page_title: 2008 Arizona Cardinals season
section_title: NFC Championship: vs. Philadelphia Eagles
hierarchical_section_title: 2008 Arizona Cardinals season / Playoffs / NFC Championship: vs. Philadelphia Eagles
caption_attribution_description: English: NFC Championship, 18 Jan., 2009
context_page_description: The 2008 season was the Arizona Cardinals' 89th in the National Football League and their 21st season in Arizona. The season marked the Cardinals' first Super Bowl appearance, coming as a result of their victory against the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship. The Cardinals slogan for the season was "Shock The World!" Riding the back of quarterback Kurt Warner, who had gone from being a backup for the St. Louis Rams in 1999 to leading the Greatest Show on Turf to a Super Bowl XXXIV victory, and franchise wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, the Cardinals went on a playoff run for the ages after having won just one playoff game in the last sixty years, as Warner once again recreated the magic he had captured with the Rams.
  The Cardinals began their season by compiling a 7–3 record by Week 11 and finished the regular season with a 9–7 record, which was good enough to win the NFC West, and the Cardinals, for the first time since 1947, hosted a playoff game. In that wild card game, the Cardinals defeated the Atlanta Falcons.
context_section_description: Coming off their east-coast divisional road win over the Panthers, the Cardinals went home for the NFC Championship Game against the #6 Philadelphia Eagles, who were coming off their victory over the #1 New York Giants, in a rematch of their Thanksgiving game.
  Arizona capped off the game's opening kickoff with a nine-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Kurt Warner to wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. The Eagles responded with kicker David Akers making a 45-yard field goal. With the score at 7–3, Akers missed a 47-yard field goal attempt, the first he missed in his last 20 attempts in the postseason, an NFL Record. The Cardinals answered in the second quarter as Warner hooked up with Fitzgerald again on a flea-flicker, Warner to Arrington, back to Warner, who threw it to Fitzgerald for a 62-yard TD pass. Philadelphia struck back as Akers made a 33-yard field goal, but Arizona closed out the half with Warner's one-yard touchdown pass to Fitzgerald and kicker Neil Rackers' 49-yard field goal in the final seconds of the half to make the score 24–6.
  The Eagles began to rally in the third quarter as quarterback Donovan McNabb completed a six-yard and a 31-yard touchdown pass to tight end Brent Celek with a failed PAT on the latter touchdown. In the fourth quarter, Philadelphia took the lead on 62-yard touchdown pass from McNabb to rookie wide receiver DeSean Jackson. The Eagles went for the two-point conversion, hoping for a three-point lead, but failed, leaving the score 25–24. However, the Cardinals regained the lead when Warner completed an eight-yard touchdown pass to rookie running back Tim Hightower and a successful two-point conversion pass by Warner to tight end Ben Patrick. The Arizona defense was able to prevent Philadelphia from making a comeback, as the Eagles drove to the Arizona 47, but then McNabb threw four straight incompletions to turn the ball over on downs. The Cardinals went three and out on the next possession, giving the Eagles only seven seconds in the game, but the Eagles were unable to score on a 93-yard hook and ladder play after McNabb completed to Jackson, who attempted to lateral, but the lateral was picked off by defensive lineman Darnell Dockett.
  The Cardinals improved their overall record to 12–7, and also won their first National Football Conference crown, allowing them to advance to their first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history. They became the first team since the 1979 Los Angeles Rams to finish the regular season with 9 wins and make it to the Super Bowl.
  Fitzgerald had a stellar performance with 152 yards and three of Arizona's four touchdowns and setting a new postseason record with 419 receiving yards, surpassing the prior record set by Jerry Rice in 1988.
caption: Celebration after Cards win NFC championship game, January 18, 2009.
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