***** National Football League Playoff Game Capsules *****
(Saturday, January 10th)
Final Score: Baltimore 13, Tennessee 10
Nashville, TN (Sports Network) - Matt Stover's 43-yard field goal with 53
seconds to play lifted the Baltimore Ravens to a 13-10 victory over the
Tennessee Titans in an AFC Divisional playoff battle. Baltimore started the
winning drive at its own 24 and on its first set of downs faced a 3rd-
and-2, but Joe Flacco hit Todd Heap for 23 yards to get the ball across
midfield. An 11-yard run by Willis McGahee gave Baltimore another first down,
but the team stalled at the Tennessee 25 before Stover's winning kick.
Tennessee was unable to move the ball after the kickoff and on fourth down
Kerry Collins' pass fell incomplete and Baltimore killed off the rest of the
clock for the win. The rookie Flacco went 11-for-22 with 161 yards and a
touchdown while ex- Titan Derrick Mason had five catches for 78 yards and
a touchdown for the Ravens (13-5), who will be on the road next week to
face the winner of Sunday's San Diego/Pittsburgh game for the AFC
Championship. The Baltimore defense gave up 391 yards to Tennessee, but
recovered two fumbles and an interception in its own territory to keep the
Titans offense in check. Baltimore made it to the next round game thanks
to 27-9 victory over Miami last Sunday. Also, the team extracted a bit of
revenge against Tennessee as the Titans defeated the Ravens, 13-10, in
Week 5 of the regular season at Baltimore. Collins was 26-for-42 with 281
yards and a pick while Chris Johnson finished the game with 72 yards
on 11 carries with a touchdown, but left in the second quarter with a right
ankle injury, for the Titans (13-4), who came into the game with the top
seed in the AFC. Justin Gage had 10 catches for 135 yards in defeat.
Final Score: Arizona 33, Carolina 13
Charlotte, NC (Sports Network) - Larry Fitzgerald stepped up for the injured
Anquan Boldin with eight receptions for 166 yards and a score, and Arizona
capitalized off six Jake Delhomme turnovers to shock the Carolina Panthers,
33-13, to move into the NFC Championship Game for the first time in franchise
history. In the playoffs for the first time since 1998, the NFC West
champions were coming off a 30-24 home win over Atlanta last Saturday.
Boldin suffered a strained left hamstring in that game and was held out of
this contest, but Fitzgerald, the third overall draft pick in 2004, had
six catches for 151 yards and his touchdown in the first half, jolting
the Cardinals to a surprising 27-7 lead. In fact, Arizona scored 33
straight points after Jonathan Stewart capped the game-opening drive with a
nine-yard touchdown run. Kurt Warner connected on 21-of-32 passes for 220
yards with two scores and was picked off once for the Cardinals (11-7), who
won a pair of playoff games in the same season for the first time in
franchise history. The last time the team made it this far was when the
1948 Chicago Cardinals lost the league championship game at Philadelphia. In
1998 the Cardinals won at Dallas in the wild card round before falling at
Minnesota. Ten years later head coach Ken Whisenhunt has his team knocking on
the door of the first Super Bowl appearance in franchise annals. To get there
Arizona will have to beat either the top-seeded New York Giants or
Philadelphia Eagles next weekend. If the Giants win Sunday's game, they'll
host the Cardinals, but if Philadelphia is victorious the NFC title game will
be held in Glendale. The Cardinals turned around their misfortunes of an 0-5
record in the Eastern time zone this season. That included a 27-23 loss at
Carolina on October 26 when the Cardinals blew a 17-3 lead in the third
quarter. It was an unpleasant 34th birthday for Delhomme, as he was
picked off a career-high five times and also fumbled the ball away. He
ended 17-of-34 for 205 yards with one TD and DeAngelo Williams was limited
to 63 yards on the ground for the Panthers (12-5), who suffered their
first home loss since December 22, 2007 against Dallas.
***** National Football League Playoff Game Capsules *****
(Sunday, January 11th)
Final Score: Philadelphia 23, NY Giants 11
East Rutherford, NJ (Sports Network) - Donovan McNabb threw for a touchdown
and rushed for another and the Eagles' defense kept the New York Giants out of
the end zone, as the defending Super Bowl champions were ousted by rival
Philadelphia, 23-11, in a physical NFC Divisional playoff battle at the
Meadowlands. The Philly defense had a banner day: two fourth-down stuffs in
the fourth quarter, Asante Samuel's interception of Eli Manning to set up a
touchdown, and just 15 first downs allowed. McNabb connected on 22-of-40
passes for 217 yards with two interceptions for the Eagles (11-6-1), while
DeSean Jackson compiled 81 yards on four receptions in the victory. Brian
Westbrook was bottled up for a mere 36 yards on 18 carries. David Akers was
a key ingredient to the win, hitting all three of his field goal attempts
while counterpart John Carney missed two of his five tries. Philly's opponent
in the NFC Championship Game is a familiar one -- Arizona, which the Eagles
beat 48-20 on Thanksgiving. The NFC West champion Cardinals surprisingly man-
handled the Carolina Panthers, 33-13, in their playoff battle on Saturday to
reach their first ever NFC Championship game, and now Arizona will be the host
next Sunday at 3:00 p.m. (et). The Giants (12-5) bowed out of the playoffs
after winning it all last year, when they upset the top-seeded Cowboys in
the Divisional round before victories over Green Bay and previously unbeaten
New England in Super Bowl XLII. This time around, Manning couldn't come up
with the big play, hitting just 13-of-27 passes for 158 yards and two
interceptions in top-seeded New York's early exit from the postseason. Brandon
Jacobs rushed for 92 yards on 19 carries, while the receiving corps
desperately missed Plaxico Burress, as Kevin Boss had a team-high 52 receiving
yards on three grabs.
Final Score: Pittsburgh 35, San Diego 24
Pittsburgh, PA (Sports Network) - Willie Parker rushed for a game-best 146
yards with two touchdowns on 27 carries as the Pittsburgh Steelers advanced to
the AFC title game with a convincing 35-24 victory over the San Diego Chargers
in an AFC Divisional matchup from Heinz Field. Ben Roethlisberger completed
17-of-26 passes for 181 yards and a score for the Steelers (13-4), who will
host the AFC Championship game next Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens at
6:30 p.m. (et). It will be Pittsburgh's first trip to the contest since
January, 2006, when it topped the Broncos in Denver en route to taking
home the franchise's fifth Super Bowl. Santonio Holmes returned a punt for
a touchdown, while Hines Ward led the receiving corps with 70 yards on
four receptions. Heath Miller added a TD catch for the Steelers, who will
be hosting the conference title meeting for the first time since dropping a
41-27 decision to the New England Patriots in January, 2005. Philip Rivers
threw for 308 yards, three touchdowns and one interception on 21-of-35
passing for the Chargers (9-9), who finished the season by having their
five-game win streak snapped. San Diego could not establish a ground game
while playing without running back LaDainian Tomlinson who was sidelined with
a nagging groin injury, picking up just 15 net yards -- all by Tomlinson's
sub Darren Sproles, who did so on 11 carries. Sproles did manage five catches
for 91 yards and one touchdown in the loss. Vincent Jackson added another TD
reception, and Antonio Gates recorded five receptions for 59 yards for the
Chargers, who mounted a late-season charge to win the AFC West with an 8-8
mark then clipped the Colts in overtime last week in an AFC wild card tilt.
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