Skip to content
Sports
Link copied to clipboard

Who Are Those Guys?

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- During all those years of coming here to watch the Eagles play the Cardinals in Sun Devil Stadium, the events of Sunday are still difficult to process.

In those days, not so long ago, the fans put bags on their heads and screamed terrible things at owner Bill Bidwell and accepted the fact that they would sit on those searing aluminum bleachers every September and, through the eye holes in the bag, watch another season get thrown away.

Maybe that's part of the reason I was so sure the Eagles would beat the Cards in the NFC Championship game. Call it muscle memory, but when you see that bird on the side of the helmet, you expect the team to fall apart.

That's also what happened after halftime, but then the Eagles lost the game a second time. So, how did the Cardinals prevent the Eagles from getting to the Super Bowl?

Well, in three postseason games, the Eagles scored 26, 23 and 25 points. In those three games, the Eagles gave up 14, 11 and 32 points.

So, the issue is obvious. The offense was just as productive. The defense fell apart. They didn't do the one single thing that had to be done: Get to Kurt Warner and rattle him. Why not? Heck of a question. Warner mixed it up well, got rid of the ball quickly and had a running game that kept the Eagles off balance.

Still, Jim Johnson got outcoached and he would be the first to admit that his first-half scheme wasn't as good as the first-half scheme of the Cardinals.

The Cardinals.

Oh, and my apologies for touting the Eagles and the under. Didn't work out well for me, either.