The big question entering the Arizona-Atlanta Wild Card matchup Saturday is what Cardinals team would show up at kickoff – the one that breezed to an 8-5 record, or the one that collapsed over a team game stretch in the final month of the regular season.
That question was answered quickly, as Kurt Warner hit Larry Fitzgerald on a 42-yard flee-flicker touchdown on Arizona’s second possession of the game, as the Cardinals beat the Falcons 30-24 in Glendale.
The keys to Arizona’s victory are pretty easy to spot. The Cards absolutely dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, didn’t make nearly as many mistakes as the Falcons did, and finally got a contribution from their running game.
The Cardinals essentially had two good offensive drive this entire game. They had a 14-play, 76-yard, 7:43-minute drive near the end of the third quarter that was capped off by a Tim Hightower 4-yard touchdown to give Arizona a 28-17 lead, and they had a great drive at the end of the fourth quarter to milk the clock and put the game away. That’s it. Their other touchdowns came from big plays, including 27-yard fumble recovery by Antrel Rolle, which was returned for a touchdown at the start of the second half.
Arizona spent the rest of the time shutting down Michael Turner, creating massive pressure on rookie Matt Ryan, and opening up enough running lanes for Hightower and Edgerrin James to keep the offense balanced. The Cards played with more fire for four quarters and essentially dominated the game on both sides of the ball. This was easily their best showing of the year and the win was a nice treat for a fan base that hasn’t seen a lot of winning from this franchise over the past 61 years.
It was also great to see such a standup guy in Kurt Warner play great. His lone mistake wasn’t his fault, as the receiver let the ball bounce off his shoulder pads and was intercepted. Warner made some incredible throws and kept the Cards moving all day.
Now the true test. Can this team go on the road and win in Carolina or New York? They haven’t all season and it’s highly doubtful the Panthers or Giants play as bad next week as the Falcons did Saturday. Whatever – the Cards (and their fans) can enjoy the feeling for a couple days before worrying about the next round.
What a bizarre season this has been. Two teams that many pundits figured would meet in the Super Bowl – the Cowboys and Patriots – didn’t even make the playoffs. While two teams expected to dwell the cellars of their respective divisions for another season – the Dolphins and Falcons – will be playing in round one of the postseason, which kicks off this weekend.
Below is a complete playoff preview for the four Wild Card games this weekend. In each game preview you’ll find a matchup breakdown, a player to keep an eye on, odds, and a predicted score. (What’s a game preview without a prediction?)
Rather amazingly, all four home teams are underdogs this weekend.
Atlanta Falcons (11-5) at Arizona Cardinals (9-7) Saturday, January 3, 4:30 PM FOX Opening Odds: Falcons –2 Over/Under: 51 Game Outlook:
Outside of having to face Kurt Warner and a Cardinals’ offense that averages over 290 passing yards a game, this is a great matchup for the Falcons. Arizona has had issues stopping the run over the past couple weeks and before Edgerrin James cracked 100 yards Sunday against the Seahawks, no Cardinal rusher hit the 100-yard mark in the previous seven games. Offensively, that means Atlanta can do what it does best – put the game in the hands of Michael Turner. “The Burner” is coming off a 208-yard rushing performance in Week 17 and hasn’t shown signs of wearing down despite this being the first season that he’s had to carry the full rushing load. Look for the Falcons to try to wear down Arizona’s front seven throughout the game and keep the Cards’ explosive offense on the sidelines. Once the Cardinal safeties start to creep up to stop Turner, Atlanta offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey can start taking shots down the field with rookie quarterback Matt Ryan. Defensively, the Falcons will have to keep their safeties back in coverage and rely on their front seven to stop the Cardinals’ run game because corners Chris Houston and Dominique Foxworth can’t contain Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald in one on one coverage. Although Boldin has missed the final two games with a shoulder injury, he’s expected to play, which is obviously huge for Warner and the passing game. But if they can’t run the ball they’ll be to one-dimensional and the Falcons will be able to sit back in coverage. X-Factor:John Abraham, Falcons DE
Abraham has been an absolute beast this season and if the Falcons can build a decent lead with their running game, it will allow Abraham to pin his ears back and head straight for the quarterback. Atlanta has done a nice job rotating their defensive linemen all season to keep them fresh and if Abraham can get pressure on Warner, he’s bound to make mistakes and turn the ball over. Prediction:Falcons 30, Cardinals 27.
Atlanta’s secondary is a concern (especially with safety Lawyer Milloy nursing a back injury), but the Vikings exposed the Cardinals two weeks ago and the Falcons will use the same blueprint.
With their 34-10 win over the St. Louis Rams in Week 14, the Arizona Cardinals clinched the NFC West for the first time since the league realigned the divisions in 2002. At 8-5, the Cards secured home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs and essentially felt pretty good about their chances of making a deep postseason run thanks to their explosive offense.
Then all hell broke loose for two weeks.
Arizona was hammered by the Minnesota Vikings, 35-14 at home in Week 15 and were trounced 47-7 by the New England Patriots in Foxboro the following week. In those two losses, the Cards turned the ball over four times and averaged just 43.5 rushing yards. If it weren’t for their salvaging 34-21 win over the Seahawks in the final week of the regular season, ‘Zona would have limped into the playoffs losers of three straight.
While NFL purists love to note how explosive the Cardinals’ passing game is, the key for them beating the Atlanta Falcons on Saturday in the opening round of the playoffs is creating offensive balance. If they can’t run the ball, the Falcons should have no problem sitting back in coverage and allowing defensive linemen John Abraham, Kroy Biermann and Jonathan Babineaux to pin their ears back and get pressure on Kurt Warner.
The Cardinals have averaged just 73.6 rushing yards per game this season, which ranks them dead last in the NFL. While Tim Hightower demonstrated his powerful running style at times this season, his inconsistency has forced Ken Whisenhunt to give veteran Edgerrin James more carries in efforts to try and revive his team’s dead running game.
Led by Warner and a trio of 1,000-yard receivers in Anquan Boldin, Larry Fitzgerald and Steve Breaston, the Cardinals are going to move the ball through the air on Saturday. But if the Falcons are able to stop the run using just their front seven, it’ll allow safeties Erik Coleman and Lawyer Milloy to stay back in coverage and help corners Dominique Foxworth, Chris Houston and rookie Chevis Jackson blanket the Cards’ talented receivers. Arizona must run the football effectively and force Atlanta to bring Milloy up to help in run support, or else the Cardinals will be one and done this postseason.
The Falcons offense ranks sixth in the league in yards per game and is scoring 24.4 PPG, so they’re equipped for a shootout if one were to break out on Saturday. Given how poor the Cardinals’ defense has played at times this season, it would be a mistake to think ‘Zona will go anywhere this postseason if they can’t run the ball and strike balance on offense.
While every year has its own host of surprises, there are always those stories that simply fit the trend. Sure, it can get repetitive, but if we don’t look back at history aren’t we only doomed to repeat it? Every year has its fair share of stories that fell into this category, and 2008 was no different.
Our list of things we already knew this year includes the BCS’ continued suckiness (Texas-Oklahoma), how teamwork wins championships (KG, Pierce and Ray-Ray), and the #1 rule for carrying a handgun into a nightclub – don’t use your sweatpants as a holster. (Come on, Plax. Really? Sweatpants?)
The biggest story of the summer was all the drama surrounding Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers. This saga has been covered to death, but there’s one detail that never seemed to get that much play. At the start, it looked like the Packers were making a bad decision by moving on so quickly even when Favre decided he wanted to return. But when the news broke about Favre’s near-unretirement in March, the Packers stance became much more clear. They were ready to take him back after the owners’ meetings, but he called it off at the last minute. At that point, the Packer brass was understandably finished with Brett Favre, much to the chagrin of a good portion of the Packer faithful. – John Paulsen
The Chicago Cubs’ title drought is not a fans-only phenomenon.
The 2008 Cubs were easily the best team the franchise has assembled in decades, but they still couldn’t win a single game in the playoffs, and the reason is simple: the pressure finally got to them. Sure, they said the right things to the press about how they didn’t care about what had happened in the past, but don’t believe a word of it; there wasn’t a single person in that dugout that wasn’t fantasizing about being part of the team that finally, mercifully, ended the longest title drought in sports history. Once ESPN picked them to win it all, however, they were doomed. Ryan Dempster walked seven batters in Game 1, which matched his total for the month of September. The entire infield, including the sure-handed Derrek Lee, committed errors in Game 2. Alfonso Soriano went 1-14 with four strikeouts in the leadoff spot, while the team as a whole drew six walks and struck out 24 times. The team with so much balance in the regular season suddenly became the most one-dimensional team in baseball; take Game 1 from them, then sit back and watch them choke. And now that this group has lost six straight playoff games (the team has lost nine straight dating back to 2003), it isn’t about to get any easier. Get a helmet, Cubs fans. – David Medsker
If you’re going to wear sweatpants to a nightclub, leave the gun at home.
If winning a Super Bowl is the pinnacle of an NFL player’s career, than shooting yourself with your own gun in a nightclub has to be rock bottom. Case in point: Plaxico Antonio Burress. Just 10 months after helping the New York Giants beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg while at a nightclub. Apparently the (unregistered) gun was slipping down his leg and when he tried to grab it to keep it from falling, the lucky bastard wound up pulling the trigger and shooting himself. And that wasn’t the worst of it because as Plaxico found out, New York has some of the toughest gun laws in the nation. He was arrested, but posted bail of $100,000 and is scheduled to return to court on March 31, 2009. If convicted of carrying a weapon without a license, he faces up to three and a half years in jail. He shouldn’t expect special treatment, either. The mayor of New York wants to be sure that Burress is prosecuted just like any other resident of NYC. The Giants, meanwhile, placed him on their reserve/non-football injury list and effectively ended his season. While “Plax” definitely deserves “Boner of the Week” consideration for his stupidity, what’s sad is that in the wake of Washington Redskins’ safety Sean Taylor’s death, most NFL players feel the need to arm themselves when they go out. Maybe players can learn from not only Taylor’s death, but also Burress’s accident so further incidents can be avoided. – Anthony Stalter
According to ESPN.com Arizona Cardinals’ running back Edgerrin James wanted his outright release but the team denied his request.
“We spoke with [general manager] Rod Graves because Edgerrin still believes he is a 1,000-yard back and he is healthy and he is still capable of being a 1,000-yard back for a team,” Rosenhaus said. “He is not playing now, and there are teams that are banged up at the running back position that he could help. We didn’t get the answer we were hoping for.”
Graves said on Wednesday evening that Rosenhaus asked if the team would consider releasing James “and we declined it as a consideration.”
“I explained to him that we still saw Edgerrin as a valuable member of our football team,” Graves said.
“Edgerrin isn’t trying to cause any problems,” Rosenhaus said. “He has had a Hall of Fame career and he has enjoyed his stay in Arizona. But it’s apparent that he’s probably not going to be back with the Cardinals next season. If that’s the case, he can move and help another team and get a start now.”
The writing was on the wall for James in Arizona when there were rumors in April that the team wanted to draft a running back. And now that Tim Hightower has emerged as a quality starter (he has been more effective than James has), there’s just no room for James. I don’t blame the team for wanting to hang on to him throughout the year for insurance, but it would be fair to James if the Cards parted ways at the end of the season to give him another opportunity to start somewhere.
There has been some talk recently of Edgerrin James having his workload reduced by the Cardinals, with Tim Hightower getting the extra work. Paola Boivin of AZCentral.com dug into the story.
Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt never said Hightower was supplanting James. He simply said Monday, when asked, that he is open to the possibility.
“I think we’ve shown we’re going to play with the players that we feel give us the best chance to win,” he said. “We’ve done that with the quarterbacks, we’ve done that with linebacker, with the offensive line.
“At a point we feel Tim gives us the best chance to win, then absolutely. Just don’t think we’ll judge it based on just yesterday’s game. It’s a process.”
After averaging 20 carries in the Cardinals’ first three games, James has carried nine and seven times, respectively, in the past two.
Hightower carried seven and six in those games but has six touchdowns overall to James’ three.
The scenario is complicated by a recent offensive shift to a pass-heavy attack. Against Carolina, the Cardinals had 14 carries to 51 pass attempts in part because the Panthers frequently had seven or eight players in the box, creating situations such as one of the touchdown passes to Boldin, when he was covered by only a linebacker.
On the season, James has 118 touches (108 carries, 10 receptions) while Hightower has 65 (49 carries, 16 receptions), which represents a 65/35 split. However, over the last two games, James has 16 touches to Hightower’s 19, a 45/55 split. Lately, it certainly seems like the Cardinals are intent on giving Hightower more work. But as long as James is on the roster and able to play, I don’t think we’re going to see him get 6-7 touches to Hightower’s 20.
This looks like a RBBC for now, and Hightower has more fantasy value because of his receptions (in PPR leagues) and goal line work.
Racking up yards in the NFL looks easy, but these guys take a beating like nobody else in football. The ones that do it year in and year out are just tough physical specimens who are also quick and elusive, and probably work their butts off in the gym. Here is a list of the active career rushing leaders…..
1. Edgerrin James, Arizona Cardinals (11,970)—Most of these yards were in Indianapolis playing in one of the best offenses in NFL history. But Edge is still only 30…and no, that’s not a typo.
2. LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego Chargers (11,096)—LT needs to get over his toe injury and have a few LT-like games to climb past James. If he doesn’t do it this season, he will in 2009.
3. Fred Taylor, Jacksonville Jaguars (10,957)—Taylor and WR Joey Galloway are those older players who just won’t go away. Just when you think they have reached the peaks of their careers, they drink from the fountain of youth, as Taylor did last year with 1202 yards.
4. Warrick Dunn, Tampa Bay Bucs (10,604)—Dunn only has 48 career touchdowns, but this guy has always had breakaway speed in the open field.
5. Jamal Lewis, Cleveland Browns (9508)—He tormented Cleveland for years with those “former Browns” known as the Baltimore Ravens. Now he’s one of the good guys.
6. Shaun Alexander, Washington Redskins (9437)—Was it as weird for you to see Alexander in a Redskins uniform last week as it was for me? Clinton Portis has rushed for the equivalent of a few country miles the last few weeks, so Alexander could see some action soon.
7. Ahman Green, Houston Texans (8929)—He can’t seem to stay on the field, but when he does, he still has skills. Could Green now be used as a touchdown vulture to Steve Slaton?
8. Clinton Portis, Washington Redskins (8533)—I always want to avoid this guy in my fantasy drafts, but then he always comes back to haunt me when I play against him.
9. Ricky Williams, Miami Dolphins (7363)—Williams, who likes to smoke reefer, missed the 2004 season, the 2006 season, and 15 games of the 2007 season. Yet, he’s still on this list. Well, those 1853 yards in 2002 have something to do with that.
10. Thomas Jones, New York Jets (6981)—Julius’ older brother has had a nice career, but you get the feeling he is on the downside of it, don’t you?
The big question entering the Arizona-Atlanta Wild Card matchup Saturday is what Cardinals team would show up at kickoff – the one that breezed to an 8-5 record, or the one that collapsed over a team game stretch in the final month of the regular season.
