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Cardinals soar past Falcons in NFL playoffs
2009-01-03
GLENDALE, Arizona (AFP) - Veteran Kurt Warner threw a pair of long touchdown passes and Arizona capitalized on costly mistakes by Atlanta rookie Matt Ryan as the Cardinals downed the Falcons 30-24 in the National Football League playoffs. The Cardinals' victory in the National Conference wild card round ended what had been a fairytale season for the Falcons. The Falcons were hoping to press on with a season that had seen them rebound from a 4-12 2007 campaign shadowed by quarterback Michael Vick's imprisonment for funding a dogfighting ring. But Warner connected with scoring passes of 42 yards to Larry Fitzgerald and 71 to Anquan Boldin as the Cardinals advanced to next weekend's second round at either the Carolina Panthers or the top-seeded New York Giants. While the Cardinals had locked up their playoff berth early, they struggled down the stretch with four defeats in their last five regular-season games. "A lot of people said we were the worst playoff team ever to get in and nobody really gave us a chance," Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said. "We rallied around that and played well. We responded. They took the lead, and we didn't fold up the tent." Running back Edgerrin James contributed 73 yards on 16 carries for the NFC West division champion Cardinals, who reached the playoffs for the first time since 1998. "There is no secret what type of running back I am," said James, who has been dissatisfied with a limited role this season. "Finally, I was put in a position to actually do that, run my own game." The Cardinals were appearing in their first postseason home game since 1947, when the club was located in Chicago. "The media said we didn't have a chance," Cardinals defensive tackle Darnell Dockett said. "They said the only thing we had better than the Falcons was our receivers, and I said, 'You got to be (kidding) me.' They even said their quarterback was better than ours. Are you serious? "We had a chip on our shoulders and we stopped one of the best running backs and held them to 60 yards." Arizona took control of the game in the third quarter against error-prone Atlanta. Antrel Rolle returned a fumbled snap 27 yards for a touchdown in the opening minute of the second half to put Arizona ahead for good 21-17. "It seems like every time Antrel gets his hands on the ball he scores, and that was big for us because it got the fans back in it," Whisenhunt said. Rookie Tim Hightower capped a long scoring drive with a 4-yard run to make it 28-17 with 2:48 to go in the third. "It was huge," Warner said of that momentum-changing drive. "Not only did we control the clock and score some points but, as well as our defense was playing, we knew that you can't keep putting them out there. We needed to do something." Atlanta's rookie quarterback Ryan then made matters worse when his long pass down the right sideline was intercepted by rookie cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. Early in the fourth quarter Arizona defensive end Antonio Smith sacked Ryan in the end zone for a safety that padded the margin to 30-17 Ryan got the Falcons within 30-24 with a 5-yard scoring pass to Roddy White with 4:15 to play. But Atlanta couldn't get the ball back as the Cardinals ran out the clock.
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