The Arizona Cardinals were depleted and more fatigued than the New Orleans Saints in their NFC Divisional Round game, but I was still expecting a much closer outcome.  The Cardinals defense just could not stop Drew Brees, Reggie Bush, and the rest of the Saints offense.  One main reason was that Dominique Rodgers-Cromartrie (knee) and Antrel Rolle (concussion) both got injured in the first half and Drew Brees took advantage.  Brees finished with 3 touchdowns and 247 yards on 23/32 passes.  Reggie Bush hurt the Cardinals the most though.  He rushed for 84 yards and 1 touchdown on only 5 carries, including a 46-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter to put the Cardinals in a 21-7 hole.  Bush hurt the Cardinals in special teams too, returning a punt for 83 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter to put the game out of reach for the Cards.

Kurt Warner and the offense did their best early in the game to try and keep up, but the Saints made some huge plays and the Cardinals were in a hole early.  In what might have been Warner’s final game, he got really banged up, getting blindsided on a block after being intercepted, and looked a little gingerly from then on.  He finished with 205 yards, no touchdowns, and 1 interception on 17/26 passes.  Justin Hightower had a huge 70-yard touchdown run on the first play for the Cardinals, but after that the Cardinals only got 30 rushing yards the rest of the game.  Beanie Wells only had 7 yards on 5 carries.  The Saints overpowered and outplayed the Cardinals on both sides of the ball and it may be the end of the Kurt Warner era in Arizona.

The Arizona Cardinals offense was more than impressive in their 51-45 win over the Packers in the Wild Card round, but their defense was very weak.  They did get a great defensive play to win the game, but they gave up 45 points.  The Packers had a good offense, but they don’t have the weapons that the New Orleans Saints have.  The Saints have lost three straight going into this game, and they didn’t score more than 24 points in any of those games.  These are the playoffs though, so I am expecting the Saints to be much sharper in this game against the Cardinals.  They averaged 404 total yards per game this season, and they have a great quarterback in Drew Brees.  Brees has a great running game to go to as well, using three different running backs that gave the Saints an a rushing average of 132 yards per game.  This is going to be a very tough matchup for the Cardinals defense.

Kurt Warner has proven he is one of the best postseason quarterbacks ever and his 379 yard, 5 touchdown performance last week was amazing.  He had more touchdowns than he did incomplete passes (4).  The Saints defense is nothing spectacular too, so Warner should be able to find a lot of success.  They held teams to 235 passing yards per game in the regular season, but I expect Warner to easily surpass that with Larry Fitzgerald to throw to.  Anquan Boldin also may be able to suit up, giving Warner another huge weapon to go to.  The Cardinals ran the ball well against the Packers too, and with the Saints giving up 122 rushing yards per game they should continue a strong running game.  They are definitely going to need another huge game out of their offense, since I don’t see the Cardinals defense slowing down the Saints enough.  It could be another exciting, high-scoring affair but I think the Saints will be too much for the Cardinals to keep up with the whole game and I’m taking the Saints by a touchdown.

PREDICTION:  Arizona Cardinals 31, New Orleans Saints 38

Kurt Warner and the Arizona Cardinals got into a gun-slinging offensive shootout against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers.  Warner had one of the best games in postseason history, throwing for 379 yards and 5 touchdowns on 29/33 (88%) passes.  Warner has had more than a few great postseason games, and he is looking more and more like a Hall-of-Fame candidate.  His favorite targets were Steve Breaston and Larry Fitzgerald.  Breaston had 7 catches for 125 yards and 1 touchdown, while Fitzgerald had 6 catches for 82 yards and 2 touchdowns.  The running game was great as well, which was an added bonus to such a stellar passing game.  Beanie Wells ran hard, gaining 91 yards on 14 carries for an average of 6.5 yards per carry.  Breaston had one big rush for 28 yards, and the Cardinals finished with 156 rushing yards as a team.

The Cardinals defense was going up against a passing game almost as good as their own.  Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers nearly matched Warner’s phenomenal passing stats, going 28/42 for 422 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 1 interception.  The Packers had 493 total yards, while the Cardinals had 531 total yards.  It was also the highest scoring game in postseason history.  The defense was torn apart by Rodgers most of the game, but they made two huge plays on the first and final play of the game.  Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie picked off Rodgers on the first play of the game, giving the Cardinals some big momentum on their way to a 17-0 first quarter.  Rodgers brought the Packers back into the game, but in overtime Karlos Dansby grabbed a Rodgers fumble out of the air and ran 17 yards for a game-winning touchdown.  Michael Adams had the big hit that forced the fumble, and in a game dominated by offense it was the Cardinals defense that ultimately decided the outcome.

The Arizona Cardinals decided to rest their starters against the Green Bay Packers last week, and they were blown out 33-7 because of it.  We will see if the extra rest paid off for the Cardinals in their rematch against the Packers this weekend in the NFC Wild Card game.  The Cardinals got hot at the right time last year, winning the NFC Championship and making a trip to the Super Bowl.  They are looking to get hot again in this year’s playoffs, and the offense should be able to find success and get on the right track against the Packers.  They have a great quarterback in Kurt Warner, who has two huge weapons in the passing game with All-Pro wide-receivers Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin.  The Packers have a very solid defense though, giving up only 284 yards per game this season.  They are great at stopping the run, so if Beanie Wells and Tim Hightower can get some things going in the running game it would be huge for Warner and the passing game.  It’s not likely they will rack up that many rushing yards though, so Warner will have to do most of the work with his arm.

The Cardinals defense will be facing a very good quarterback in Aaron Rodgers.  Rodgers has a great season this year, throwing for 4,434 yards, 30 touchdowns, and only 7 interceptions.  He completed 65% of his passes and has a very strong arm.  He also gets a lot of help from his running backs, with the Packers averaging 118 rushing yards this season.  The big weakness for the Packers is their pass protection, as they gave up 50 sacks this season.  The Cardinals front line should have some opportunities to get to Rodgers and they need to make the most of them.  If the Cardinals can’t slow Rodgers down, they will likely lose the game.  I want to go with the former NFC Champs in this game, but with Rodgers playing so well and the Packers coming off a big win over the Cardinals, I am going with the Packers in this game.

PREDICTION:  Arizona Cardinals 24, Green Bay Packers 27

The Arizona Cardinals played tough until the end holding off the Falcons yesterday.  Kurt Warner was solid as usual as he completed 19 of 32 passes for 271 yards with 2 TD passes and 1 interception.  Edgerrin James led the way in the running game for the Cardinals with 73 yards rushing on 16 carries (4.6 ypc).  Tim Hightower pitched in with 23 yards rushing on 6 carries (3.8 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Larry Fitzgerald (6 rec, 101 yards, TD) and Anquan Boldin (2 rec, 72 yards, TD) led the way in the passing game for the Cardinals yesterday.  The Cardinals finished up with 86 yards rushing on 28 carries (3.1 ypc) as a team yesterday.  They also completed 19 of 32 passes for 271 yards.

CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (10 tackles, interception) and linebacker Karlos Dansby (8 tackles) led the way on defense for the Cardinals.  The Cardinals held the Falcons to 60 yards rushing on 24 carries (2.5 ypc) in this game which was pretty impressive.  The Falcons also completed 26 of 40 passes for 190 yards.