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Cardinals host Eagles with NFC title on line

Jan 14, 2009 - 10:51 PM Philadelphia (11-6-1) at Arizona (11-7), 3 p.m. EST

GLENDALE, Arizona (Ticker) -- The upstart Arizona Cardinals are more than happy to be in familiar surroundings as they prepare to host the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC championship game on Sunday.

That Arizona still is alive in the postseason is quite a surprise. That the Cardinals managed to snag home field for the conference title game is a downright shocker.

Even coach Ken Whisenhunt admitted he did not expect to see University of Phoenix Stadium again this season after the Cardinals defeated the Atlanta Falcons in the wild card round of the playoffs.

"After our wild-card win here against Atlanta, I did my victory lap around the stadium because I thought it might have been the last chance for me to show my appreciation to our fans," Whisenhunt said. "As we all know now that was incorrect and I've never been happier to be wrong."

Arizona owes a debt of gratitude to the Eagles for having the championship game end up in the desert. The sixth-seeded Eagles recorded back-to-back road wins in the playoffs, including Sunday's 23-11 victory over the top-seeded New York Giants to advance to their fifth title contest in 10 years.

That upset, combined with Arizona's stunning 33-13 wipeout of the No. 2 Carolina Panthers on Saturday, left the Cardinals as the highest seed remaining in the NFC and secured their first appearance in the title game since 1948 - when the franchise was in Chicago.

That scenario hardly seemed possible after Arizona suffered four lopsided defeats in a five-game span down the stretch, surrendering at least 35 points in each of the losses.

Included among them was a 48-20 loss to, ironically, the Eagles on Thanksgiving night, a game that sparked Philadelphia's late run to the postseason.

"You have to have a short memory in this game and last Saturday seems like a long time from right now," Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner said. "Obviously, we all think about that game on Thanksgiving, but I felt that game at the time it was just a tough situation for us and the Eagles came out and played a great football game.

"We're going to learn as much as we can from that tape and that film, but we have to approach this as a different game and a different time and continue to try and commit and prepare the way we have the last couple of games."

Following the rocky stretch, Arizona has regained its footing behind a resurgent defense and running game and the spectacular play of wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, who has 14 receptions for 267 yards and two touchdowns in the postseason.

Edgerrin James and rookie Tim Hightower combined for 133 yards rushing in the rout of the Panthers while the defense intercepted Jake Delhomme five times and also forced a fumble as the Cardinals posted their first victory on the East Coast in six trips this season.

In a 30-24 wild-card victory over Atlanta, Arizona held Michael Turner, the league's second-leading rusher, to a season-low 42 yards on 18 carries.

"They're paying attention to the little things now ? all the little things involved in being a good and disciplined defense they're doing now," Whisenhunt said. "That's the reason I believe we're making some plays and playing good team defense."

The Eagles also made a dramatic turnaround, starting with the Thanksgiving romp over Arizona. Just four days earlier, they had been crushed by the Baltimore Ravens, 36-7, to fall to 5-5-1, but the win over the Cardinals started a stretch of six victories in the last seven games.

"I thought we played well that game, and I thought they gave us a little confidence going into the next games that followed," Eagles coach Andy Reid said.

Philadelphia's defense has sparked the surge, not allowing an opponent to score more than 14 points in the last six games. During that stretch, the Eagles have allowed just one passing touchdown, and that came in the final 15 seconds of a 20-14 win over New York on December 7.

Although quarterback Donovan McNabb threw two interceptions against the Giants last weekend, he has 11 scoring passes and just four picks in his last seven contests. This has come after he was benched at halftime in the loss to Baltimore.

McNabb led the game-breaking drive against the Giants, capped by his 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Brent Celek. For the game, the Eagles were successful on 50 percent (7-of-14) of their third-down conversions.

"He's playing very well," Philadelphia running back Brian Westbrook said of McNabb. "He's been asked to carry this team and he's been doing a great job. His being confident and he's been helping his other teammates, including me, to stay focused and stay on task. You ask a leader to do those types of things."

The Eagles certainly are not expecting a repeat of the previous meeting with the Cardinals, particularly with the game on the road.

"To be honest with you, I didn't think we got their best shot when they were here," Reid said of the first meeting. "Whether we got to this point or not, I didn't think that that was their best game. They had been playing good football and they were coming off a tough game, it was Thanksgiving Day, they had to travel all the way back here.

"This will be a different football team that we will see out there. ... They are playing very good football right now."