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Championship!!!!
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The Cardinals had two weeks to stew over the overtime loss to the Niners and responded by not letting Sunday’s divisional win over the Seattle Seahawks slip away.
Leading 16-3 late in the third quarter, the Cards watched their 13-point lead erode with back-to-back touchdowns by Seattle, but special teams regained a one-point edge in the fourth with a safety when punter Donnie Jones could not field a poorly snapped ball from his own endzone. Then with just over two-minutes remaining, cornerback Duane Starks intercepted Matt Hasselbeck at the Hawks 24-yardline and Emmitt Smith came up with a 23-yard touchdown run to put him over the 100-yard mark.
Trailing by 8, Seattle has a chance to tie the game with 1:53 remaining, but cornerback David Macklin stopped them cold with an interception to close the door on a Seattle comeback.
“We really wanted this game,” said safety Adrian Wilson. “Seattle is a good football team and we just wanted to prove to everyone that we could beat a good football team regardless of the record.”
The Cards defense played an outstanding contest, blitzing and getting pressure on Hasselbeck from the start and forcing four turnovers. The first came from cornerback Renaldo Hill’s interception at the Hawks 43-yardline on Seattle’s first possession of the game. In six quick plays, the Cards were on the board with a 25-yard touchdown strike from quarterback Josh McCown to Larry Fitzgerald.
Seattle’s only score of the first half came off a 54-yard field goal by Josh Brown.
The Cards offense answered with a 7-play, 33-yard drive to set kicker Neil Rackers up for a 55-yard field goal, the longest of his NFL career.
A few minutes later, Rackers hit another 55-yarder for a 13-3 halftime lead after rookie Karlos Dansby stripped the ball away from Hawks tight end Jerramy Stevens for another defensive turnover at the Hawks 40-yardline.
A 50-yard kick by Rackers capped off a 10-play, 47-yard drive to give the Cards a 16-3 advantage with 2:56 remaining in the third.
“I’ve got a phenomenal snapper and holder,” said Rackers. “I’ve got a great field and I’ve got some nice air here in Arizona and I think that is the biggest difference. I just hit them all the same.”
Following the field goal, Seattle’s anemic offense finally came alive, sparked by a 34-yard run by Shaun Alexander. A 17-yard completion from Hasselbeck to Stevens followed by a 13-yarder to Mack Strong, and the Hawks were knocking at the Cards one-yardline. Corner David Macklin barely missed an interception and instead gave up a touchdown to Darrell Jackson.
On the next possession, McCown was picked off by Ken Lucas for a 21-yard Seattle touchdown and a one point lead with less than two minutes played in the fourth quarter.
With the momentum swinging Seattle’s way, the Cards needed to make a play. The defense held and the Hawks were forced to punt from their own endzone. Punter
Donnie Jones couldn’t field the poorly snapped ball, and linebacker Gerald Hayes managed to block it. The ball rolled out of the endzone for a Cardinals safety and a slight 18-17 advantage.
“It was huge, said Head Coach Dennis Green. “We had a block on it because we thought we could block it. The guys ran it perfect.”
With 2:49 remaining, Seattle had the ball at their own 17-yardline. On 2nd and 10, cornerback Duane Starks picked off Hasselbeck at Seattle’s 24-yardline, clearly within Rackers’ field goal range.
The Cards conservatively handed the ball off to Smith, apparently trying to eat up the clock and set Rackers up for a field goal. On 3rd and 9, Smith bounced to the outside for a 23-yard touchdown, also breaking the 100-yard mark for the 78th time in his career.
“They loaded up to stop it and Emmitt found the opening and ran it in,” said Green. “That was a classic Emmitt Smith play. That is what Emmitt does, the unexpected. He does something and he does it time and time again.”
Time and time again this season, the Cards defense has also come up with big turnovers and Macklin’s pick at the Cards 38-yardline might just be the biggest of all as it effectively put a stop to a Seattle comeback.
“A minute and fifty three seconds, check their record,” pointed out Green. “See how many times Mike Holmgren has done that. He’s done that many times. No time outs? It doesn’t matter, so that interception at the end was important.”
Notes…
Smith’s 106 yards put him over the 100-yard mark for the 78th time in his NFL career to surpass the late Walter Payton.
“It didn’t even come close to feeling like a 100 yards,” said Smith. “I was expecting to have about 48 or 50 yards so when I heard that call I was like where did the yardage come from?”
Rackers two 55-yard field goals were a career long for the fifth-year kicker and a feat that hasn’t been reached in the NFL since Morten Anderson for the Falcons on December 10, 1995. Rackers was also good from 50 yards out in the third quarter.
Future Hall of Fame receiver Jerry Rice had only one catch for 10 yards on Sunday.
The Cards allowed Matt Hasselbeck to complete just 14 of 41 passes intercepted him four times. They also held Shaun Alexander to 57 yards on 12 carries.
“What can you say about the defense?” praised McCown. “Unbelievable.”
Quote of the Day
McCown on Emmitt Smith and Jerry Rice….
“I am obviously glad Emmitt played the way he did. It was awesome. When we were walking off the field, I was just trying to get beside those two guys. If anyone gets the picture and I show up it, like Where is Waldo in the background, send it to me, because I want it. They are two obviously unbelievable players, no doubt about it. It is an honor to be on the field today with those two guys, but it was Emmitt’s day today.”
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