Revenge Of The Birds: Cards Wins Thriller In OT

Cardinals blog Revenge of the Birds is still catching its breathe after the thrilling 51-45 OT victory Sunday for Arizona over Green Bay. They saw a lot of good things out there, including one they’ve come to expect (Kurt Warner) and one they haven’t (running game):

Kurt Warner played in the twelfth postseason game of his career, and was outstanding. He recording a 154.1 quarterback rating when all was said and done. He threw for 379 yards and 5 touchdowns over a Packers defense that ranked 5th in the league not that long ago. For his career, he’s done just about everything right when the season’s been on the line, and that didn’t stop today.

The Cardinals running game silently ran for 156 yards against the 1st ranked rushing defense in the league. How that happened you ask? Much of the yards can be credited to Beanie Wells, who rushed for 92 on the day. The added rushing game is what propelled the Cardinals through the playoffs last year. The same might be said this time around.

Of course, there was a lot of bad out there as well. Especially that whole “let the Packers come all the way back and tie up the game in the 2nd half” thing.

The Cardinals slowly melted down after jumping out to a 17-0 lead. The offense was driving in the 2nd quarter when Larry Fitzgerald couldn’t hang onto the ball, fumbling after being hit by Charles Woodson. That was the first mistake that shifted much of the momentum into the Packers hands. The second mistake happened in the 3rd quarter, when Green Bay unexpectedly onside kicked the ball to the dismay of the Cardinals return unit. The Packers recovered the ball and eventually drove into the end zone to get within seven points.

The Cardinals head to New Orleans next week where 51 points might just be required again if they hope to outscore Drew Brees and the Saints.