The Arizona Cardinals responded from a halftime deficit and controlled most of the second half in today’s NFC wild card game against the Atlanta Falcons, taking home a hard-fought 30-24 victory.
“We just didn’t get it done,” said Falcons head coach Mike Smith. “They [Arizona] made plays when they had to.”
The Falcons still made Arizona sweat, fighting back late to get within one score with four minutes left.
But the Cardinals coolly iced the game, notching three first downs through the air to run out the clock.
The final of those came on a third-and-16 strike from Kurt Warner to little-used Stephen Spach for a 23-yard gain. Spach had caught just one pass for three yards all year entering today’s matchup.
“They just did a great job of play action,” said linebacker Coy Wire. “They had a great call in that situation.”
The Cardinals led 30-17 midway through the fourth quarter, having dominated the proceedings. But Atlanta’s offense started moving the ball late in the game.
Jerious Norwood got the ball rolling when he caught a pass out of the backfield on fourth-and-6 and scampered 28 yards to the Arizona 26 with just under seven minutes to go.
After hooking up with Norwood, quarterback Matt Ryan connected on his next five passes, capping off the drive with a 5-yard strike to Roddy White for a touchdown with 4:19 left to pull Atlanta back within six.
“I really thought the guys showed their resiliency there,” said Smith. “It’s tough to have a chance there at the end and we weren’t able to get a stop.”
The beginning of the third quarter was the main reason for Arizona’s second-half dominance, as they grabbed all of the momentum before many fans could get back to their seats.
Trailing 17-14, Arizona’s Darnell Dockett blew up a run play in the backfield on Atlanta’s second play from scrimmage, thwarting the exchange between Matt Ryan and Michael Turner. Antrel Rolle picked the ball up and took it 21 yards to the house to give the Cards a lead that they wouldn’t relinquish.
“It was a momentum changer,” said wide receiver Brian Finneran. “They got a good jump off the ball and disrupted the hand-off.”
The Falcons weren’t the same after that.
Tim Hightower stretched the lead to 28-17 with a 4-yard touchdown run with 2:48 left in the third quarter.
The Cardinals continued their dominance early in the fourth when Antonio Smith sacked Matt Ryan in the end zone for a safety with 12:37 left in the game, stretching the lead to 30-17.
The Falcons seemed to have lost their way early in the first half, too. They fell behind 7-0 early after Kurt Warner hit Larry Fitzgerald for a 42-yard touchdown off of a flea flicker less than five minutes into the game.
Then he hooked up with Anquan Boldin for a 71-yard strike. Boldin caught the short pass over the middle, then beat Lawyer Milloy to the sideline and ran untouched into the end zone to give the Cards a 14-3 lead.
But Atlanta responded. Matt Ryan caught fire after the slow start, directing a 77-yard scoring drive that ended with a 7-yard touchdown rush from Michael Turner to pull Atlanta within 14-10 with 2:55 left in the half.
Then Chevis Jackson picked off a deflected pass from Warner, giving Atlanta the ball at the Arizona 23 just before the two-minute warning. Six plays later, Ryan found tight end Justin Peelle on play action from 2 yards out for the go-ahead score. Peelle’s score gave Atlanta a 17-14 lead at the break.
“I thought we started off slow,” said Roddy White, “but we picked up the tempo in the second quarter.”
Jason Elam kicked off the scoring for the Falcons. He split the uprights from 30 yards out early in the second quarter to pull Atlanta within 7-3.
Ryan passed for 199 yards on the day. Roddy White continued to be his favorite target, catching 11 balls for 84 yards and a score, but also dropped two crucial passes on the day. Keith Brooking and Erik Coleman led the defense with six tackles apiece.
The Cardinals were led by a familiar name on offense, albeit a somewhat forgotten one. Edgerrin James, unhappy with his role as a pass blocker for most of the year, toted the rock 16 times for 73 yards to keep the Atlanta defense guessing.
“They had some fresh legs back there,” said Wire. “[James] played a great game and ran hard. You’ve got to give them respect for performing in that way.”
Warner helped pave the way for the surprisingly balanced Arizona attack, which had relied almost exclusively on the pass all year. He completed 13 of 17 passes in the second half, and finished with 271 yards and two touchdowns. Fitzgerald led the receiving corps with six catches for 101 yards and a touchdown.
The Cardinals now face a road trip to either Pittsburgh or Tennessee for the second round of the playoffs.
As for the Falcons, their season comes to an end.
“This is all part of the process,” said Smith. “We’re going to remember how we feel as a football team because we plan on being back in this situation and we want to remember how it feels.”
Bagriansky can be reached at jbagriansky@scoreatl.com.
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