NFC Championship Thread

[naiwf 0]

So, did Arizona deserve to make the playoffs?

 

Not really, but this is why the NFL is vastly superior to the college game which would have just had Titans/Giants and everyone else would have wondered what might have been.

[The Niggardly King 0]

THANKS TO JESUS

 

WOO

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

How many QBs have started the Super Bowl for two different teams? I'm really drawing a blank right now. Is Warner the first or am I forgetting somebody?

Craig Morton was the only one prior to this.

 

Oh yes. I thought I might have been forgetting somebody. That's why I asked. I forgot that Staubach didn't start that game. Thanks.

[Matt Young 0]

I never thought I'd see the day when the Arizona Cardinals would make it to the Super Bowl. It was a fun game, and I was rooting for them since, when there's not a team I love or hate in the game, I almost always root for the underdog. Here's hoping they can keep it up and make it a game against Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl. I predict the Steelers by 10.

[Kinetic 0]

Fucking A+ game there. I'm actually somehow excited about seeing the Cardinals in the Super Bowl.

[Wally Balls 0]

Gotta hand it to the Cardinals. No one believed that they would get out of the first round, I'm glad to see them succeed.

 

Another loss for McNabb but it was far from a losing performance. 375 yards with 3 TD's. The defense couldn't step up like they did in previous weeks. My hats off to McNabb for keeping them in the game. I'm sure we'll see him suit up for Philly again next season.

[Damaramu 0]

Gotta hand it to the Cardinals. No one believed that they would get out of the first round, I'm glad to see them succeed.

 

Another loss for McNabb but it was far from a losing performance. 375 yards with 3 TD's. The defense couldn't step up like they did in previous weeks. My hats off to McNabb for keeping them in the game. I'm sure we'll see him suit up for Philly again next season.

 

I'm sure he will. If they could get a pounder at the RB position and another WR threat to compliment Jackson then I think they'll be pretty damn good next season.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Brandon Jacobs is an unrestricted free agent...

[garfieldsnose 0]

McNabb certainly will be back next season. There are no other options right now and if you're a smart fan, you don't want anyone else QBing this team because McNabb is the man. He didn't lose this game and I've always respected what he's done. Still, 1-4 in NFC Title games is embarrassing and depressing. I don't know when I'll get over this one, but it still isn't as bad as the Bucs game in 2003.

 

As for that blown call on the kick out of bounds, they ultimately got the call right by horribly blowing the call. Dude's foot was out of bounds when the ball his his arm, so it would've been Eagles ball there anyways. They just went on a horrible track for making the right ruling.

 

I'm depressed but at the same time excited for next season. Celek is an emerging star, so see ya LJ Smith. We're probably going to lose vets like Runyan, Tra Thomas, Buckhalter, Dawkins maybe, and a few others, but with McNabb I feel like we have a good chance for a playoff run next year. The defense is young and impressive, and hopefully they've gained a lot of experience. Reid and McNabb(when healthy) are the best chance we have RIGHT NOW to win. A new coach and new QB mean years of rebuilding and we're just not ready for that yet. Here's to hoping we go sign a top flight receiver to pair with Curtis and Jackson. Avant is a capable #3 and would be a great #4.

 

That being said, it is embarrassing that the Arizona Cardinals beat us in the NFC Title game. No excuses.

[Vampiro69 0]

I have been following this team for 15 years and at the start of the year all I wanted was for the Cardinals to make the playoffs. I never expected this though.

[Damaramu 0]

I agree with you Jack Swagger. McNabb may make some goofy ass mistakes sometimes, but at least he gets us there. Not winning them does suck and pisses me off, but with Kolb at QB we'd be in the cellar.

And it's not like there's really that many good-great QBs in the league.

[naiwf 0]

I agree with you Jack Swagger. McNabb may make some goofy ass mistakes sometimes, but at least he gets us there. Not winning them does suck and pisses me off, but with Kolb at QB we'd be in the cellar.

And it's not like there's really that many good-great QBs in the league.

 

I would have thought you'd get tired of perpetually being the bridsemaid after the latest Stoops/McNabb debacles. McNabb's not going to win you the big one, so let him go, suck it up for a season or two and try your hand at getting lucky and finding a franchise QB in the draft. It's better than being the team that always does OK but never wins or does poorly enough to reload quickly by getting a Flacco or Ryan.

[Psycho Penguin 0]

Damu defending McNabb with that sig is pretty funny.

[garfieldsnose 0]

McNabb is fine. He showed today he still has a lot left and he did fine with a 30% Brian Westbrook and average receivers. Sure with his 1-4 record in NFC Title games it'd be easy to say he's never gonna win the big one, let him go. You could've said the same thing about Elway.

[2GOLD 0]

 

Plus how is Donovan supposed to win today when it was the DEFENSE who suddenly decided to stop frickin blitzing on the Cards last drive after the four drives before they blitzed them to death and it worked. The changing of the defense once the Eagles had the lead made zero sense to me. Why do you suddenly go to a coverage defense when the massive overload blitz was making sure Warner had zero time.

 

McNabb and the offense did everything in the second half. It was the defense that failed in the first half and at the end.

[garfieldsnose 0]

Jim Johnson had tended to do that in recent years, especially in NFC Title games. He finds something that works, but feels the offense will pick up on it so doesn't stick with it for an extended period of time and changes it up. Sometimes, I wish he would just stick with it until it fails him instead of him trying to avoid the eventual fail.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

You guys should know better by now. The blame will go to McNabb & Reid, whether it was actually their fault or not. It always does.

[garfieldsnose 0]

Luckily, Jeffrey Lurie is smart enough not to let them go. I think they're $20+ million under the cap next year, and there should be no reason to improve the offense with more linemen and another wide receiver. I'd like to see how a TO return if he is released from Dallas would go over. That's one guy I do not want back here.

[Maztinho 0]

Luckily, Jeffrey Lurie is smart enough not to let them go. I think they're $20+ million under the cap next year, and there should be no reason to improve the offense with more linemen and another wide receiver. I'd like to see how a TO return if he is released from Dallas would go over. That's one guy I do not want back here.

 

 

[Damaramu 0]

Damu defending McNabb with that sig is pretty funny.

 

The sig was made out of anger at the time. But I mean, thanks for giving me trouble like you usually do. Knew I could count on you.

 

 

He did miss a weird amount of open receivers today though. But yes the defense was mind-boggling. Especially how they just pounded the Cards in the second half then when they got the lead the Cards suddenly answered back. It was pretty puzzling.

[cabbageboy 0]

Yeah, I have been dead wrong about the Cardinals this entire postseason, picking them to lose big in each of these 3 games. It's been hard to get over Arizona's complete non effort the last month of the season starting with that Philly game on Thanksgiving.

 

Philly's defense struggling today isn't really a big shock though. Their D isn't shut down type good, not like Steelers or Ravens level. The Cowboys put up 41 on them this year, Giants put up 36 in the first game. Philly gave the illusion of having a great defense since they played the offensively inept Vikings with Tavaris Jackson and a Giants team minus Plaxico.

 

Come to think of it, the Steelers might have some trouble with Arizona. The Steelers have looked great on defense when playing against offensively challenged teams like the Ravens, but really Phillip Rivers put up numbers on them without a viable running game or especially good WRs.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

/world ends

 

Not quite. There's always the Clippers reaching the NBA finals.

[yankovic fan 0]

So we still have the SB to play, but listening to the interviewer asking Warner if he wanted to return next season made me wonder, if he does return, where does Matt Leinart go?

 

Can they still afford that expensive of a back up?

 

Personally if I was Warner, win or lose I'm retiring after the Pro Bowl. I don't know that they can do this again next year.

 

 

And watching the game, I too kept thinking about Canton in the back of my mind. And I will never be accused of being a Warner fan.

[fazzle 0]

Maybe someone else can clear this up for me, and there's a rule in the NFL rulebook I don't know about. On that kickoff "out of bounds" that everyone was crying that Arizona got screwed on, am I the only one who sees it as PHILLY getting screwed there?

 

The ball landed in bounds. The receiver was chasing after it, and it then hit him while he was out of bounds. How is this any different than when a kickoff dribbles down the sideline, and a receiver intentionally goes out of bounds, and then reaches inbounds, thereby making the kickoff be ruled out of bounds, and drawing a penalty? Whether he intentionally does it or not, shouldn't the result be the same? It hit him out of bounds, so the ball should be ruled out, right? Shouldn't Philly have been awarded the ball at the 40, and not at the spot it went out?

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

How is this any different than when a kickoff dribbles down the sideline, and a receiver intentionally goes out of bounds, and then reaches inbounds, thereby making the kickoff be ruled out of bounds, and drawing a penalty?

 

That's a penalty on the receiving team, not the kicking team. To draw an illegal procedure against the kicking team, the ball has to go out of bounds on its own.

 

Whether he intentionally does it or not, shouldn't the result be the same? It hit him out of bounds, so the ball should be ruled out, right? Shouldn't Philly have been awarded the ball at the 40, and not at the spot it went out?

 

No. If that were the case, what's to prevent receiving teams from just batting the ball out of bounds, ensuring that they get the ball at the 40? (Technically, it's 35 yards from the spot of the kick.) Point is, if an eligible player on the receiving team "fumbles" the ball out of bounds, that's where the ball is spotted, provided it doesn't make any forward progress.

 

 

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

So we still have the SB to play, but listening to the interviewer asking Warner if he wanted to return next season made me wonder, if he does return, where does Matt Leinart go?

 

Can they still afford that expensive of a back up?

 

Personally if I was Warner, win or lose I'm retiring after the Pro Bowl. I don't know that they can do this again next year.

 

On your first point, ask Green Bay. Rodgers didn't get his start until, this was his fifth season, right? It's advantageous to let that expensive rookie develop under a seasoned winner like Favre, or Warner in this case. Other teams aren't going to be beating down the doors to try to get Leinart anyway. It would be best for both parties to shell out the dough on the high-profile backup of the future.

 

This will probably be moot, especially when Warner will most likely either retire after this season, or get no more than a one or two year deal from another team. Win or lose, I doubt very much that Warner, a UFA, will stay in Arizona after this season.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Rodgers was drafted in 2005 actually, so it was only his third year in the league. I'm not so sure that Leinart is going to be a great QB anyways- you could make a case for him being a product of having a tremendous team around him and being a great college QB doesn't necessarily translate into NFL success. How many great quarterbacks- or even good ones- have had respectable college careers? Peyton Manning is the only one I can think of, although McNabb had a good run at Syracuse, holding a ton of Big East records, and of course there's Carson Palmer as well. Brady was a back-up in Michigan. BenRo and Pennington both played for borderline Div-IA schools.

 

Maybe I'll be wrong on Leinart- for the Cards' sake I hope I am, because I fully agree Warner won't be sticking around in Arizona after this season.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

Matt Cassel >>>> Matt Leinart

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Peyton Manning is the only one I can think of, although McNabb had a good run at Syracuse, holding a ton of Big East records, and of course there's Carson Palmer as well

 

Those guys are pretty good, y'know.

 

Add Eli Manning to your list.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

John Elway and Dan Marino did pretty decent too. I'm sure there's plenty actually, and I think that college success is a pretty good indicator, though not the be all and end all that some make it out to be.