The Arizona Cardinals defeated the Atlanta Falcons 30-24 to advance to the NFC Divisional Round to face either the New York Giants or Carolina Panthers. Coming into the game, the Falcons were listed as the favorites because of the way the Cardinals finished the season. They locked up the NFC West division about a month ago, but went into a slide shortly after, including losses to the Minnesota Vikings and New England Patriots where they were down 28-0 at halftime in each game.
Falcons' rookie quarterback Matt Ryan was effective in the first half, despite throwing an interception early in the first quarter. It started to fall apart in the second half, when Ryan threw another interception and was sacked in the end zone for a safety. Meanwhile, Cardinals' quarterback Kurt Warner was effective.
Warner was 19 of 32 for 271 yards and two touchdowns and an interception, whic occurred in the first half. Running back Edgerrin James finally got a lot of carries and was effective, carrying the ball 16 times for 73 yards. James has been secondary to rookie running back Tim Hightower all season, and James has publicly stated that he will not come back after this season. The Falcons running game was non-existent. Pro Bowl running back Michael Turner only had 42 yards on 18 carries.
In this game, three things were pretty evident. First, Ryan wasn't ready to handle the pressure of being in the playoffs. Secondly, the Cardinals were riding the wave of home-field advantage. Finally, the playoff format needs to be changed to where the team with the better record gets home-field advantage. I believe the Falcons lost because they were uncomfortable playing on the road, and it's not fair to the Falcons. The NFL needs to consider changing that.
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