-yard pass from McNabb to Celek.

Akers' kick off which went out-of-bounds at the 2-yard line gave the Cardinals a start from their own 35. But the Eagles defense would not surrender momentum as they held the Cardinals to a second straight 3-and-out. Defensive pressure forced Warner into 2 incompletions and then Abiamiri's sack forced the Cardinals to punt on 4th-and-15 from their own 30.

A modest 13-yard return by DeSean Jackson gave the Eagles decent field position at their own 49-yard line. McNabb quickly connected with Curtis on 1st down for 14 yards to cross midfield. Then on 3rd-and-6, McNabb connected with Jackson on a short pass to the right which resulted in 9-yards and a critical 3rd down conversion.

Two plays later, a short pass up the middle by McNabb to Celek resulted in a 31-yard touchdown. On the route, Celek faked to the outside and then turned to the post to break free for the reception. Akers PAT was wide-right, but the Eagles were in striking distance trailing only 24-19.

Momentum clearly had swung back in the Eagles favor in the 3rd quarter as they scored 2 touchdowns and their defense stopped Warner and the Cardinals. The Eagles outgained the Cardinals in total yards 165 to 4 thanks to a strong Eagles defense and their offense's ability to capitalize on the Cardinals soft coverage on defense. The Cardinals defense had a knack for surrendering most of their points in the 3rd quarter during the season.

The Cardinals were fortunate on the last play of the quarter when Warner's pass was batted by Hansen batted back into Warner's hands. Five plays into the 4th quarter, the Cardinals were forced into punting from their own 48-yard line.

Eagles Complete Comeback

Starting from their own 14 with 13 minutes left in the game, the Eagles were able to strike quickly. On first-and-10 from their own 38, McNabb connected with rookie wide receiver DeSean Jackson on a deep pass to the right against Cardinals defensvie back rookie Cromartie. The ball waddled in Jackson's hands ever so slightly, but he was able to hold on and score. The Eagles failed to score on the two-point conversion, but the Eagles grabbed the lead, 25-24.

With 10:45 left in the game, 19 points in the second half and momentum clearly in their favor, it appeared that destiny was on the Eagles side. Furthermore, the Eagles had outscored the Vikings and Giants 20-0 in the 4th quarter of their two previous playoff games.

Warner Wouldn't Allow Cards to Fold

The Cardinals could have faded off into the desert's nights and, most likely, be commended for an astonishing run in the NFC playoffs. But a determined Kurt Warner took the field with a different outcome in mind.

Warner with a Super Bowl XXXIV victory and MVP in two Super Bowl appearances (Super Bowl XXXVI) to his credit, knew that his Cardinals were too close to turn back.

Starting from their own 28 with 10:39 remaining in the game, Warner engineered a 14-play 72 yard touchdown drive that consumed 7:52 of game clock. Warner was 5-for-5 for 56 yards on the drive.

Five plays into the drive, the Cardinals were facing a 3rd-and-2 at midfield. But Hightower's run off left tackle was stopped short by Eagles linebacker Akeem Jordan.

Facing a 4th-and-1 from the Eagles 49, the Cardinals decided to go for it with 7:57 remaining knowing full well that the Eagles defense had stopped the Giants on two second-half 4th down attempts the previous week.

Cardinals Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt on wheteher the 4th-and-1 drive was a hard decision:

"I felt that it was so close that we were going to get it. I thought that we had gotten it on the two previous plays and when it came up short I just felt like we were going to get it so it wasn’t a hard call. I understand the situation and where it was, but the way our offensive line has played the last few weeks I felt like we were going to get it."

Warner first faked the hand-off and then threw the screen pass which Hightower ran up the right end for 6 yards and the first down.

On Tim Hightower on fourth-and-one:

"Well we brought a lot of those type of speed screens down there in the red zones. We have had a great deal of success with that. So we put a play in off of that that worked well with it. It was just a fake and a screen outside throwing it back to Tim and it worked well. It was a good call by offensive coordinator Todd Haley and it was in the right situation. A lot of times during the week you think about situations and you put a lot of work into that. In that situation we had that play targeted as a potential one that would be successful and it was."

Eight plays later on 3rd-and-goal from the Eagles 8, Kurt Warner's shuffle screen pass to Hightower caught the blitzing Eagles defense by surprise. Hightower caught the ball and marched into the end zone for the TD and 30-25 lead.

Feeling confident and needing the 7-point cushion, the Cardinals went for the 2-point conversion. Warner connected with Ben Patrick open in the middle of the end zone for the 2 point conversion and the 32-25 lead with 2:59 remaining.

Starting from their own 20, the Eagles were responded by advancing the ball 33 yards to the Cardinals 47-yard line in 42 seconds. However, with 2:09 remaining consecutive incompletions on 1st and 2nd down, the Eagles faced a 3rd-and-10 with 2:01 on the clock. Out of the shotgun, McNabb found wide receiver Hank Baskett open on the left who dropped a pass that should of been caught.

Facing 4th-and-10 with only 1:57 remaining, the Eagles had no choice but to go for it. This time McNabb looked deep and to the right for his favored receiver Kevin Curtis (4 receptions for 122 yards), but the pass fell incomplete. On the play Cardinals cornerback Antrel Rolle slipped, lost his footing and bumped Curtis. However, no pass interference was called on the play.

With 1:51 left on the clock, the Eagles were left with only 1 timeout and the Cardinals, despite the 3-and-out, left only 9 seconds on the clock for the Eagles strating from their own 7-yard line.

Out of desparation, the Eagles tried to pass-and-lateral their way 97 yards, but to no avail. After a pass to Jackson, lateral to Westbrook, back to Jackson, Jackson fumbled the ball on the 15 yard-line which was recovered by Cardinals defensive tackle Darnell Dockett to end the game and a trip to Super Bowl XLIII versus the Pittsburgh Steelers.

 

NFC Championship Highlights

 

Critiques of the Cardinals spanned the range.

For some, their regular season signaled an early exit against the Falcons in the NFL playoffs first round. For others, it was a question of whether the Cardinals even deserved a playoff spot to begin with and if the NFL should consider re-alignment in order that more qualified teams participate in the playoffs.

The latter argument is extreme, however, there was merit to an early playoff exit. After all, the Cardinals benefited from weak competition in the NFC West going 6-0 against division competition with a combined 13-35 record in 2008 en route to their 9-7 regular season record.

However, these regular season lightweights turned into heavyweight contenders.

Just in time for the playoffs, the Cardinals found a balanced offensive attack and an inspired defense. In short, amongst all the playoff teams, it was the Cardinals who played NFL playoff-style football as they defied the odds defeating the Falcons, Panthers and Eagles to reach Super Bowl XLIII.

 

 

Cardinals Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt on the importance of being a balanced team:

"Well it’s obviously been important to our success because we’ve been moving the ball and scoring a lot of points and that’s something that is critical, with the exception of the third quarter in yesterday’s game. We’ve always stressed the fact that we wanted to be a balanced football team.

Earlier in the season we were skewed more towards the pass because we felt we needed to do that in order to win our division. We were hot and we were using that but credit to our offensive line, credit to Russ [Grimm] and a lot of our other staff who knew that it was going to be important later in the season to run the football.

That’s certainly helped us be more versatile. It’s helped the play action game where we’ve made some big plays and it’s also helped us at the end of the game when we’ve had some critical situations where we needed to run the ball and (have) been successful. That’s been a big difference."

 

 

Kurt Warner on the satisfaction of accomplishing his goal of going to another Super Bowl

"It’s pretty satisfying. It feels pretty good. I just still was listening to people say we were in the Super Bowl this morning and I was still shaking my head a little bit like ‘man, it really happened’.

To believe that we are at this point and we are making these kinds of strides and this kind of progress is special. It’s very satisfying to be a part of that. That’s the reason I came here. I wanted to get back on the field and play but I wanted to help this organization change the perception that people had of it. I wanted to help change the community and it is a gratifying thing to be a part of that."

Kurt Warner On the importance of being a balanced offense:

"I think that is always a key to keep defenses off balance by changing it up and doing different things is always a key to your success. There’s always games where you can say you are going to run the ball 50 times, you run the ball 50 times and you win or you say you are going throw the ball 50 times, you throw the ball 50 times and you win. But I think the more you can keep the defense off balance, especially great defenses like the one we faced yesterday, like the one we are going to play in a couple of weeks, that is going to be a huge factor, is us being able to keep them off balance. But more importantly being able to be successful at what we do. I think that’s been the key not just calling this number of run plays and this number of pass plays. It’s when we call them we have been successful on both sides, we’ve moved the chains, we’ve put ourselves in favorable positions by doing it and I think that’s going to be the key in the Super Bowl. To be able to do that up against this defense is going to be a huge key to our success."

 

Kurt Warner Highlights

 

 

Larry Fitzgerald Highlights

 

 

Arizona Cardinals 32 Philadelphia Eagles 25
January 18, 2009 – University of Phoenix, Glendale, AZ

Philadelphia Eagles	3	3	13	6	25
Arizona Cardinals	7	17	0	8	32

 

 

Team	Qtr.	Time	Scoring Play	Drive	Score
Cardinals	1	9:20	L.Fitzgerald 9 yd. pass from K.Warner (N.Rackers kick)	9-80 5:40	0-7
Eagles	1	4:43	D.Akers 45 yd. Field Goal	8-33 4:37	3-7
Cardinals	2	13:19	L.Fitzgerald 62 yd. pass from K.Warner (N.Rackers kick)	1-62 0:11	3-14
Eagles	2	9:02	D.Akers 33 yd. Field Goal	7-65 4:17	6 14
Cardinals	2	3:06	L.Fitzgerald 1 yd. pass from K.Warner (N.Rackers kick)	9-73 5:56	6-21
Cardinals	2	0:00	N.Rackers 49 yd. Field Goal	9-53 1:31	6-24
Eagles	3	4:08	B.Celek 6 yd. pass from D.McNabb (D.Akers kick)	13-90 5:59	13-24
Eagles	3	0:49	B.Celek 31 yd. pass from D.McNabb (kick failed, wr)	6-61 2:39)	19-24
Eagles	4	10:45	D.Jackson 62 yd. pass from D.McNabb (pass failed)	4-86 2:15	25-24
Cardinals	4	2:53	T.Hightower 8 yd. pass from K.Warner (K.Warner-B.Patrick pass)	14-72 7:52	25-32

 

Final Team Statistics Philadelphia Eagles vs Arizona Cardinals

STATISTICS	Eagles	Cardinals
TOTAL FIRST DOWNS	22	21
By Rushing	5	6
By Passing	16	13
By Penalty	1	2
THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY	7-14-50%	5-12-42%
FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY	0-1-0%	1-1-100%
TOTAL NET YARDS	454	369
Total Offensive Plays (inc. times thrown passing)	67	59
Average gain per offensive play	6.8	6.3
NET YARDS RUSHING	97	102
Total Rushing Plays	18	29
Average gain per rushing play	5.4	3.5
Tackles for a loss-number and yards	1-1	4-8
NET YARDS PASSING	357	267
Times thrown - yards lost attempting to pass	2-18	2-12
Gross yards passing	375	279
PASS ATTEMPTS-COMPLETIONS-HAD INTERCEPTED	47-28-1	28-21-0
Avg gain per pass play (inc.# thrown passing)	7.3	8.9
KICKOFFS Number-In End Zone-Touchbacks	6-4-2	5-2-2
PUNTS Number and Average	1-58.0	5-37.2
Had Blocked	0	0
FGs - PATs Had Blocked	0-0	0-0
Net Punting Average	48.0	34.6
TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE (Not Including Kickoffs)	13	37
No. and Yards Punt Returns	1-13	1-10
No. and Yards Kickoff Returns	2-20	3-80
No. and Yards Interception Returns	0-0	1-27
PENALTIES Number and Yards	7-64	3-15
FUMBLES Number and Lost	3-2	1-1
TOUCHDOWNS	3	4
Rushing	0	0
Passing	3	4
EXTRA POINTS Made-Attempts	1-3	4-4
Kicking Made-Attempts	1-2	3-3
Passing Made-Attempts	0-1	1-1
FIELD GOALS Made-Attempts	2-3	1-1
RED ZONE EFFICIENCY	1-2-50%	3-3-100%
GOAL TO GO EFFICIENCY	1-1-100%	2-2-100%
SAFETIES	0	0
FINAL SCORE	25	32
TIME OF POSSESSION	30:04	29:56

 

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS – JANUARY 18
NFC: Arizona Cardinals 32 Philadelphia Eagles 25
AFC: Pittsburgh Steelers 23 Baltimore Ravens 14

 

NFL DIVISIONAL ROUND RESULTS – JANUARY 10-11
(Home team in CAPS)

Saturday, January 10
Baltimore Ravens 13, TENNESSEE TITANS 10
Arizona Cardinals 33, CAROLINA PANTHERS 13

Sunday, January 11
Philadelphia Eagles 23, NEW YORK GIANTS 11
PITTSBURGH STEELERS 35, San Diego Chargers 24

 

NFL WILD CARD WEEKEND RESULTS – JANUARY 3-4

(Home team in CAPS)

Saturday, January 3
ARIZONA 30, Atlanta 24
SAN DIEGO 23, Indianapolis 17 (OT)

Sunday, January 4
Baltimore 27, MIAMI 9
Philadelphia 26, MINNESOTA 14

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SUPER BOWL XLIII RELATED

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Eagles at Cardinals Statistics & Game Notes

NFC Divisional: Cardinals 33 Panthers 13

2008 NFL Playoffs "Rematch" Weekend
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All four games this weekend -- Ravens vs Titans, Cards vs Panthers, Eagles vs Giants, Chargers vs. Steelers -- are rematches from the regular season. Add up the point differential in the 2008 regular-season meetings of the teams playing in this weekend's four NFL Divisional Playoffs, and you get the grand total of -- 19 points.

And that's not in four games, but five, because one of this week's matchups is a division rematch.

Think the games in "Rematch Weekend" this Saturday and Sunday could be close? Could be!

Arizona Cardinals (10-7) at Carolina Panthers (12-4)
Saturday, FOX, 8:15 PM ET

Given the choice, the Cardinals would rather throw the ball. However, in last week's 30-24 Wild Card win over the Falcons it was their defense and running attack which advanced the Cardinals to the next round. The Panthers love running the ball, but Panthers QB Jake Delhomme was 20-of-28 for 248 yards, 2 TDs with 0 INTs for a 122.3 QB rating against the Cards in the regular season. How will it all play out, especially in Carolina where the Panthers are undefeated this season?

Pass-Happy Cards Win with Defense & Running Game
Arizona Cardinals 30, Atlanta Falcons 24

The Cardinals defense was sensational, limiting Michael Turner to 42 rushing yards, harassing Matt Ryan and scoring points on its own with a TD and safety. The offense was also strong as Edgerrin James led a revitalized Cardinals ground game while Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald made big plays in the passing game.

2008 Arizona Cardinals Regular Season Review

 

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NFL 2008 PLAYOFFS RANKINGS

Once teams are ranked for the playoffs, positions do not change:

American Football Conference

1. Tennessee Titans (AFC South Division champion)
2. Pittsburgh Steelers (AFC North Division champion)
3. Miami Dolphins (AFC East Division champion)
4. San Diego Chargers (AFC West Division champion)
5. Indianapolis Colts
6. Baltimore Ravens

 

National Football Conference

1. New York Giants (NFC East Division champion)
2. Carolina Panthers (NFC South Division champion)
3. Minnesota Vikings (NFC North Division champion)
4. Arizona Cardinals (NFC West Division champion)
5. Atlanta Falcons
6. Philadelphia Eagles