What began as a classic blowout turned into a classic finish.
It was a tale of two halves. The Eagles trailed the Cardinals 24-6 after two quarters. They were soundly manhandled on both sides of the ball. Stupid penalties, dropped passes, missed tackles, poor throws and awful execution. Arizona controlled every phase of the game in the first half. The Eagles left the field looking dejected and beaten. Then came the second half.
The Birds shook off the rust and attacked on both sides of the ball. Donovan McNabb, who was erratic in the first half, tossed three touchdowns to give the Eagles a 25-24 lead with less than eight minutes remaining. The defense – which dominated in the third quarter – had to come up huge but couldn’t. Kurt Warner marched his offense down the field and finished it off with his fourth TD pass of the game. A two-point conversion later and the Cards regained control 32-25 with less than three minutes to go.
Needing six, the offense failed to get into Cardinals’ territory. McNabb missed an open DeSean Jackson and Hank Baskett on consecutive plays, leaving the Eagles a fourth-and-ten to keep the drive alive at the two-minute warning. A Kevin Curtis dropped pass ended the Eagles 2008 campaign. McNabb would finish with 375 yards passing and three touchdowns, but it just wasn’t enough.
The Eagles were never able to overcome a terrible first half of football. They missed too many opportunities to win the game. The Cardinals made several big plays on both sides of the ball and deserve their trip to the Super Bowl. They had a better gameplan and executed it to near perfection. Larry Fitzgerald again proved unstoppable: 9 catches for 152 yards and three touchdowns. The Eagles defense had no answers for the super-strong, super-fast wide receiver. Kurt Warner beat Jim Johnson’s blitzes repeatedly with quick, precise throws and never made a mistake. Congratulations to the Cardinals.
So, the Eagles under Andy Reid are now 1-4 in NFC title games. I wish I had an answer as to why the Birds cannot complete the necessary work to reach the Super Bowl. Like in 2002 and 2003, the whole team was tight and sloppy. Another slow start and the inability to score touchdowns doomed them. Even the normally reliable David Akers hooked a 47 yard field goal and a PAT. Geesh!
I’m sure a lot of fingers will be pointed in the coming days, but this Eagles team won as a team the last two weeks and lost as a team today. Sure McNabb missed several open receivers and Asante Samuel was abused all game long, but if it weren’t for these two guys the Eagles would have never been playing for the NFC Championship. It’s a disappointing end to a puzzling season. Vent your frustration. Blame who you want. Eagles Nation is accustomed to crushing losses, but that doesn’t make it any easier.
As a farewell note I’d like to congratulate the 2008 Eagles on one of the wildest, head-scratching seasons I can remember. You made it interesting, you made it exciting. Here’s hoping 2009 will be better. The new season begins tomorrow.
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That was a big article all you had to say is THE EAGLES SUCK
Man, do I love the haters who come here armed with pearls of wisdom like EAGLES SUCK. I’d love to engage in a mental test of wills with a genius like Brad. I’m guessing words with more than one syllable give him trouble.
At any rate, thanks for stopping by Brad. I look forward to your caustic (that means critical) comments in the future.
hey all shit aside, you guys had a hell of a season, and you guys gave one hell of a comeback effort. hold your head high eagle fans for a great season. i repsect that.
It was a great season, dave. Just another disappointing end. Oh well, we’re used to it.
Another heartbreaker for the Eagles. I seriously don’t know what I’d do if they won it all. No fans in the country know what it’s like to be an Eagles fan. Nobody cares more and has been let down more than us, and yet we keep coming back for more. And people don’t understand why we’re angry?????? F it. This is our team. Eagles for life!!!! We’ll just be that much more passionate and angry nexy year.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH, EAGLES CHOKE AGAIN!!!
You losers will never win a Championship! E-A-G-L-E-S -U-C-K!! Forever. You Philly Cheese Puffs deserve what you get! I’m waiting for another McFagg dance on Youtube bitches.
Scott,
Hey, keep your head up, i’m a Cowboys fan, and my team was sitting at home today, at least yours was playing. For all those haters who come on other sites and “rag” on others, all I can say is they are not true football fans. To me coming on here and having a “football” conversation is all part of being a fan. But come on guys, lets keep it real. Like DaveDallasFan said, hold your head high, you guys had a good season.
Scott sorry about the loss. Still was a great year for the Eagles.
it was a pretty good game both teams played good the cards dominated the eagles in the first half and then donovan came out on fire and led a pretty good comeback but it wasnt enough..i respect the players but not the fans..THE EAGLES SUCK!!!!! hahahaha dont worry you will get your shot at the big game again..and once again your QB will choke just like every single eagles qb has done in the big game..hahahah NO RINGS!!! which makes your franchise no better then the lions!! hahaha
Hey, Nice Trophy Case!
http://www.footballsfuture.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=290494
Im pretty depressed about this loss, but at least the Eagles came back and almost took this one. They could have just as easily laid down after the first half but instead they went down swinging. This is why I love the Eagles, and this is why were going to be even better in 2009. Heres to brining back McNabb and Andy Reid. we have to receiver corps we always wanted, and if we improve short running game (red zone offense needs work for sure too) we’ll be a strong and balanced
Eagles are like philly cheesesteaks: Good to the last DROP.
Hell of a season guys! See you all next year…
Looks like Rush was right about McNabb all along.
OVER -RATED !!!
Give God thanks for the Eagles season and a good game in the NFC championhip. Next Year with a few more moves and they will win a superbowl.
Really, Storm? A completion percentage just a hair under 60 percent, 375 yards and 3 touchdowns and the guy is overrated. He looked pretty good for most of the game today.
Who’s going to take the fall on this one, Ian? Or is anyone going to take a fall b/c Andy Reid calls it quits?
Thanks for all the kind and not-so-kind words. We Eagles fans love both. The Birds shall return.
Ian hasn’t been the man here in four months MBIII. That would be me. To answer your question, unless Donovan demands an out, I don’t think anyone takes the fall. If the Eagles hadn’t made this run the house would have been cleaned.
Thanks, Scott. I’m already reading articles about Andy Reid being the problem, but this article doesn’t really make a good argument. I’ll be interested to see what comes out of Philly in the next few days.
MBIII – Smallwood has been calling for Reid’s head since last season. Honestly, I agree that Reid has too much control. I can’t see him winning a Super Bowl in Philly under the current organizational structure. Unfortunately, Jeff Lurie loves the guy and will once again be deceived into thinking that another NFC Championship appearance means the Birds are “close.”
In reality, they are as close as they will get unless a serious kick in the ass is delivered to the way this team is being constructed. They still lack the consistent playmakers needed on both sides of the ball to win a Championship. Westbrook will be 30 next season and who knows what McNabb’s next move will be. If he indeed does want out of Philly, the whole darn team will unravel.
Decisions, decisions…
I have alot of respect for D.McNabb and the way he handled himself in the 2nd half. If you iggle fans think it was Donovan’s fault you are really pathetic. Take a long look at your defense and the secondary including Samuel. You let Larry Fitzgerald go off time and time again. He did what Plaxico normally does to you.
I am a Giants fan and I also know that Donovan’s arm is alot better than Eli’s. Donovan’s time in Philly is almost over as he is under appreciated and is ready to move on from Philly land. Why management never went out their way to sign an elite receiver is ridiculous, last time you had an Elite Receiver you guys went to the Super Bowl!!!!
You guys have Westbrook, Curtis, and a young stud in Jackson but you need that elite Receiver to go up there and catch it. The giants had that in Plax and the Cardinals have it with FITZ. Philly needs it bad if Donovan is going to stay!!!!
Fly eagles fly!
Well, having Reid as your GM is working a lot better for you guys than our deranged, leathery power mongerer GM is for us.
heart breaking loss. i can’t believe there was no call on the kevin curtis play. i rarely complain about refs, but how can the eagles season end on such bs. they had a shot at tieing/taking the lead, ad the refs stole that away from them.
Yet another disappointing end. However, the Game is Over.
How many times have you heard that football is a game of inches. Fourth and inches and we, the Eagles, let Hightower rush for 5 yards. This was a demoralizing blow for us. Immediately after, future Hall of Fame QB, Warner, executed and got his team in the endzone. The question before the game was who wanted it more? Well, looking at the ENTIRE game, the Cardinals wanted it more. Coaches always tell players “you cannot take any plays off!” We took a whole first half off…
The question after the game is “who will be leading the team next year on the sidelines, and in the pocket?”
the refs Ian? the refs took this game from you? wow your defense couldnt stop fitzgreald and your offense arrived too late in the game…lets face it your QB choked once again but your team fought hard but warner is far too experienced for the superbowl-less eagles
Ian
How about the BS on the kickoff in the first half that Arizona recovered, but because of a whistle happy ref, philly kept the ball. Arizona ball at the 25?, they would have put that in for the death blow
Funny how every Eagles fan forgets the breaks they got?
The Eagles were one of the final 4 this year in the playoffs and after only making it into the playoffs as a 6th seed after the amazing puzzle fell into place on the last day with a beatin’ of the boys. Not to mention taking the G-men down twice. I’d say it was a great year even though the loss was painful to the Cards on the road and the game should not have ended on the 4 and 10, but that is life. If Eric had half a brain he would understand the tremendous character it took to bring a team back like they did in the second half. Erik probably never played sports past tee ball so he doesn’t understand much of anything except to hate on people like he does on McNabb. The Eagles could have folded, but they didn’t and the D did a great job in the second half, but just wore down on the final long drive a bit. Warner did do a nice job throwing the ball up to Fitz and hit some short passes for gainers. He was also well protected most of the game. That is really all he did. He didn’t throw too many high risk passes (good game plan)…kept it easy and short in front of him. Like any QB he is only as good as his protection. Think back to when he was with the G-men….looked horrible as he went down play after play. In STL and Airzona, he has had the multiple weapons on offense. It is also much easier to win two out of three playoff games at home (the Cards) rather than trying to win all three on the road (the Eagles). The fan base definately helped the Cards at home where they play very well. On this day the Cards did a nice job and pulled it out so they deserve credit, but I give the Eagle team and Management their propers as they are competitive (> .500) almost every year. How many teams are? Not very many. Will the Cards make it this far in the palyoffs next year? Probably not, but we’ll see. If anyone thinks cutting McNabb and Reid loose would be a good thing for the Eagles, they are nuts. Can you say Detroit Lions. McNabb doesn’t deserve the crap from people like Erik. He didn’t “choke” and lose the game for the Eagles. He has tremendous character just like the entire team. Extend McNabb’s contract for 2 additional years and resign Dawkins for two more years! He has a little more left in the tank and is the heart and soul of the teams D.
It was a dissapointing loss. McNabb is just too inconsistent. He will never win the big one.
I’ve been critical of McNabb, but I am not of the belief the Eagles are better off without him. He was erratic yesterday, however he wasn’t the reason they lost. The defense played awful, Westbrook still didn’t look right and there were too many dropped passes. Overall, the team failed to go out and take the game away from the Cardinals. Arizona did whatever they wanted and the Birds had no answers.
McNabb was not the problem yesterday. Good Defense wins Championships and yesterday I felt like the D was not consistent particularly in the first half. They had a great run down the stretch to even propel the Eagles to the NFC Championship game, don’t get me wrong; but that was what lost the game to me. The last TD for the Cards should have been stopped short to hold them to no more than a FG and they should not have given up that FG late in the 2nd quarter (not to mention some silly penalties on D, lack of turnovers created, and the special team errors in the kicking game). Still a great season to me.
McNabb and company have ANOTHER typical CHOKE day!!
Bottom line: another NFC Championship game, ANOTHER Eagles loss.
Enjoy the offseason….
it just seems to me that every other game that the eagles play, they just play down right horrible.
NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER in phila will there be a super bowl if THE FAT MAN AND HIS CRYBABY SON REMAIN after 10 years …nothing mcnabb is a good qb not a great one. he showed that with his champ loses and super bowl, warner came from behind mcnabb couldn’t. mcnabb lacks that one ingredient that super ones have..VISION..the ability to execute a play in hismind’s eye before it happens. o yes, there have been qbs who have garnered 400-600 yds do the research..mcnabb, hall of fame? why?
JJ, sugar coated all you want we all know he choked again..like he is known to do..he missed a lot of open receivers in the first half..he came out on fire on the second half..mostly because the cards defense just wanted to run out the clock..the defense arrived at the game late..no not true they just couldnt stop larry fitzgerald..lets face it…Mcnabb is not going to bring a SB to philly he will be known as the guy who couldnt finish and thats final..just the like the bills of the 90s got to the big game but never could finish..if you had half a brain you would realize that but your a typical dumbass eagles fan..”blah blah the refs are out to get us blah blah i want a superbowl blah” JJ face it it will be long time before your franchise get its first superbowl..hell your franchise is just as good as the lions..even the rams got a SB ring..Mcnabb is a good QB but you idiot fans never gave him a chance..i bet if macnabb leaves he will win a SB hopefully he realizes that and leaves the crybaby known as the eagles