Cardinals Shock Eagles 32-25 to Advance to The Super Bowl!

This game was for a spot in the Super Bowl. The Cardinals were the underdog by far. The Eagles have been playing great towards the last 6 games. The Cardinals have been the total surprise this postseason. They upset Atlanta in the wildcard round, 31-24. In the Divisional Round, they stomped the Carolina Panthers, 33-13. The Cardinals were underdogs in both of the games.  The Eagles came into today’s game knowing that they are going to have to cover the Cardinals number one wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald extremely well. He is having a terrific postseason. The Eagles also have to get Brian Westbrook involved in every play. They have to frustrate Kurt Warner as well if they want to win the game. The Cardinals got Antquoin Boldin back this week. He didn’t play in the Carolina game due to a hamstring injury he suffered in the Atlanta Win. The Cardinals defense have played outstanding. They have forced 9 turnovers this postseason. Three against Atlanta and 6 against Carolina.  The Cardinals have to make sure McNabb doesn’t have time to make any throw. If he has time, he will complete the throw most of the time. They also have to make sure DeSean Jackson doesn’t get loose. They have to cover those deep passes to DeSean Jackson. The Cardinals have to know where Brian Dawkins at all times. He is the defensive leader for the Philadelphia Eagles. The Cardinals started this game wonderfully. On their 1^st possession of the game, Kurt Warner led the Cardinals down the field successfully. He made some key throws. No throw was bigger than his 19yd throw on a 3^rd & 1 to wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. Kurt Warner finished the drive with a 9yd TD to Larry Fitzgerald to take an early 7-0 lead. McNabb and the Eagles would respond well. He led the Eagles down the field with hi8s arm. Threading the ball into tight windows, throwing it where only his receivers could make the play. The result wasn’t the result the Eagles wanted. After a failed 3^rd down conversion, the Eagles were forced to kick a field goal. David Akers kicked his 19 straight field goal. The Eagles caught a break on their next possession. McNabb went deep intending for Desean Jackson, but Safety Aaron Francisco intercepting returned for 27 yds. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, He fumbled it and the ball was picked up by Phildelphia offensive tackle Jon Runyan.

In the 2^nd Quarter, the Eagles couldn’t capitalize off the Cardinals turnover. They drove it down the field pretty well, but David Akers failed to make a 47yd field goal snapping his streak of 19 made field goals in a row in the postseason.  Kurt Warner would extend their lead on their next possession on a trick play. Edgerain James took the handoff, but instead of running the ball he tossed back to Warner and Warner threw a 62yd TD bomb to Larry Fitzgerald again. Eagles would have another decent drive. However, the Cardinals defense would stand tall after the Eagles got inside their 20yd line. They didn’t allow the Eagles to score a touchdown. They did get a field goal out of that drive by David Akers to trim the Cardinals lead to 14-6.  Arizona would respond off the Philadelphia score. Kurt Warner led his team down the field making key and clutch throws to his wide receivers, running backs and tight ends. The key throw was the 14yd pass to tight end Leon Pope to get the Cardinals inside the Eagles 15yd line. A couple plays later Kurt Warner hooked up with Larry Fitzgerald for his 3^rd TD of the half for a 1yd TD pass to give the Cardinals 21-6. After the Cardinals defense forced a Eagles punt, The Cardinals got the ball back with little time left in the half. They would score again before the half ended. Kurt Warner made some good throws and got the Cardinals in field goal range of Neil Rackers. Neil Rackers would connect from 49yds out. The Cardinals went into halftime with a 24-6 lead over the Eagles.

The Eagles wouldn’t start out so great in the 2^nd half. When McNabb dropped back to pass, Safety Adrian Wilson came on a blitz and sacked McNabb, who fumbled and recovered by defensive end Bertrand Berry of the Cardinals picked it up. The Eagles defense would get a stop. The defense didn’t allow the Cardinals to get in field goal range. The Cardinals only got 1yd on that possession and were forced to punt. Donovan McNabb made some key contributions with his arm to get the Eagles into scoring range. The clutch throw was the 50yd completion on 3^rd & 19 to wide receiver Kevin Curtis to the Cardinals 19yd line. McNabb would later hook up with Brent Celek for a 6yd TD pass to get trim the Cardinals lead to 24-13. After the Eagles defense forced a Cardinals punt the Eagles got the ball back. McNabb would lead the Eagles down the field to score another touchdown. McNabb made some quality throws, but the main throw was the 31yed Td pass to Brent Celek again for the TD. David Akers would miss the extra point so the score was at 24-19 Cardinals. In the 4^th the Eagles would get their 1^st lead of the game. McNabb threw a 62yd TD pass to DeSean Jackson, who made a juggling catch for the TD to make the lead 25-24 Eagles. The Eagles failed the 2-point conversion. The Cardinals would respond well off the Eagles touchdown. Kurt Warner made some clutch and difficult throws down the field on the Cardinals next drive. He had pressure in his face, but still was able to make some good throws. Kurt Warner finished the drive off with a 9yd TD pass to back-up running back Tim Hightower. The Cardinals would convert the 2-point conversion to get the Cardinal lead to 32-25. The Cardinal defense would win the game for the Cardinals. The forced the Eagles into a 4^th &10 play. McNabb tried to throw it deep for Kevin Curtis, but the ball fell incomplete and the Cardinals took over on downs. The Eagles would get one last chance after the Eagles defense forced a punt. The Eagles tried some trickery with a couple of backward laterals, but the Cardinals read it well and stopped them. The Cardinals have just beaten the Philadelphia Eagles to advance to the Super Bowl! Larry Fitzgerald had a game to remember. He had 9 catches for 152yd and 3 TDs.