On October 27th, 2002 Emmitt Smith would break Walter Payton’s all time rushing record with an 10 yard run early in the 4th Quarter of a Week 8 matchup between Smith’s Dallas Cowboys and the Seattle Seahawks. Six months later the all time leading rusher would sign with the Arizona Cardinals as a free agent. This was supposed to be big news but all of us fans were like he’s over the hill so who cares!! Smith would go on to do next to nothing in his first season in 2003 but in 2004 Emmitt would put together some nice moments. Smith would run for 127 yards in a 34-10 Week 4 victory over the Saints. Emmitt would then run for 106 yards and a game sealing 23 yard touchdown in a big 25-17 upset over the eventual division Champion Seattle Seahawks in Week 7. Smith would have an okay season running for 937 yards. It was more than clear that Emmitt Smith with the Cards was nothing but a legend holding on a little too long. The decline wasn’t as steep as other legends was as the once Cowboys great was still a marginal player in Arizona. But today when we talk about Emmitt Smith, his two years with the Arizona Cardinals has become nothing more than a footnote.
2004
2004 was a mostly forgettable 6-10 campaign even though the Cards were better in almost every way than the previous two seasons (just don’t discuss that the only 2 49ers wins that year came against the Cards). The two big takeaways from the 04 season was that Larry Fitzgerald was the right pick at number 3 overall, and Dennis Green was the right hire at head coach as his success with the Vikings in his ten seasons at the helm there Denny brought a sense of credibility and responsibility to the team. But the most important thing was the infusion of talent the Cards were acquiring. The Cards drafted Larry Fitzgerald out of Pittsburgh third overall, and maybe being the ball boy for Dennis Green during his time Minnesota may have had a little something to do with the drafting of the Panther but the biggest reason was just his overall ability and work ethic. His ability to catch the ball in traffic and at the high point was second to none, as seen by his game winning touchdown in a Week 9 24-23 win in Miami. A cool Larry fact, Larry Fitzgerald in his 17 seasons had more career tackles (41) than drops (29). It’s a detriment to the Quarterbacks that Larry Fitzgerald played with but also a testament to what Larry had that arguably better than any receiver in the history of the game, phenomenal hands.
But the Cards also hit homeruns in the 2nd and third round of the 04 draft, drafting linebacker Karlos Dansby in the 2nd round, Defensive Tackle Darnell Dockett in the third round (and don’t forget about Quarterback John Navarre in the 7th round!!!). These three drafts would be the beginning of the climb to the mountain top. This all began in 2004. As they say who cares that the Cards only won 6 games, but this team for the first time in a while was on the rise…
2005
The new stadium in Glendale was not quite ready and the Cards would have to wait one more year to finally not be playing anymore in a college football stadium. Bill Bidwill still wanted to get his redbirds a new look, so for the first time in decades the Cards would change their logo and uniforms. The logo would be a more sleek aggressive look with the beak pointing down more appearing to have that small mean bird entering attack mode, the jerseys were slightly different as well. Primarily the road unis have red outlines in the pants and on each side of the numbers. It was a subtle but appropriate change to the look. The Cards also knew that Josh McCown was not the long term answer behind center. So what has the Arizona Cardinals do when they needed a QB? Grab a veteran over the hill Quarterback as a stop gap. This time at least this Quarterback was a former Super Bowl and league MVP. The Cards would sign former Rams great Kurt Warner..
Kurt Warner had a three year run from 1999-2001 for the ages. Warner would compile a 67 percent completion percentage for 12,612 yards, 98 touchdowns and a passer rating of 105. Remember this was before the rule changes when defenders could pulverize receivers over the middle and Quarterbacks in the pocket. This stretch at this time was the best three years stretch in NFL history by any Quarterback (Steve Young from 92-94 is maybe the only argument that is even close to Warner’s excellence over a three yea span as of 2001). Reason why Warner was even available in the first place was because of the rapid decline he suffered from the 02-04 campaigns. Warner became turnover prone, his lack of mobility would also start to become a massive detriment. As the game that would dethrone him from his starting status in his lone season with the Giants (2004) would be a 17-14 Week 10 loss to your Arizona Cardinals. A game in which the Cards would sack Kurt Warner six times (defensive end Bertrand Berry would make the pro bowl on this game alone having four sacks of Dirty Kurt himself). Still the thought was maybe Dennis Green and company could find lighting in a bottle with the once great QB.
Warner in 05 was okay as he did lead the league in completions per game (25 a game) and the Cards led the league in passing yards, but on the contrary was last in rushing yards. The Cards were the 8th ranked defense in yards per game (good) but 26th in points allowed (bad). The team overall went 5-11 and was certainly maybe their best 5-11 team in Arizona as the Cards had many frustrating losses. There was the 17-12 Week 2 loss to the Rams in which Leonard Davis had a false start at the Rams 7 with under 10 seconds left bypassing any opportunity at a game winning play. There was a 24-20 Week 5 loss to the Panthers after the Cards blew a 10 point 4th Quarter lead. Then there were late season 24-17 and 17-13 losses to the Jags and Washington in games the Cards outgained and outplayed both teams but did not play good situational football. The most frustrating loss was a typical Cards defeat, losing 30-19 in embarrassing blowout fashion to a 1-12 Houston Texans team. But hey the Cards at least got revenge going 2-0 against the 49ers including a 31-14 win in the first annual Mexico game, so hey the 05 Cards were 1-0 outside of the United States so take that!
2006
January 4th, 2006 will always be a day that lives in infamy for me. I was certain that the USC Trojans would defeat the Texas Longhorns for the National Championship and bet many of my friends money that this would occur. I mean the Trojans just slaughtered fellow big 12 juggernaut Oklahoma for the championship the previous year and this USC team was arguably the best college team ever. Well I was wrong and would rather not talk about it anymore. Sad sidenote the southeast portion of the country would take over the country as every national champion (sans Ohio State in 2013) has been a champ one of the Southeastern states which has made the sport regional and diluted fan interest.
The Cards were drafting 10th overall in the 2006 draft and the two top Quarterback prospects were Texas Vince Young and USC’s Matt Leinart. Vince Young would get drafted third overall by the Tennessee Titans leaving Leinart still on the board. The former Trojan great would fall all the way to 10th overall where you know it the Cardinals would draft him. I was watching the draft with my two roommates and my best friend A-Dub at my house in Gilbert and we went crazy when the Cards drafted the college legend 10th overall. This was it, I said watch in the next three years we would be in the Super Bowl….
True story I said it so let’s see we have a three year timeline of my prediction coming true. Really hope Matt Leinart can lead us there..
Even more excitement to come our way for the start of the 06 season. The University of Phoenix stadium was officially ready to open. The Cards would sell out every game in 2006 and have sold out every home since the start of the 06 season (spanning 58 games). This proved that the Cards just needed a viable home and the fans would come. This team had tons of talent as well. Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin combined for over 205 catches and 2,809 yards and 17 touchdowns. The defense was up and coming led by pro bowl safety Adrian Wilson, and recent draftee’s Karlos Dansby and Darnell Dockett. To boot the Cards signed one of the best running backs in all football former Colts great Edgerin James to a lucrative contract after he just had arguably his best season yet in 2005 (so not over the hill at least allegedly not over the hill yet). 2006 would be the season that the Cards would get over the hump, it has to be..
Week 1 the Cards would beat the 49ers in the opening of the big toaster (as ESPN broadcaster Chris Berman would so eloquently call it) 34-27 in a fun football game. The Cards would lose Week 2 at Seattle but the Hawks were the defending NFL Champions and that’s a tough spot to win anyways well get em back in Week 3…
Remember the game at Atlanta to end the 1994 season in which the Cards would lose 10-6 in a game that the Cards would be in the redzone SIX TIMES and still only muster two field goals and I called it the most frustrating Arizona Cardinals loss of the 20th Century. The Cards in 2006 would go on a 8 game losing streak after that first win. So sorry to spoil this but yes the 06 season was not a good one. But what would make 2006 Arizona Cardinals the most infuriating team in their 34 years in Arizona (2016 has a damn good argument and we will discuss in frustration about that season a little bit later) was that this Cardinals team would find more infuriatingly ways to lose football games than I’ve ever seen before. These four losses I am about to show you are absolutely nauseating so if you have a weak stomach maybe go down a few paragraphs… If you like comedy or horror (however you would describe), then let’s move onto to Week 3 of the 2006 season shall we…..
The Cards would jump to an early 7-0 lead over the visiting Rams on a Kurt Warner to Larry Fitzgerald connection from 12 yards out. We shift to the 2nd Quarter with the Cards up 7-3. The Rams would stymie a Cards drive with Kurt Warner throwing a red zone interception. The Rams would turn that into a touchdown. The very next Cards play Kurt Warner would throw another interception which would result in a field goal as the Rams would take a 13-7 lead into the intermission. It’s now 16-7 midway through the 3rd Quarter and the Cards would be at the Rams one yard line. Kurt Warner would go back to pass on play action but get hit as he threw the ball and the Rams Dexter Coakley would intercept the pass to stymie another at least field goal scoring opportunity. The Cards finally get into the end zone with 4 minutes left in the game on an Edgerin James Touchdown to cut the deficit to two. The Rams would then do something that usually happens to the Cards.. Rams Quarterback Marc Bulger would fumble an exchange with running back Stephen Jackson and the Cards Antonio Smith would fall onto the ball which would set up the Cards in the final two minutes with a chance to steal the game that they should already be winning in the first place. But then as the Cards are literally running out the clock to setup the game winning kick something horrible would happen…
Kurt Warner would fumble the snap from center Alex Stepanovich and the Rams would recover at the Rams 18 (or a 36 yard game winning field goal chance). Somehow the Cards had a game that they had been blowing all day with bad turnovers given right back to them and they somehow gave the game right back to the Rams.. This loss was brutal but somehow this was only the beginning..
Week 4 would be a 32-10 blowout loss at Atlanta in which you could see before the opening kick the Cards had no chance. Kurt Warner looked defeated after his epic meltdown at home the previous week and it left head coach Dennis Green no choice but to go with the kid from Southern California for Week 5’s game at home against the Chiefs…
On the very first drive Anquan Boldin would get behind the Chiefs secondary and Matt Leinart would throw a dime for a 49 yard touchdown. We all thought it, this was the first of many great moments over the next 15 years for an ascending young core. But then things would only get even better. The next drive Matty L would lead the Cards down the field again and this time find Larry Fitzgerald from five yards out. The impressive part about this start was both touchdowns came on third down when the Chiefs knew the Cards were throwing the ball. The crowd is going crazy!!
But the Chiefs would make adjustments and eventually come back and tie the game at 20 midway through the 4th. The Chiefs would get the ball back with about 3 minutes left. Pro bowl running back Larry Johnson would catch a screen pass and take it 78 yards almost to the house inside the Cards 10 yard line. The Cards would get a stop though and hold the Chiefs to a field goal, now 23-20 Chiefs. A terrible kickoff return would have Leinart starting at his own 9 with 1:30 left to play. No matter Matt Leinart would get big completions to wide outs Bryant Johnson and Troy Walters to get the Redbirds into long field goal range. Neil Rackers had gone 11-16 on field goals from above 50 yards over the 04-05 seasons which is elite at any time in NFL history from that distance. However this 51 yard attempt would fade wide right and the Cards would lose a heartbreaker. Was it the most dramatic loss, no, but with the way this game started it was one of the most heartbreaking losses in recent history for any Cards fan to endure. So you have the epic choke job against the Rams, the possible end of Kurt Warner’s career as a starter in an humiliating loss in Atlanta. Then the Heartbreaking loss at home after jumping to an early 14-0 lead against the Chiefs. What can we do to top these three three horrible defeats, as Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s 1974 rock hit stated, “you ain’t seen nothing yet”….
Week 6 was only the fourth Monday night game for the Cards since moving to Arizona in 1988. This matchup was against the 5-0 Chicago Bears. The Bears hadn’t just been beating teams they have been humiliating them winning four of the five games by at least 26 points. But the Bears looked sloppy in a preseason game against the Cards just two months prior, and as we would later hear in the postgame presser it wasn’t just any preseason game it was the “third preseason game”. Really until recently thanks to a philosophical change made by Rams coach Sean McVay the third preseason game was the game starters would play significant amount of time. Just like the previous week Matt Leinart would come out firing throwing two early touchdowns to Bryant Johnson and Anquan Boldin to get the Cards for the second straight week out to a 1st Quarter 14-0 lead. Unlike last week against K.C the defense on this night would not let the opposing team get back into the game. Bears Quarterback Rex Grossman would throw two first half interceptions and lose two more fumbles as the Cards would jump out to a 20-0 halftime lead..
The third Quarter would see each team trade field goals but with the redbirds with having a commanding 23-3 lead they were… with 8 seconds left in the third Bears defensive end Mark Anderson would hit Leinart from behind forcing a fumble that would be picked up by safety Mike Brown and taken the house for a game changing touchdown. All of a sudden going into the 4th we have a 23-10 game and it’s not quite over yet..
But the defense would hold strong forcing Rex Grossman to throw two more interceptions and a total of six turnovers on the day as now with under six minutes to play the Redbirds have the ball and still a two score lead. But on 2nd down of the Cards next drive Edgerrin James would try to fight for an extra yard when he should have just went down as you see out of the scrum of bodies the Bears Charles Tillman pick up the football and run it the other way for the touchdown. Now it’s 23-17 and somehow even though the Bears offense has done nothing for the entire game. The Cards have to hold on for dear life to pull this one out.. The Cards next drive would stall and force them to punt and give the Bears a chance to seal the coup de gras as I can only put it of game thievery. But the Bears have Rex Grossman who has a passer rating of 10.2 in this game and has looked like a third string Quarterback we should be okay… and there goes Devin Hester 83 yards on the punt return for the Bears touchdown, nevermind………
But there is still over 2 minutes left and the Cards have the next big star at QB and Leinart does what leader do in adverse times and gets his redbird s50 yards down the field into makeable field goal range for his kicker, out comes Neil Rackers…
Rackers would this time hook the kick just wide left. The Cards had a 20 point lead with just over 15 minutes to play and somehow lost without giving up a single offensive touchdown. This has to be the most comical loss in the history of football. The Cards looked like for one night in their brand new stadium with a new young star Quarterback they could register and matter, but they crapped all over themselves like a baby after eating Carrot Puree Gerber baby food. To make matters worse my girlfriend at the time was a Bears fan and I was watching the game at a friends house with a bunch of Bears fans. My ex girlfriend was hungry and wanted to go out after the game. I went with her to a popular Mexican restaurant/bar called Dos Gringos in Tempe. I was pretty silent and at least she was respectful enough to not give me too much grief about it as we drank a Corona and eat some tacos. I spoke to many other Cards fans throughout the week and we were all just embarrassed, “same ol Cards was the phrase”. We were just a joke all across the country. In my research this is the last time a team had lost back to back games with a 14 point first quarter lead.
Dennis Green knew his fate was sealed after this disaster and would let it all out giving one of the best postgame rants in sports history by any coach anywhere. His quote before walking off the podium is as such, “THE BEARS ARE WE THOUGHT THEY WERE, AND THAT’S WHY WE TOOK THE DAMN FIELD, (slams the microphone with his right hand) IF YOU WANT TO CROWN THEM THEN CROWN THEIR ASS, BUT THE BEARS ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE AND WE LET THEM OFF THE HOOK”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The last ten games of the 06 season was mostly a blur. An embarrassing loss to the 2-14 Raiders (the Cards would account for 66 percent of the 04 49ers, 05 Texans and 06 Raiders win total’s but who cares!!), a nice late season win over the Seahawks sprinkled with Jay Cutler making possibly the best throw of the decade and showing why he would be the best Quarterback in the 06 draft class (not kidding it’s true) in a late season 37-20 loss to the Broncos. Matt Leinart was okay with a 74 passer rating but he showed enough strides that everyone had more than enough confidence he was the guy moving forward.
2007
The Cards would hire former Steelers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt to be the new coach in Arizona after he was bypassed to replace Steelers legend Bill Cowher who would retire (the Steelers would hire Vikings defensive coordinator Mike Tomlin instead, wonder if that won’t come back full circle in a hurry??). Whisenhunt came from a pedigree of success and hopefully the Cards who have been toiling around with the most talent they have had since being in the desert could find the right man to get them finally to at least respectability. In 2007 for the first time in almost a decade the Cardinals would finally make the jump from bad to respectable..
The Cards would get for the second straight season a big home win over the Seahawks winning 23-20 but things would get real weird in their Week 3 matchup in Baltimore. Matt Leinart would be ineffective in the first half so out came in the third Quarter a face that we thought we would never see lead the Cards outside of an injury or a blowout again, insert Kurt Warner. But this Kurt Warner looked different than the inconsistent turnover prone Kurt Warner we saw in the 05-06 campaigns. This Kurt Warner looked like the St. Louis Rams Kurt Warner. The MVP Kurt Warner. Dirty Kurt would lead the Cards back from a 17 point deficit throwing for 258 yards and two touchdowns and a 150.3 passer rating. The Ravens would hold on for a 26-23 win kicking a field goal at the horn but we now have some questions to answer here.
Ken Whisenhunt would say in his post game press conference that Kurt Warner is just playing some series as a no huddle change up option to throw off opposing defenses…. What??? If this happened in the age of social media Ken Whisenhunt would get ripped by everyone on twitter saying if you have two QB’s you have no QB’s or let the kid play.. But this is what the new coach is doing next to town is those dastardly Pittsburgh Steelers. The Cards would get their second big home win of the early season winning 21-14 in a game that Warner outplayed Leinart again which would just create even more questions to be answered…
The question would be answered in the following week as Matt Leinart would separate his shoulder early in the game making the 2007 Arizona Cardinals officially Kurt Warner’s team. Warner would have a solid season as he would post an 89.8 passer rating with 27 touchdown passes. Larry Fitzgerald would vault himself into super stardom with a 100 catch, 1409 yards, 10 touchdown season. 2007 would start a 5 year stretch where the floor for Larry was 80 catches for 1,092 yards and 6 touchdowns. That would be the a career year for almost any respectable NFL wide out. But for Larry Fitzgerald those stats would be like his 9th or 10th best season of what would be an illustrious career..
2007 Cardinals would go 8-8 but the difference between their first playoff appearance in 9 years and going home again after the holidays would be two losses to the 5-11 49ers. The first coming in Week 1 in game in which the 49ers would get 86 of their 194 total yards in a game winning drive in the final three minutes of what was a 20-17 49ers win. The second came in Week 12 with the Cards clawing to 5-5 and in the thick of the wildcard race. The game was tied at 31 in overtime and Neil Rackers lined up for a 27 yard game winning field goal which he nails, but there was a delay of game (this will not be the first time this happens in an overtime game in Arizona Cardinals history, spoiler!!), the next kick Neil Rackers pushes wide right. Nobody knows how to miss big kicks more than Neil frigging Rackers!!! The Cards would force a 49ers punt but the very first play of the next drive at their own three Kurt Warner would get sacked by the 49ers Ronald Fields and the ball would be picked up in the endzone by the 49ers Tony Banta-Cainn for the winning touchdown, 37-31 49ers win, oi vey!!
2008
It’s year three of my crazy projection. I said on draft night in 06 the Cards would appear in a Super Bowl in the next three years. They haven’t even been in the playoffs yet. We don’t know who their Quarterback is. What am I even talking about??? Well let’s get to it..
Matt Leinart would have a brutal preseason game in Oakland throwing 3 interceptions. We read the tealeaves all along here. Matt Leinart was not the man Ken Whisenhunt wanted leading his football team. Matt Leinart would get caught at a house party in the offseason chugging beers from a beer bong at a house party in Scottsdale. Whisenhunt wanted Warner all along to be his guy and when Matt Leinart had a poor camp and preseason and was shown in the offseason still acting like a frat boy, it made what would not be a popular decision more palatable to sell to the fan base and ownership. Who knew that naming Kurt Warner the starter in the 08 would be the decision that would vault the Cardinals from a national laughing stock or even worse just purely irrelevant to the masses to a team that would field many good football teams in the upcoming seasons and actually become a respectably run football team. The Cards have been in Arizona 20 years and have only had one winning season, one playoff appearance, 17 losing seasons (with 14 of those being double digit loss seasons), 7 head coaches, 2 general managers (only because for 9 years there wasn’t a direct general manager). The Arizona Cardinals haven’t just been bad they have been primarily boring. It has been my job in this story to try to make the redbirds story seem real and interesting. Hopefully I’ve done a good job at making our boy real. Mercifully, starting in 08 the Cards play on the field would actually start to resemble a real football team. 2008 would be the year that would vault Kurt Warner into the Hall of Fame. 2008 would be the year that would turn Larry Fitzgerald from a good wide receiver into a freaking legend. Remember though that 2008 did not come without it’s shortcomings, it was a magical ride so let’s get to it…
The Cards would start the season 3-2 after a 41-17 Week 5 win over what ended up being a fraudulent 4-0 start by the Buffalo Bills. The previous week was maybe one of the weirder games you will ever see. The Cards were playing at Brett Farve’s New York Jets (that just sounds weird), the Cards would fall down 34-0 in the third Quarter but would actually crawl back into the game scoring 3 third quarter touchdowns, before trading a trio of Jets touchdowns sandwiched by two Cards touchdown for what would be a 56-35 final. What would happen at the end of the game though would be one of the scariest moments I’ve ever seen on a football field. The game was out of hand but the Cards would be going for a garbage time score when Kurt Warner would throw the ball towards the end zone to Anquan Boldin with 30 seconds left. Boldin would catch the ball but would collide helmet to helmet with Jets safety Eric Smith which would dislodge the ball away. Boldin would lay motionless for minutes. The stadium was silent, you think the worst in situations like this. Anquan Boldin would be taken off in a stretcher but alert and gave a thumbs up to fans. Warner was horrified post game, thought about retiring feeling responsible for what happened. Warner after a couple of days of thought would return to practice. Anquan would be back three weeks later even with the broken jaw he suffered from the hit. He was supposed to miss six weeks, anyone who ever questioned Anquan Boldin’s toughness needs to be quiet.
The 2008 season would be in a word wild. There was the franchise perception altering 30-24 overtime win over the Cowboys when Sean Morey would block a punt for a touchdown for the one and only time that a game was won in overtime on a blocked punt returned for a touchdown. Then there was three straight division wins. A blowout win at the St. Louis Rams followed by a thrilling game ending goal line stand for a 29-24 victory over the 49ers on a Monday night. Lastly a 26-20 victory in Seattle over the Seahawks which put the Cards at 7-3 and signaled the changing of the guard in the NFC West and all but clinched the Cards first division title since moving to the desert. There was some late season duds though after the great 10 game start though we sadly must discuss. A 48-20 loss on Thanksgiving at the Eagles. The 35-14 home loss to the Vikings in a game that looked worse than even that score indicated. But the worst of the late season duds was a 47-7 week 16 loss in snowy Foxboro Massachusetts.
Funny side story for this game. The Cards would be down 47-0 in the 4th Quarter and in comes Matt Leinart. Leinart has not seen the field all year. A friend of mine had just graduated at ASU and my roommate and I decided to throw what ended up being a great graduation party for her. We had about 20 people crash out at my house that night. The game was at 11 am but we all woke up at about I don’t know 1 or so. We decided to cook some brunch so were all cooking out and in the background on the television in my living room here comes dirty Matt. Matt Leinart would throw a pass down the field to a streaking Larry Fitzgerald who would take it all the way to house to make the score Pats 47 Cardinals 6. In ode to Matt Leinart one of my friends yelled beer bong!!! I was 25 at the time so of course we did have a beer bong. About 15 hung over friends and I decided to chug a beer through a funnel (not at same time that would be impossible). There has been many unsanitary things I have done in my life but this may top the list of unsanitary things I have done. There is my Matt Leinart story, what is yours??
After an uninspiring 34-21 win over the Seahawks to end the season the Cards had at least finished a weird up and down season at 9-7 and with a plus one point differential. But it was the first division title the Cards have had in 33 years, and the first playoff appearance and winning record the Cards have had in 10 years. Most sad and telling stat of how sad our wing had been in our history this was the first playoff game the Cards will host in 71 years!!! Cris Collinsworth is know for being one of the broadcasters of Sunday night football. Well before the Cards wildcard playoff game against the Falcons Cris Collinsworth said the 2008 Arizona Cardinals was the worst playoff team he had ever seen, ouch I guess we are destined to be one and done eh..
The playoffs would begin on a Saturday afternoon against the slightly less sad birds (when it comes to team success over their history), the Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons were a surprise 11-5 team with also not huge playoff expectations so if there was a playoff game the redbirds could get this would be the one. Contrary to what Cris Collinsworth said the Cards were a 2 point home favorite so Vegas didn’t think they were that terrible. The Cards would not waste any time taking the early 7-0 lead on what has become an iconic play in Cardinals history. The Cards were at the Falcons 43 and in scoring range. Warner would hand the ball off to running back J.J Arrington who would pitch the ball back to dirty Kurt (a play that is called a flea flicker for anyone who is not a football enthusiast) Warner would look downfield for Larry Fitzgerald. Usually on a trick play a receiver could be wide open but the Falcons were not fooled as they had two defensive backs on Larry ready to make a play. It did not matter as Larry Fitzgerald would jump up above both defenders and make the incredible catch for the touchdown landing on his back and immediately jumping to his feet to go celebrate with his teammates. The game would settle down some, as the Falcons would take a 17-14 lead into the half.
The play that would flip the entire game would happen on the second play of the second half. The Falcons would have the ball with a 2nd and 7 at their own 30 yard line. The Cards defense needed to make a play and who else would make a play but Darnell Dockett…
Darnell Dockett grew up Burtonsville, Maryland. When Dockett was 13 his mother was murdered and four months later his father died of cancer. Looking for an outlet Dockett turned to football. In his first youth league game Dockett would run the wrong way for a safety, it was an embarrassing moment for sure but Dockett would prove by high school that terrorizing offenses was something he would do at every level for his entire career. Dockett would have 47 sacks in high school and be ranked the 17th best prospect in the country and was recruited by Bobby Bowden at Florida State. Dockett in his sophomore season would have a still to this day set a Florida State team record with 22 tackles for loss. He was a game wrecker like never seen before and in his Junior year his stats would decline due to being double teamed every Saturday with opposing offenses refusing to let Dockett beat them. Only because of Dockett’s lack of statistical numbers (even though his presence alone would alter every game) and him being undersized (290 pounds is light for a defensive tackle) did a sure fire first round talent drop all the way to the third round. Dockett with his 40.5 career sacks and in my opinion is the best defensive tackle in Arizona Cardinals history (barely edging out the ever underrated Eric Swann). Dockett would prove in this postseason and across his career he would always make big plays in big moments…
Matt Ryan would hand the ball off to running back Michael Turner but Dockett blew the play up so quickly he met Turner has he got the ball stripping the ball off his leg and into the air where safety Antrell Rolle would catch the ball in mid air and take it the other way for a game altering touchdown. Well shift to the latter part of the game. The Cards had a 30-24 lead 2:17 left to play and a 3rd and 16 at the Falcons 46. A first down would allow the Cards to run the clock out where as a stop would give the dirty birds (who are not the Cardinals) one last chance to steal victory. 3rd and 16 is a dire situation but not when you have a hall of fame Quarterback as Kurt Warner would find 3rd string tight end Stephen Spach who had only two catches all season open in the middle of the field for a 23 yard completion for a first down to seal the game!!!
Next would be a visit to Carolina. Two things were already going against the redbirds in this game before kickoff. First, the Panthers were 8-0 at home in the regular season and already beat the Cardinals back in Week 8 in Charlotte. 2nd was Anquan Boldin being out with a hamstring injury which he suffered in the Falcons game on his 71 yard 2nd Quarter touchdown reception. The Cards were a ten point underdog and everyone was expecting the Panthers two headed rushing attack of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart to run the ball down the Cards throat and help the Kitties cruise to victory. Before we go to the game this Saturday night would be a strange start of many postseason battles between the Panthers and Cardinals in Carolina which for two teams with mixed success to have so many important encounters over the past 15 years being about as random as Where’s Waldo walking in a crowd.
The Panthers would do what we all thought they would do and run the ball down the Cardinals throat on the opening drive to take a 7-0 lead. Then the Cards would punt. We are all expecting this game to get out of hand at this point as the Panthers begin to start running the ball down the Cards throat again. On a 3rd and 2 the Panthers DeAngelo Williams would get stuffed by another Cardinals defensive legend.. Adrian Wilson
Wilson was drafted in the 3rd round out of North Carolina State University (Wolfpack!!) and showed enough in camp to become a starting strong safety from Day 1 in Arizona. Wilson was the beginning of what would become 20 years of great run stuffing game changing safeties in the clubs history (think of Tyrann Mathieu and Budda Baker in recent years). Wilson would join the 25 interception and 25 sack club, which is joined only by three other defensive players in NFL history. Brian Dawkins, Rodney Harrison, and Ronde Barber. Dawkins is the only member of this prestigious group to be in the Hall of Fame but Harrison and Barber have been close and could make it someday. Even being in this elite class Adrian Wilson has never even been mentioned to be in consideration for the Hall even though his resume states that he’s had one of the best careers of any safety in the 21st Century. Just the price you pay for being an Arizona Cardinal, always underappreciated.
With the huge stop the Cards defense makes Kurt Warner goes to work launching a bomb down the field to a double covered Larry Fitzgerald. Larry would soar up in the air and come down with the football over the two defenders for the big 37 yard completion. Three plays later Dirty Kurt would find running back Tim Hightower in the flat for a six yard touchdown and to the shock of everyone in Charlotte North Carolina we officially have ourselves a football game..
The very next play Cards defensive end Antonio Smith with strip the ball from Panthers Quarterback Jake Delhomme’s hands and recover it in the red zone. After an Edgerin James touchdown run it would be in an instant 14-7 Cardinals. Then something no one could have ever seen coming happened. The Cards turned this game into a rout almost immediately. Jake Delhomme would throw a red zone pick. Then the Cards would get a field goal to go up 17-7. Cards would get the ball back and Larry Fitzgerald would catch another deep pass to setup another Neil Rackers field goal to up 20-7. Delhomme would then throw another interception. When you want to bury your opponent as the shellshocked Panthers were more than on the ropes at this point who do you go to? Who do you think?? It’s a 2nd and 9 at the Panthers 30 yard line 3:40 left to play in the 2nd Quarter and the play clock is running down. We all thought the Cards were going to have to call timeout but Warner was able to get the snap. Protection was perfect and Kurt flings the ball about 23 yards down to field to a streaking Larry Fitzgerald who would catch the pass run towards the pylon and reach for it. The referees would deliberate but eventually both refs would put their arms up in the air signaling a touchdown!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Back in my house in Tempe we are throwing a football party with a ton of our close friends. My roommate is an Oakland Raiders fan but in January of 09 he has changed allegiances at least for a month or so. After the Fitzgerald touchdown which all but sealed the Panthers fate he was stroming around the house. He’s screaming at the top of his lungs 27-7!!! 27-7!!! 27-7!!! We are all fired up. At work even non football fans couldn’t stop talking about the Cards. The valley was buzzing like it never had before. The Cards would win 33-13 but the second half was mostly just Jake Delhomme turning himself into a meme throwing three more interceptions, to make it five on the day. To make the moment even more great the Eagles would upset the top seeded Giants in New Jersey the following day. The NFC Championship game is coming to the desert, take that Cris Collinsworth!!!!
The big toaster would be rocking like it never had before. I still get goosebumps watching the opening kickoff with the pure electricity you could feel through the television. The Cardinals would not waste any time. Warner would find Larry Fitzgerald for an opening drive touchdown. Then in the 2nd Quarter Larry Fitzgerald would catch another touchdown (on another flea flicker). Then a third touchdown. Larry Fitzgerald would have 7 catches for 128 yards and three touchdowns in the first half!!! The Cards would be up 24-6 at the half and it appeared it could be party time!! We are going to the Super Bowl….
In the second half things would fall apart in a hurry. Eagles Quarterback Donovan McNabb would complete a third and 19 to wide out Kevin Curtis for a 50 yard gain. That was the play that would change everything. The Eagles would shortly after score a touchdown to cut the score to 24-13. Then the Cards go 3 and out. Then the Eagles score again to make it 24-19. The Cards would again have a drive stall. Then Donovan McNabb smelling blood would go deep to DeSean Jackson. Cornerback Domnique Rodgers-Cromartie would leap for the ball and tip it in the air but Jackson would still juggle and catch the ball and stroll into the end zone for the 62 yard touchdown. What was an 18 point lead had evaporated in only 10 minutes of game time. 25-24 Eagles lead ten minutes left. All Kurt Warner and company can do is respond. 7:57 left and it’s 4th and 1 at the Eagles 49. Many coaches at this time would punt but not Ken Whisenhunt. Warner hands the ball off to running back Tim Hightower who looks like he is stuffed at the line but was able to bounce to the outside and just barely get the first down scampering out of bounds for a gain of 6. Now down at the Eagles 20 Dirty Kurt would go back to pass on a 2nd and 7. He would throw an out pattern to Larry Fitzgerald who would have to make a tough catch but would secure it and then drag Eagles cornerback Asante Samuel for four extra yards down to the Eagles 14. Larry is fired up, the crowd is fired up, everyone watching with me is fired up!!! That was the play that made me say, “WERE GOING TO THE F******* SUPER BOWL”!!!!! It was a six yard completion that didn’t even get a first down but in that moment I knew, we all knew. Four plays later Tim Hightower would score a touchdown on a brilliant screen pass to give the Cards the lead back. Add in a successful two point conversion and it’s 32-25 Redbirds with just over two minutes left…
Let’s shift to 4th and 10 for the Eagles at the Cardinals 47 with 1:57 to play. Donovan McNabb goes back to pass, the Cardinals bring the house blitzing six but do not get home and McNabb has a clean pocket to throw to Kevin Curtis guarded 1 on 1 by Cards Corner Rod Hood. Hood and Curtis tangle legs and both players fall at about the Cardinals 30 yard line, Curtis still has a chance to catch the pass but cannot hold on, INCOMPLETE, NO FLAGS ON THE FIELD!! The Eagles would get one last shot, at the Cards 9 yard line with 9 seconds to go. The Eagles try a lateral play that teams do in desperate times pitching the ball backwards to several players trying to get all the way to end zone. This has worked a couple of times in NFL history and why not have it happen to the bad luck Cardinals in the biggest of moments. But almost immediately the ball was pitched by DeSean Jackson to Darnell Dockett who plays for the Cardinals as he is brought down by a couple of Eagles offensive lineman, the clocks hits zero, it’s really happened. The Arizona Cardinals are going to the super bowl!!! The Arizona Cardinals are going to the Super Bowl!! Please don’t wake me up.
The Cards game ended at about 4:30 MST on January 18th, 2009. The Cards players, coaches and fans all watched and waited. At about 8:00 MST the AFC Champion had been crowned. It couldn’t have been written better as the more fitting opponent. A team that had won more Super Bowls than any other team in NFL History. A team that in the previous 45 years have had only 7 losing seasons and only three double digit losing seasons. The team that was the polar opposite of the Arizona Cardinals in every way. The team had a Quarterback that had questionable character, that was unliked by the media. Or the polar opposite of the great family man and beloved by the media signal caller that played for the Cards. The team that just passed over Ken Whisenhunt not even two years ago. Yes we are talking about the perfect antagonist to this story, the PIttsburgh Steelers!