2009 NFL Saturday Divisional Playoff Games
Ravens Beat Titans, Cardinals Beat Panthers
Jan 12, 2009 Justin Harrington
Baltimore Ravens Advance to AFC Championship on the Foot of Matt Stover
After a 10-0 start to the season it was being said that we would remember the Titans. Well, their 13-3 season is over and they have no championship trophy to show for it. No one, especially the Titans themselves, will want to remember how it ended. Tennessee bested Baltimore in almost every statistical category but ultimately outdid themselves with three turnovers.
To win with an offensive stat line such as the Ravens had in Saturday's game says a lot about their defensive unit. Joe Flacco, the Baltimore quarterback who became the first rookie ever to win two NFL playoff games, completed just half of his 22 pass attempts for 161 yards and one touchdown. RB Willis McGahee led the team in rushing with 32 yards. WR Desmond Mason was first in receiving with 78 yards (he did, however, catch Flacco's only TD pass). The difference was what they did against the Titans when Tennessee had the ball.
With the score tied at seven, the Ravens forced turnovers on three consecutive Tennessee possessions in the second quarter. First, Kerry Collins fumbled a snap on fourth-and-eight at Baltimore's 30-yard line. Next, he was intercepted by Samari Rolle deep in Baltimore territory as Tennessee was pushing to put points on the board. Finally, LenDale White lost the handle on the ball in the Ravens' end and watched the ball be recovered by Baltimore. While the takeaways did not lead to any points for Baltimore they thwarted three highly potential scoring drives that were made up of 31 total offensive plays by the Titans.
The game's scoring seemed to take a back seat to the Baltimore defense that frustrated Tennessee all afternoon but the matchup was tight right until the end. Following a Rob Bironas' field goal that tied the game at 10, Baltimore took possession at their own 24 with just over four minutes left. Facing third-and-two, Flacco connected on a 23-yard pass to Todd Heap that pushed the Ravens to Tennessee's 45-yard line. The Ravens finished their drive at the Titans' 25 following an 11-yard run by McGahee and an 8-yard pass from Flacco to Mark Clayton. With less than a minute left, Stover booted a 43-yarder that sailed through the uprights. Four incomplete pass attempts by Collins ended the game and made the Ravens win official, 13-10.
The Ravens will travel to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers next Sunday evening in the AFC Championship. Pittsburgh won both games between the two teams during the regular season (23-20 in Week 4; 13-9 in Week 15).
Ravens Leaders:
- Flacco: 11-for-22 for 161 yards and 1 TD
- McGahee: 12 rushes for 32 yards
- Mason: 5 catches for 78 yards and 1 TD
- Ray Lewis: 8 tackles and 1 forced fumble
Titans Leaders:
- Collins: 26-for-42 for 281 yards and 1 INT
- Chris Johnson: 11 rushes for 72 yards and 1 TD
- Justin Gage: 10 catches for 135 yards
- Chris Hope: 6 tackles
Arizona Cardinals Take Advantage of Horrible Game by Delhomme to Prevail, 33-13
It's Jake Delhomme's party and he'll cry if he wants to. And following arguably the worst performance of the Carolina Panthers QB's NFL career on Saturday night he had every right to shed a few tears. Delhomme celebrated his 34th birthday by tossing a franchise record five interceptions and losing a fumble as his heavily favoured Panthers took a beating at the hands of the Cardinals.
Everything looked fine when the Panthers returned the opening kickoff to midfield and scored five plays into the game on a nine-yard run by rookie Jonathan Stewart. And it still looked fine after the Cardinals scored a touchdown of their own when Tim Hightower caught a short pass from Kurt Warner to tie the game. But then the Cardinals' defense forced a Delhomme fumble deep in Carolina territory and two plays later took a seven-point lead when Edgerrin James ran in a four-yard score. They followed that up by intercepting Delhomme on his team's next possession and made it a 10-point lead with a 49-yard field goal by Neil Rackers.
This was definitely not how the game SHOULD have been unfolding ... and it just kept getting worse for Carolina.
Before halftime, Rackers kicked through another FG and Larry Fitzgerald caught a 29-yard TD pass from Warner that resulted from another interception of Delhomme. After 30 minutes of play the Cardinals held a 27-7 advantage. But this was Carolina. As cliche as it sounds, they were a team that could surely claw themselves back into the game. No chance.
Delhomme looked completely frazzled as he threw three more INTs in the second half and fell just one short of tying the NFL record in that category. He could not get his biggest target, Steve Smith, involved until the third quarter when the Pro Bowl receiver caught his first pass of the game. Smith finished with just 2 catches for 43 yards and caught Delhomme's only TD pass, a score that came with less than a minute left in the game and meant absolutely nothing. In all, the Cardinals scored 23 of their 33 total points off of Delhomme's six turnovers.
Delhomme's counterpart, the 37-year-old Warner, had another good outing by completing 21 of his 32 pass attempts for 220 yards and two TDs. He is now just one win away from taking another team to an improbable Super Bowl appearance.
The Cardinals will host the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship next Sunday afternoon. The Eagles crushed the Cardinals in their only match of the season in Week 13, 48-20.
Cardinals Leaders:
- Warner: 21-for-32 for 220 yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT
- Hightower: 17 rushes for 76 yards; 1 catch for 3 yards and 1 TD
- Fitzgerald: 8 catches for 166 yards and 1 TD
- Antrel Rolle: 5 tackles and 1 INT
Panthers Leaders:
- Delhomme: 17-for-34 for 205 yards, 1 TD, 5 INTs and 1 fumble lost
- DeAngelo Williams: 12 rushes for 63 yards
- Muhsin Muhammad: 5 catches for 55 yards
- Jon Beason: 6 tackles and 1 INT
Click here for the scores from Sunday's Divisional Playoff games
Stats Source:
nfl.com
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