GLENDALE, Ariz. -- For 61 years, they've been the NFL's picture of futility, the punch-line of many a joke, their zip code in Loser-land the same as many other sports franchises that find it hard to leave.
But the Arizona Cardinals are moving up -- and out. Their address has changed. They're leaving behind their old neighbors like the Los Angeles Clippers and Chicago Cubs. They're losers no more. They're going to the Super Bowl.
The biggest reason they are going is because in a league of teams that play not-to-lose rather than to win, the Cardinals are a refreshing change.
They showed off that go-for-it style in beating the Philadelphia Eagles 32-25 in a classic NFC Championship Game Sunday at University of Phoenix Stadium, a victory that has the Cardinals one victory away from their first NFL title since 1947.
"I have some bottles to pop," Cardinals guard Reggie Wells screamed in the locker room after the game.
The desert might run out of champagne this week. After years of losing more games than any NFL franchise in history, the Cardinals won their biggest game Sunday by doing what they've done all season long, which is to play full speed, pedal-to-the-medal fast.
Some coaches might back away from that style with so much at stake, but not Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt and offensive coordinator Todd Haley. They let it all out, including one of the best trick plays you'll see in a big game.
The Cardinals scored on a 62-yard throwback, flea-flicker pass from Kurt Warner to Larry Fitzgerald in the second quarter, one of three touchdown passes the three hooked up for in the game, to send a clear message to the Eagles that it was all going to be out there.
"I can't play like that (conservatively)," Haley said. "As long as I'm calling the plays, I'm calling the plays to win."
It helps to have a quarterback like Warner. The 37-year-old Warner proved to be one of the game's greats -- yes, great -- by playing flawlessly, including a magical game-winning drive in the fourth quarter.
That performance might have been Warner's inauguration day: right into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
"Arizona Cardinals and Super Bowl in the same sentence," Warner said. "I like the way that sounds. Arizona Cardinals in the Super Bowl. How about that?"
They almost blew it. After jumping to a 24-6 first-half lead, the Cardinals had to hold on for dear life. The Eagles, thanks to an outstanding game by Donovan McNabb, actually took the lead with 10:45 left on a 62-yard touchdown pass from McNabb to rookie DeSean Jackson that made it 25-24.
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| 'Arizona Cardinals in the Super Bowl. How about that?' Kurt Warner says. (Getty Images) |
Here we go again.
"You know they were all saying it," Cardinals defensive tackle Darnell Dockett said. "After all they've been through, I know they were thinking it and saying it."
Why not? The Cardinals looked to be in total control, but the Eagles outscored them 19-0 to take the lead.
That set the stage for the biggest drive in the team's history, bigger than any when the Chicago Cardinals won the title in 1947 because who the heck was paying attention back then?
Who better to have the controls than Warner? The man was written off for dead by most. Too old, they said. Too fragile, they insisted. Holds the ball. Turns it over. Best days behind him.
Even the Cardinals weren't so sure he had anything left. But Warner won the starting job in training camp in a close battle with Matt Leinart and now he has the Cardinals in the Super Bowl, the third of his career.
That's because Warner is what the position is meant to be: A stand-in-the-pocket-scan-the-field passer who isn't afraid to wait to make a throw.
Warner, who won two MVPs and went to two Super Bowls with the St. Louis Rams, finished the game 21-of-28 for 279 yards and four touchdowns. He threw no interceptions and had a passer rating of 145.7.
"How about that drive?" Cardinals right tackle Levi Brown yelled in the locker room after the game.
They will one day come up with a name for it, something cute, something catchy. For now, we'll call it what it was.
Masterful.
Warner led the Cardinals on a 14-play, 72-yard march to the winning touchdown, coming on an 8-yard screen pass to rookie Tim Hightower with 2:53 left. Warner followed by connecting with Ben Patrick for the two-point conversion to make it 32-25.
Before the drive, Haley had a short conversation with his quarterback.
At least nobody in a uniform. You can bet the Cardinals fans were for sure. Warner was 5-for-5 for 56 yards on the drive, with the biggest throw coming on a second-and-11 at the Cardinals 27. He hit Fitzgerald for 15 yards and a first down. If that pass is not completed, the Cardinals face a big third down and, to be honest, they were in big trouble.
The Cardinals then converted a huge fourth-and-1 at the Philadelphia 49 when Hightower ran for 6 yards to keep the drive -- and the Cardinals' hopes -- alive.
The screen to Hightower is a perfect example of why the Cardinals won. They weren't, and aren't, afraid to do things out of the norm.
With everyone expecting the third-and-goal call to go to Fitzgerald, Arizona put the ball into the hands of a rookie fifth-round pick in Hightower, who broke two tackles to get into the end zone.
When the defense stopped the Eagles on downs, the Cardinals were on their way to the Super Bowl.
"We're going to have to keep proving you all wrong," Cardinals defensive end Antonio Smith said. "You're all going to keep looking dumb."
The Cardinals locker room was surprisingly subdued after the game. Maybe that's because they know if they don't win the Super Bowl, their address change will be only temporary.
"The only way to change things is to win the Super Bowl, not just show up," Smith said.
As the confetti fell from the rafters early Sunday night, the Cardinals players danced and hugged and celebrated like they had never before in their history.
That's because they're losers no more.
