The Arizona Cardinals came out strong in defense of their home field Saturday in beating the Atlanta Falcons 30-24. In a game where most said that the Atlanta running game behind Michael Turner would be too much to stop, the Arizona defense and Cardinal running game were they key.

            The Arizona defensive line came out strong winning the battle at the line to defeat the Atlanta running game. Turner had nowhere to go on most carries and this forced rookie quarterback Matt Ryan to throw immediately on their first drive. And on his first playoff drive the young talented quarterback misread the coverage and threw a bad interception directly to Arizona cornerback Ralph Brown.

            On the following drive Arizona came out against their normal routine. Edgerrin James, the star running back that had basically lost his starting job this regular season, got the start and the first three plays were all very productive carries to Edge. These three impressive carries went for 21 yards and set the tone for the Arizona offense to get flowing. The fourth play of the drive was handed to Edge again and in a beautifully executed play Edge tossed it back to pro bowl quarterback Kurt Warner where he then set his feet with great protection from the offensive line and launched the flea flicker pass 42 yards to Larry Fitzgerald for touchdown. The Atlanta defense played this pretty well as they still managed to have two defensive backs in position to make the stop on the great wide receiver, but a nice throw and a spectacular catch by Fitzgerald proved to be too much.

            The Arizona defense continued to impress in the 1st quarter as Turner couldn’t get his wheels churning and Ryan continued to look rattled. But once the 2nd quarter started Matt Ryan began to hit a comfort zone. Ryan conservatively moved the Falcons down the field 80 yards to get the Falcons on the board with a 30-yard field goal by veteran kicker Jason Elam. The no huddle offense let Ryan get a better grip of the game, as his ability to audible the calls and change the snap count proved vital for the Falcon offense.

            Right when I started to feel that the Atlanta defense was starting to get the pressure necessary to rattle Warner and the Cardinal offense, BOOM, Arizona immediately answered back on the third play of the drive. On a 3rd and long Arizona ran a simple out route at the first down marker that ended up being a much bigger play thanks to Anquan Boldin. After making the catch and turning the corner, Atlanta safety Lawyer Malloy who was picked off the proper tackling angle by his teammate, was shrugged off by Boldin, who then chugged his way for a 71-yard touchdown (straining his hamstring on the way). Boldin never returned after this play.

            With Arizona leading 14-3, Matt Ryan led yet another impressive drive. A great play action fake by Ryan and a perfect toss in stride to Roddy White was dropped by the usually dependable wide receiver. This potential huge opportunity that was blown by Roddy White didn’t faze Ryan though as he then continued to convert 3 huge 3rd down conversions which eventually led to a Michael Turner 7 yard touchdown to cut the Cardinal lead to 14-10. Ryan did a great job stepping up and beating the blitzes with sharp accurate throws and smart pocket presence.

            With Arizona eager to extend their lead in response to Atlanta’s score Warner fell victim to a sloppy play by his wide receiver Jeremy Urban. On a third and long Warner tried to hit Urban on a crossing route, but Urban seemed not to be ready for the pass as it bounced off of him into the air where Atlanta defensive back Chevis Jackson caught the easy interception to put Atlanta in great scoring position right before the half. Atlanta took advantage of this opportunity as Ryan hit tight end Pelle for an easy 2-yard touchdown off the play action fake, to go into the half with a 17-14 lead over Arizona.

            Arizona seemed to abandon the running game that created all its success early in the game, and that big turnover seemed to turn the tide in Atlanta’s favor. Despite the two huge pass plays being the direct result to Arizona’s points, I got the feeling that Atlanta was doing a good job in preventing Arizona from getting to their normal comfort level in their passing game.

            The second half began just as the Cardinals would have wished as they immediately forced a huge turnover that that gave them the lead back. Darnell Dockett busted into the backfield and disrupted the attempted handoff from Ryan to Turner with a big hit. Then ball then preceded to pop into the air for anyone to grab and that’s where Antrel Rolle cashed in on this opportunity by catching this loose ball and taking off 27 yards to pay dirt. This big defensive play put Arizona in the lead at 21-17.

            The Atlanta offense came back on the field struggling and rattled from the recent turn of events. They ended up committing two penalties and having to punt from their own end zone. On that punt they then preceded to commit another 15-yard penalty by hitting the returner slightly before he caught the punt. Arizona failed to take advantage of this great starting field position (Atl 38 yd line), as they missed a 51-yard field goal. But on their following drive Arizona got back to what worked on this Wildcard night in Arizona, and that was the running game. This helped open things up for Warner a bit too, as he was able to make plays on 3rd down with 4 consecutive conversions, with the most impressive one being on the last 3rd down where he sat in the pocket despite the blitz, took the hit and still completed an impressive pass to Steve Breaston, who also did a solid job holding onto the pass after receiving a big hit. From there Tim Hightower cruised in for a 4-yard td to give Arizona the 28-17 lead.

            On Atlanta’s first play after the touchdown Matt Ryan threw the deep ball looking for Roddy White but in man to man coverage young cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie jumped up and made the interception to continue to increase Arizona’s momentum. After a nice punt by Arizona punter Ben Graham and a holding penalty on Atlanta they began their possession on their own 3-yard line. This wasn’t good for Ryan as his inexperience showed as he failed to get rid of the ball quick enough to avoid the pressure as he was gobbled up in the endzone for a safety by defensive end Antonio Smith.

            Down 30-17 with their backs to the wall, Ryan converted a 4th down and led his team down the field for a touchdown hitting Roddy White for a 5 yard td to get Atlanta within six down 30-24 with 4 minutes remaining and the timeouts to get the ball back with a stop. And the opportunity was there for the defense after a botched reverse attempt Arizona was facing a 3rd and 16, which if not converted would get Ryan and the Falcon offense back on the field for a shot at winning it. But the Atlanta defense crumbled in their biggest moment of the year, as veteran linebacker Keith Brooking bit on a weak fake and let tight end Stephen Spach get behind him for the big reception, which got not only the first down but the Arizona victory.

            The Arizona Cardinals are definitely proud of their wildcard victory and happy to go on to the NFC Divisional Round where they will have to travel to the East coast to face the Carolina Panthers. Despite their lack of success on the East coats this year, they are excited for this opportunity to prove the public wrong as they are basically being written off by all that follow the sport. In order to continue their postseason success this year, Arizona’s defense has to continue to play over its head and they are going to have to do it on the road.

            Looking ahead for the Atlanta Falcons this is a giant step in a positive direction for this franchise. After the whole Michael Vick catastrophe and the awful last couple of years, the Falcons have turned things around rather quickly and soundly. With a rookie head coach Mike Smith winning the Coach of the Year award and a rookie quarterback, winning Rookie of the Year in Matt Ryan they have the right people in place to turn this franchise into a very successful one. Matt Ryan has gained a great deal of experience from this playoff appearance and he is bound to carry this Atlanta franchise even further in his very bright near future.

Peter Lomuscio