at the weekend that was in this Wild Card edition of the Final Drive.
Arizona Cardinals 30, Atlanta Falcons 24
In much the same vein as Miami, it was hard not to root for Arthur Blank’s Falcons as they traveled to Arizona to take on the reeling Cardinals. Unfortunately, they must have misplaced their identity in transit. The normally accurate and poised Matt Ryan threw two costly interceptions and dropped back to pass a staggering forty times, while Michael Turner and Jerious Norwood only racked up 54 yards combined on their twenty carries. Contrast that with the Cardinal’s performance, as Kurt Warner completed 19 for 32 with two touchdowns and only one interception. Even more surprising was the re-emergence of Edgerrin James, who found an unusual amount of running room against the Atlanta defensive front, rushing for 73 yards on only 16 carries. While they only averaged a little over three yards a carry, Arizona ran the ball 28 times, which is a drastic change of tactics for their normally pass-happy offense. Cardinal receivers Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin each had lengthy touchdown receptions early, giving Ken Wisenhunt’s team the lead. Atlanta appeared to have regained the momentum going into halftime after scoring 17 points in the second quarter. That momentum was derailed when Antrel Rolle recovered a Ryan fumble for a touchdown within the opening minute of the second half. The Cardinals shut out the Falcons in the third quarter while tallying sixteen points of their own, securing the victory and propelling them into a match-up with the Carolina Panthers next weekend.
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