NFC Championship Preview: Eagles-Cardinals

Well after 19 weeks, we are down to two teams. The Philadelphia Eagles and the Arizona Cardinals will face-off in a Thanksgiving Day rematch. Only this time, the prize is a trip to Tampa Bay for Super Bowl XLIII. 

Most of the attention is going towards the AFC Title game between the Ravens and the Steelers right now, but I think this game is more intriguing. Both teams are playing their best defensive football right now and won shocking games on the road last weekend. 

The Eagles stunned the top-seeded defending champion New York Giants. The defense forced three turnovers and stopped the Giants twice on 4th-and-short late in the game to seal the win.

The Cardinals arrived in this unfamiliar spot with a shocking 33-13 trouncing of the heavily-favored Carolina Panthers on the road. Arizona's playoff revival has been sparked by the resurgence of their once-maligned defense and the rebirth of their rushing attack led by Edgerrin James. 

Coming into these playoffs the Cardinals had lost three of their final five games. They were blown out in all of their losses. The defense looked bad towards the end of the year and the running game was, for the most part, nonexistent. 

But something woke this team up and they are playing like the Cardinals that started the season 7-4. 

The offense is led by future-Hall-of-Fame quarterback Kurt Warner. The offense had its peaks and valleys in the regular season, but they have played very balanced and solid football in the playoffs. 

Warner, for the second time in his career, has the benefit of having a plethora of weapons to throw to. 

Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, and Steve Breaston are Warner's main targets. All three have gone over the 1000-yard mark in receiving yards this year, the fifth trio to do that in NFL history. Leonard Pope and James have both proven to be solid catching the ball as well.

Once thought of as ineffective, the Cardinals rushing attack has seen a rebirth in the playoffs. James has led the charge thus far in the playoffs along with Tim Hightower. Hightower is utilized more often in goal-line situations and is very effective.

Cardinals' offensive keys to victory

1) Protect Warner—Kurt can't complete those big plays to Fitz and Boldin if he's on his back.

2) Edge continues his playoff success—Arizona will need to establish some kind of ground attack to win on Sunday.

3) Fast Start—The Cards' will need to hit this hot Eagles defense fast and not let them get any momentum going. 

The Cardinal defense has been the talk of the playoffs. They have rendered two of the league's top running backs (Michael Turner and DeAngelo Williams) ineffective and have forced a total of eight turnovers. 

The front seven struggled pressuring the quarterback and stopping the run in the regular season, but they have vastly improved when it counts and are playing their best football of the season. Antonio Smith and Bertrand Berry have combined for four sacks in the playoffs and are wreaking havoc all over the field. 

The Cardinals' secondary is also playing their best football and has done a very good job of shutting down two of the league's top receivers in Steve Smith and Roddy White. Antrel Rolle and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie have stepped their games up this postseason and have led the charge in the turnover barrage. 

Cardinals' defensive keys to victory

1) Pressure Donovan McNabb—Donovan has struggled under heavy pressure in the playoffs and has turned the ball over four times. 

2) Make Philly one dimensional—speaks for itself.

3) Contain DeSean Jackson—Jackson killed the Cardinals on Thanksgiving. They must contain him as a receiver and also as a punt returner.

The Eagles have pulled off one of the more intriguing turnarounds of the 2008 season. They rebounded following an awful 36-7 loss in Baltimore that saw McNabb benched for the first time in his career.

Philly ripped off a stretch that saw them squeak into the playoffs following a wild week 17 that concluded with the Eagles destroying the Cowboys 44-6.

The offense is struggling at this point in the playoffs and will need a better performance this Sunday to emerge victorious. 

McNabb has been solid passing the ball, as he has for most of the season. He is getting contributions from all over the field. Players like: Jackson, Kevin Curtis, Brent Celek, Jason Avant, Correll Buckhalter, and Hank Baskett have all played well and have been making big catches all over the field.

The ground game has been very ineffective thus far and will NEED to have better success than they have the previous two weeks.

Brian Westbrook is very banged up and re-aggravated his sprained knee on Sunday in New York. I believe that it's time to give the guy a rest. He has been very ineffective thus far and aside from a 71-yard screen pass that went for a touchdown, he has had no big plays.

Eagles offensive keys to success

1) Start fast—The offense has struggled scoring early in these playoffs. That can't happen against a Cardinal offense that has really been hot in the postseason. 

2) Get Jackson involved—He has to be the X-factor in this game. He has continued to play well both on special teams and on offense. 

3) Avoid turnovers—The Eagles have turned the ball over four times in the postseason. They are going up against a defense that has forced eight turnovers in the playoffs. They will need to protect the ball better than they have been.

What can you say about this Eagles defense? They are peaking at the right time and have been playing with their hair on fire for the past month. 

The pressure they can put on an offense is amazing. Jim Johnson has turned a once-maligned rush defense into one of the best in the league. The secondary has played lights-out most of the season and has four capable Pro Bowlers.

Brian Dawkins, Asante Samuel, Sheldon Brown, and Quintin Mikell roam the best secondary in the NFC. They will be facing one of the top receiving groups in the league on Sunday. What a great showdown that should be. 

The Eagles front seven has absolutely dominated for the past seven weeks. Stewart Bradley, Trent Cole, and Brodrick Bunkley have really been the catalysts for the unit. they have continued their strong play in the postseason. They will need another strong performance on Sunday.

Eagles defensive keys to success

1) Pressure on Warner—Pressure led to two interceptions in the first quarter of the last meeting on Thanksgiving.

2) Asante Samuel—On Thanksgiving, Samuel was too hurt to play and Lito Sheppard was forced to cover Fitzgerald. Fitz had a big day, catching five balls for 65 yards and two touchdowns. Samuel will need to keep Fitzgerald in check and not allow the big gains he was getting on Sheppard.

3) Shut down Edge—James has played like the Edge of old and is really running well in the playoffs. The Philly front seven will need to keep him fro moving the chains on Sunday.

I think this game will come down to which defense can come up with the big stops. But with the way the Eagles defense is playing right now, I see them running away with this one in the fourth quarter.

Eagles 27, Cardinals 14