Ken Whisenhunt wasn't joking. Back in September the Arizona Cardinals head coach told reporters he was keeping his team out on the east coast between road games against the Washington Redskins and the New York Jets so they would be used to staying in a hotel together when the time came to play in a Super Bowl. The Cardinals went on to lose both games, giving up a combined 80 points in the process.
But if it's fair to say nobody took Whisenhunt too seriously at the time, then it's clear now that they should have. After beating the Philadelphia Eagles 32-25 at the University of Phoenix Stadium, the Cardinals will play in their first ever Super Bowl in Tampa Bay on 1 February.
"I like the way that sounds: Arizona Cardinals in the Super Bowl," said Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner, thanking God first, and the fans second. "When nobody else believed in us, when nobody else believed in me, you guys did and we're going to the Super Bowl."
Not far away, safety Adrian Wilson was weeping. Now in his eighth season with the Cards, the two-time Pro Bowler had begun the year wondering if he would ever get the chance to play in a playoff game, let alone a title game. It is no exaggeration to say Whisenhunt, in just his second year with the team, has already achieved far more than any other Cardinals coach of the modern era. Before this season Arizona had managed just a single playoff win in the past 61 years.
Whisenhunt has surrounded himself with talented assistants, though, and they deserve their share of the credit. Defensive co-ordinator Clancy Pendergast has rejuvenated a unit that played miserably towards the end of the regular season, putting them in position to force 12 turnovers in three playoff games so far. No opposing running back has gained more than 63 in the postseason.
But the Eagles' greatest strength lies with their own defence, and the onus this week was always going to be on Arizona's offensive co-ordinator Todd Haley. He did not disappoint. The Eagles' creative blitz packages were supposed to disrupt Warner's rhythm, but Haley's play-calling ensured they did no such thing.
Philadelphia hadn't given up a passing touchdown since 7 December, but Arizona, using a combination of quick strikes and running plays, got one on their first drive and never looked back. Philadelphia had also given up an average of just 12.1 points per game over the previous seven weeks, but the Cardinals had put up 14 before the second quarter was two minutes old.
When these two teams met in Philadelphia on Thanksgiving, the Cardinals didn't manage a single rushing first down but this time around they had three on the first drive alone. That success helped convince the Eagles defence to bite hard when the ball was pitched to J.J. Arrington early in the second quarter, only to see the running back lateral it back to Warner, who then launched the ball 62 yards to Larry Fitzgerald for a touchdown.
Of course, it didn't hurt Haley to have such personel at his disposal. Coming into this game, Warner had a passer rating of 103.8 when facing a blitz and that has much to do with the fact he has Fitzgerald to throw to. The Eagles had promised during the week that they would not allow Fitzgerald the sort of wide open spaces he had found against the Carolina Panthers, but the truth is that he scarcely needs them. There is no better receiver in the league right now at winning jump balls and Warner knows it. By the end he had caught nine passes for 152 yards and three touchdowns.
It was not all plain sailing, of course, and Arizona's offence stalled badly in the third quarter as the Eagles began a run of 19 unanswered points to lead early in the fourth. At different times Fox's cameras caught Haley in heated discussion with each of Warner and receiver Anquan Boldin on the sideline as the game threatened to slip away from them. At the crucial moments on the final drive, however, Haley once again made the right calls – first calling for an outside run on fourth and two near midfield, then a screen pass on third and goal from the eight-yard line.
"A turnaround of the greatest magnitude there is," said Haley, when asked to describe what had happened in Arizona this season. But he has only been with the Cardinals for two years. No one has been here longer than owner Bill Bidwill, the man widely held responsible for the decades of losing that preceded this year's success.
"Some wins are better than others, and this is one of them," said Bidwill – but he was quick to make clear that his team will not be satisfied with a conference title. "We're going to be talking about the best in the weeks to come."
You can be sure he's not joking.
Keeping things in perspective
I wrote earlier in the week about the antipathy that exists between the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers, but matters were put into perspective somewhat during the final minutes of tonight's AFC title game. An eerie silence descended on Heinz Field as Ravens running back Willis McGahee lay motionless after a savage helmet-to-helmet collision with Ryan Clark, and a number of players on both teams appeared to begin to pray. Whilst plenty of players might set out to hurt an opponent on any given play, very few set out to injure, and there was visible relief on both sides as McGahee was seen to move his arms and legs as he left the game on a cart.
The Steelers won the game, 23-14, and that was a fair reflection. They were more efficient and more explosive on both sides of the ball, and that should come as no surprise given that the Ravens haven't had a week off since early September. The Ravens' rookie quarterback Joe Flacco threw three interceptions, though it was hard not to feel some sympathy. Early in the game his receivers dropped a number of ball they ought to have caught, and he was forced into increasingly difficult situations as the Ravens were left chasing the game.
Only one game remains, then, and the Steelers will be heavily favoured. As we learnt last year, however, these things don't always go according to script.
Pick the Playoffs
Apologies for getting these up late, but here are the final results from our Pick the Playoffs competition. Congratulations to emmet50 and horne94, who both picked this week's winners correctly and finish joint with myself at the top of the leaderboard. Unfortunately this means I had to go to the tiebreaker, and emmet50 just won out, having predicted there would be a total of 90 points scored between the two games, when the final figure actually turned out to be 94. horne94 had gone for 100. I'm sure I'll be able to rustle up some sort of consolation prize.
Thanks to all of you who have taken part in both this and the Pick Six competitions. The NFL blog will take a week off now, but I'll be blogging from Tampa in the days leading up to the big game, so be sure to check back then.
emmet50 8, horne94 8, Paolo Bandini 8, Dunman 7, Percinho 7, gomezcat 6, Mike Adamson 6, theDN 6, tompll 6, UMDstudent 6, Allout 5, Bananagrabber 5, DowFC 5, ECFC 5, francaise 5, rjpacker 5, ButtNugget 4, lighthed 4, MacMillings 4, nahummer 4, Nostradamus 4, ondukuta 4, yubeingfunny 4, davidsl 3, donwendyagain 3, drsocialpolicy 3, GenghisCohen 3, JoeSmith 3, MattR 3, SP06 3, thatch 3, wildfrontear 3, AlexBoekestyn 2, amswong 2, benheinitz 2, DocZ 2, EvilRaj 2, fishfingers15 2, fowlerisgod23 2, grafhamboy 2, jpnmcgann 2, Leong15 2, Pomme 2, pirateghost 2, SoCalifornication 2, AlexBoekestyn 1, Baker14 1, GeoffeyManboob 1, Phinesse 1, timthemonkey 1, hobbes78 0, foxtrotdelta 0
