Sunday, January 11, 2009

'Zona in the superbowl?

Not quite the cinderella story that the Eagles are, the Arizona Cardinals are quite the sight in this year's playoffs. After proving to the world they were very adept at throttling clubs in their weak NFC west division (they were undefeated in divisional play) with their potent aerial attack, the Card's often would drop games against other opponents with worse records and not nearly the same weapons they had.
Remember week 4, the 56-35 beating they took at the hands of Brett Favre and Laverneus Coles of the retro-clad Jets? Or the 48-20 flogging they took at the hands of the Eagles- their opponents next week in the NFC title game? These two losses despite 472 yards and 235 yards respectively by early MVP favourite Kurt Warner.
However, don't forget that the Cardinals also beat the pre-locker room issues Cowboys and the at-the-time 4-0 Bills.
Passing was their name, but inconsistency was their game.
Upon easily taking the division, the Cards mailed it in for basically the rest of the year, finishing with the worst record of all NFC playoff bound teams: 9-7.
But since finishing the regular season on a low note and heading into the playoffs an odds-on favourite to lose, the Cardinals have transformed themselves at the best time and are dispatching foes with relative ease.
No longer relying on the passing game that had treated them so well, Arizona has become a two-pronged attack, making the most of rookie runningback Tim Hightower and seasoned veteran Edgerrin James and letting them run wild over unwitting defenses. In this past weekend's game, the two RB's stampeded for 133 yards and a touchdown combined on the ground. Not bad for a team whose RB's looked more like Warner's bodyguards then legal ballcarriers. Coupled with 2 passing touchdowns by Warner against one of the most potent defenses in Carolina's and minus clutch receiver Anquan Boldin. On top of that was a vastly improved effort by the Cardinals in both playoff games (5 INT's against Carolina) and they can't be expected to lie down for the surging Eagles next weekend.
Also, being that the game will played in the desert, it gives the Cardinals an edge on the cold weather acclimated Eagles. Moreover, should they make it to the Super Bowl in Miami, the conditions will once again be in their favour, against either the Ravens or Steelers - both cold weather hardened squads.

No comments:

Post a Comment