How the Arizona Cardinals Got It Together in Time To Prove Doubters Wrong

There is a popular saying in life about how all great things must eventually come to an end. When the Arizona Cardinals and the Philadelphia Eagles were set to square off against each other to determine who would represent the NFC in Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa Bay on Feb. 1, we knew that one team's great late season run would have to come to an end. Lucky for the Cardinals, their magical run will continue.
 
In one of the most unexpected Conference Championships we have seen in a long time, the Arizona Cardinals defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 32-25. The Cardinals will play against the Pittsburgh Steelers to determine who will be crowned Super Bowl XLIII champions.
 
Each playoff game for the Cardinals over the last couple of weeks has been like the last couple of minutes of an episode of Fox's hit show 24; it always leaves the audience in complete shock anticipating what could happen the following week.
 
After the way the Cardinals played during the last couple of weeks of the regular season, there weren't many of us who expected them to advance far in the playoffs. They were seen as the team that was only playing in the playoffs because of the weaker NFC West division they played in.
 
The Cardinals found themselves with an opening round match up against Matt Ryan and the red-hot Atlanta Falcons. This appeared to be an interesting matchup considering the Falcons were winners of seven of their last nine.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals finished the season with a disappointing 2-4 record after starting the season 7-3. The Falcons gave it all they had, but it was the Cardinals who finished victorious 30-24 and a divisional round match up against the Carolina Panthers.
 
After the way the Cardinals played towards the end of the season, there are a lot of things that could be said about their wild card round win against the Falcons. Call it a fluke. Call it luck. Call it an playoff experienced quarterback against an inexperienced quarterback. No matter what people want to call it, the Cardinals won that game and found themselves playing against the No. 2 seeded Carolina Panthers.
 
When we look at statistics from the 2008 season, there was every reason to believe that the Panthers should have no trouble against the Cardinals. One of the best duos at running back thanks to the emergence of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, who rushed for more than 2,200 yards and 28 touchdowns combined in the regular season. The Panthers were 8-0 at home this year while the Cardinals were 2-6 when they played in the eastern time zone. It seemed as if the Panthers would be advancing to their second NFC Championship game in franchise history.
 
Even though the Panthers-Cardinals game was played on a Saturday night, the popular phrase "any given Sunday" was applied towards this game. On any given Sunday, any team has the opportunity to shock the world and beat a team nobody expected them to beat. The Cardinals just did it on a Saturday night.

That night, the Cardinals went into Carolina and simply dominated the Panthers by defeating them 33-13. Not only did the Cardinals offense perform well but the defense stepped it up for the second straight week, forcing six turnovers by Panther's quarterback Jake Delhomme.

All of a sudden, those who believed in Arizona the entire season were getting excited about the possibility of the Cardinals in their first Super Bowl. All of a sudden, those who believed the Cardinals would be eliminated from the playoffs early on (including myself) were starting to believe. This team was playing great football at the right time.
 
When the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the New York Giants 23-11 in the divisional round of the playoffs, the No. 4 seeded Cardinals found themselves hosting a NFC Championship in Glendale since they were the highest remaining seed in the NFC. Who would have thought, the No. 4 seeded Cardinals and the No.6 seed Eagles squaring off to represent the NFC in Super Bowl XLIII?
 
The Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship seemed nothing new to the team. After four straight appearances from 2002-2005, the team was used to being in this position before. Unfortunately, they have only advanced to the Super Bowl once in those four appearances, losing to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in 2005. However, this time around was different for the Eagles.
 
Ever since two crucial losses that led to a tie against the Cincinnati Bengals and the benching of Donovan McNabb against the Baltimore Ravens, the Eagles have looked like a completely different team. Thanks to the help of a few other teams, such as the Oakland Raiders and the Houston Texans, the Eagles beat the Dallas Cowboys 44-6 in the regular season finale to squeak into the playoffs as the No. 6 seed in the NFC.
 
After two impressive wins on the road against the Minnesota Vikings and the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants, it seemed as if the Eagles were destined to play in the Super Bowl. The only team that stood in their way was an Arizona Cardinals team that they defeated on Thanksgiving, 48-20. However, history was not on the Eagles side.
 
Not only did the Eagles gain a reputation for choking in some of the NFC Championship games they have appeared it, but they have had a history of losing to teams they seemed to have no trouble against earlier in the season.
 
In the 2003 NFC Championship, the Eagles lost 23-10 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a team which they beat 20-10 earlier that season. The same happened in the 2004 NFC Championship game against the Carolina Panthers.

After defeating the Panthers 25-16 in the regular season, the Eagles fell to them 14-3 in the Championship round. Not only were they the first team to lose three consecutive NFC Championship games in NFL history, but they also became the first team to ever lose two consecutive championship games on their home field.
 
This time around seemed to be different for the Eagles. Along with the Cardinals, they were another team that nobody expected to be in this position. After barely getting into the playoffs, they all of a sudden had a chance to represent the NFC in Tampa Bay in two weeks.

After the massacre the Eagles performed against the Cardinals on Thanksgiving, there was reason to believe that there would be a chance of an all Pennsylvania Super Bowl match up between the Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers, that is if they could get by the Baltimore Ravens.

If you are a member of the Eagles or just a fan, there were plenty of reasons to believe the Eagles would win against the Cardinals on Sunday after the way they played on Thanksgiving. If you are a member of the Cardinals or just a fan of the team, there were reasons to believe they would win with the way they have played this post season.

After the first half of Sunday's game, it was obvious that this was a different Eagles-Cardinals match up that we saw back on Thanksgiving. Kurt Warner was playing the same way he did during his MVP days with the Rams. Larry Fitzgerald made it impossible for the Eagles to defend him as he scored three touchdowns in the first half alone. The Cardinals went into halftime with a 24-6 lead last Sunday. Everything seemed to be going right for the Cardinals while everything seemed to go wrong for the Eagles.
 
Every time Warner threw the ball to Fitzgerald, he would find a way to make the reception. Every time the Eagles wide receivers were open, there would be an incomplete pass. Every time Jim Johnson and the Eagles defense blitzed Kurt Warner, he would quickly throw a pass to an open receiver. Every time Westbrook got the ball on offense, the Cardinals would stop him. Everything the Eagles were used to doing to win games was not working against the Cardinals.
 
The Eagles played so bad in the first half of Sunday's NFC Championship game that the Detroit Lions could have given them a run for their money. It appeared we were about to witness yet another collapse for the team in another NFC Championship game. Towards the end of the third quarter, the Eagles all of a sudden had new life.
 
In the final five minutes of the third quarter, Donovan McNabb hooked up with tight-end Brent Celek for two touchdowns. In a matter of two drives in a couple of minutes, the Eagles were all of a sudden down 24-19. All of a sudden, it seemed like the Cardinals were about to lose an 18 point lead. And that's exactly what happened in the fourth quarter.
 
At the 10:45 mark of the fourth quarter, Donovan McNabb rolled out to the right and threw a bomb down the right side of the field. After a couple of bobbles, rookie wide receiver DeSean Jackson was able to record a 62-yard touchdown to give the Eagles a 25-24 lead. After the Cardinal fans were ecstatic for a majority of the game, there was dead silence and shock in Glendale. The tides had turned and the Eagles were now the more dominant team than the Cardinals.

Over the last couple of seasons, we have seen numerous players rally their team for a last second drive to help their team in the playoffs. Tom Brady has done it for the Patriots. Peyton Manning has done it for the Colts. We even saw Eli Manning rally the Giants in last year's Super Bowl. Lucky for the Cardinals, Kurt Warner has enough experience in the playoffs to know how to lead a team to victory.
 
Warner knew how hungry the Cardinals franchise was to make their first Super Bowl. He knew how hungry the Arizona fans were for a Super Bowl after being known as one of the teams in the league that was never a contender. He knew that if he could just lead the Cardinals to one final scoring drive, he would make Cardinals history.
 
After a gutsy 4th-and-inches conversion and an 8-yard touchdown reception by rookie running back Tim Hightower, the Cardinals regained a 32-25 lead in the final few minutes of the game. After struggling throughout the entire second half of Sunday's game, the Cardinals offense were able to put up one last scoring drive when it mattered the most.
 
After prevailing a late rally by the Eagles offense, the Arizona Cardinals held on to their 32-25 lead and were crowned NFC champions. They were heading to Tampa Bay to represent the NFC in their first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history.
 
When the NFL playoffs began a few weeks ago, most of us saw the Cardinals as the team that didn't belong. They were only in it because of the weak NFC West division they play in.
 
There have been those who have believed in the Cardinals the last couple of weeks. There have been those who have not believed in the Cardinals the last couple of weeks. No matter who believed what about the Cardinals, the main fact is that we all believe in the Cardinals right now.
 
Week after week the Cardinals have shown us that they are for real and belong to be in the position they are currently in. Larry Fitzgerald has shown us why he is one of the best wide receivers in football. Kurt Warner has shown us he still has a little gas left in the engine after many of us questioned whether or not he should just retire.
 
The Arizona Cardinals were one of the worst teams in football the last couple weeks of the regular season. Now, they are following the steps of previous Super Bowl winners by playing great football at the right time in the season. They have shown us they deserve every right to be in the position of having the chance of being crowned Super Bowl champions.