NFC Championship Preview | Run or bust: Cards' hopes lie in their 'Edge' on the ground

     Two of the worst-managed games in recent memory, coming from the Carolina Panthers and the New York Giants this past weekend, have left an unlikely pair of contenders vying for an NFC championship and a ticket to Super Bowl XLIII.
    The Philadelphia Eagles didn't exactly shock the world when they upended the reigning Super Bowl champion Giants 23-11, allowing only three field goals and a safety to the men in blue. Without Plaxico Burress, Eli Manning was not given his normally massive margin for error on his throws, which meant the Giants had only one main way to put points on the board: Brandon Jacobs. But the Eagles' defense, fourth-best in the league and allowing only 18.1 points per game, stymied that threat and kept the game under control throughout. While Jacobs and co-rusher Derrick Ward combined for 138 yards on the ground, neither was able to convert on pivotal third- and fourth-and-short situations late in the game that essentially closed the book on the Giants' season.
    Although the Arizona Cardinals possess a pair of star receivers in Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin — undeniably one of the best duos in the game — it's not as if the Eagles, ranked third in passing yards allowed, haven't faced their fair share of offensive dynamos this season. Since Thanksgiving, the Eagles have not allowed more than 14 points in a game — that's 14 points to the Giants on Dec. 7, 10 points to the Cleveland Browns, 10 to the Washington Redskins, a measly six points to the offensive juggernaut that is (or was) the Dallas Cowboys, 14 to the Minnesota Vikings and only 11 to the Giants last weekend. In other words, the Eagles' defense is on a roll.
    On the other side, the Cardinals are coming off a slaughter of the Carolina Panthers, winning with ease by a score of 33-13. The Cardinals' offense is on fire. Arizona put up 360 yards of offense, 215 of which came through the air. Unfortunately, 166 of those yards came from Fitzgerald alone. And if the Cardinals rely too heavily on one man to pull the weight, Andy Reid and the Eagles' D will find a way to shut that threat down, as they did Jacobs, and Arizona will be left scrambling to find another answer on offense. But if Arizona's strategy worked against the Panthers, why couldn't it work against the Eagles? The truth is that it didn't really work against the Panthers. Quarterback Jake Delhomme dropped five interceptions into the hands of the Cardinals' defense as well as a lost fumble. The 6-1 turnover differential put Arizona a mere 11 seconds away from doubling the Panthers' time of possession. The chance of such a drastic turnover and time differential happening again, especially against the Eagles, is slim to none.
    Unlike with the Cardinals, the most important aspect of the Eagles' receiving core is its great depth. In Sunday's win over the Giants, seven Eagles had 10 receiving yards or more for a team total of 217. That's two more yards than the Cardinals had in the win over Carolina, but the most by any one Eagles receiver was 81, a number more than doubled by Fitzgerald.
    The return of Boldin to the Cardinals' lineup after being out last week with a left hamstring injury isn't going to make much of a difference in Arizona's plight. Instead, the key to Arizona's game will be its rushing duo of Edgerrin James and Tim Hightower. James and Hightower combined for 133 yards on 37 rushes, nothing particularly special. Then again, they had Fitzgerald running wild on the Carolina secondary, so their performances weren't as essential. But Philadelphia, particularly the man-child that is Brian Dawkins, is more capable of shutting the Fitzgerald option down — if not completely, then enough to put the pressure back on Arizona's worst-in-the-league rushing attack, averaging a pathetic 73.6 yards per game. If James and Hightower can't get it going against Philly, the Cardinals' chances of a Super Bowl berth deteriorates drastically.
    Eagles running back Brian Westbrook is an extremely versatile back and consistently finds and penetrates any holes in a defense. He will likely pose a huge problem for an Arizona defense that ranks 16th against the rush and 22nd against the pass. With Westbrook's versatility, he is most dangerous when he starts off the play as a blocker, waits for the defensive line to push downfield, slips through the cracks, then breaks out on a screen play and  devours 10 yards before there is anyone even close enough to try to tackle him. Even if the Cardinals were somehow able to stop Westbrook, as the Giants did last week by allowing him only 46 all-purpose yards, it clearly isn't a guaranteed win.
    Kurt Warner and Donovan McNabb each have their pros and cons, both having gone through some controversy over whether they would even be the starting quarterbacks of their respective teams. To this point, both have proven to be worthy. Both have strong arms and are quick thinkers. McNabb is younger, but Warner's resurgence is showing how valuable age and experience in these situations can be. Ultimately, however, McNabb can run a little bit and Warner can't; other than that, neither tips the scale toward his team more than the other.
    The bottom line is this: the Cardinals' offensive threats are few and far between. Any threats that do exist will more than likely be handled by one of the strongest defenses in the league. Conversely, the Eagles have numerous threats, from Westbrook to McNabb to a deep and solid receiving core that will be facing a weak defense. On Thanksgiving Day, the Eagles took down the Cards 48-20. What stands out in that game is the same factor that will likely be the Cardinals' downfall the second time around as well — while Arizona nearly matched Philadelphia's air attack, passing for 235 yards compared to 252, Philadelphia ran for 185 yards to Arizona's 25.