History repeats itself

I had hoped that the fact that New Orleans Saints had failed to come with their A game in five straight games (before their three losses they had two near-losses to non-playoff teams, one of whom was the Washington Redskins), that the Cardinals would be able to knock them off. I wonder if once New Orleans was assured of home field advantage throughout the playoffs, they put a lot of their playbook under lock and key for the playoffs. In any event, the Cardinals' A-game was MIA in the Superdome.

However, history does not side with teams who win close, high-scoring playoff games in the previous round. I am old enough to have been a San Diego Chargers fan in the late 70s and early 80s, (the Cardinals had yet to come to Arizona) and witnessed the nerve-wracking Charger victory over the Miami Dolphins. However, the Chargers' season came to a screeching halt in the Freezer Bowl in Cincinnati the following week, losing 27-7 to the Bengals. I link to an account of that game on the title.

Congratulations to the Who Dat Nation. At this time the Vikings lead the Cowboys, which suggests to me that Brett Favre and company are going to have to rehearse the silent count for the NFC championship game, because they are going into the loudest stadium in the NFL.

Arizona Cardinals 51, Green Bay Packers 45

An epic battle. Next opponents: the New Orleans Saints.

Red Alert: Cardinals take out Giants in the Meadowlands.

Arizona Cardinals 24, New York Giants 17.

Was it a fumble?

I promised I would not blame the game's result on the officiating. But it was pretty obviously an incomplete pass. Of course, all that would have resulted in was a chance for a Hail Mary in the end zone. Warner would just have to throw it into coverage and hope that Larry or Anquan came down with it. Two costly plays: the pick-6 at the goal line by Harrison just before half, and Aaron Francisco falling down and allowing the 46-yard Santonio Holmes catch.

On the other hand, the game with the Eagles could have gone the other way as well. The Panthers were not a championship caiber team, but the Eagles, the Cardinals and the Steelers were all championship caliber teams. The scoring history in the Eagles game and the Steelers game was remarkably similar, with the Cardinals in reversed roles.

Pittsburgh Steelers 27, Arizona Cardinals 23

The good news is that this is one of history's great Super Bowls. The bad news is, the Cardinals lost.

The Cardinals are in the Super Bowl

I used to explain the difference between true belief and knowledge by pointing out to my classes that, someday, hard as it may be to believe, the Cardinals will get to the Super Bowl, and, when they do, some diehard fans (who will probably be fair-weather fans in actuality) will say that they KNEW the Cardinals would make it. Of course, they would be wrong, since their belief would have been justified at the beginning of the season. I stick to my statement, since, for example, the team I expected to get there from the NFC, suffered from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Some Surprising Success for the Arizona Cardinals

Now, they face Philadelphia for a trip to the Super Bowl.