Wild Card Game: Falcons at Cardinals

Atlanta is 11-5 and is the visitor in Arizona, who is 9-7. Atlanta is 4-4 on the road and the Cardinals are 6-2 at home, so this should be an interesting matchup.

Quarterback Comparison

Name	QB Rating	Comp-Att	Comp %	Yards	TD-Int	Fumbles
Kurt Warner	96.9	401-598	67.1%	4,583	30-14	2
Matt Ryan	87.7	265-434	61.1%	3,440	16-11	4

Cardinals have the better QB. Warner has more TDs, fewer fumbles, a higher completion ratio and over a thousand more passing yards.

Rushing Comparison

Name	Carries	Yards	TDs	Catches	Yards	TDs
Edgerrin James (Cards)	133	514	3	12	85	0
Tim Hightower (Cards)	143	399	10	34	237	0
Michael Turner	376	1,699	17	6	41	0

Falcons have the better running game. That really goes without saying when you look at these numbers. The Cardinals have two runningbacks and nothing to show for it.

Receiving Comparison

Name	Catches	Yards	TDs	Fumbles
Larry Fitzgerald	96	1,431	12	1
Anquan Boldin	89	1,038	11	3
Steve Breaston	77	1,006	3	0
Roddy White	88	1,382	7	1
Michael Jenkins	50	777	3	0
Jerious Norwood	36	338	2	0

Cardinals have the better receivers. Three receivers with over 1,000 yards is impressive. Very impressive. And the Falcons can't compete with that.

Defense Comparison

Name	Tackles	Sacks	Ints-TD	Deflections
Karlos Dansby	119	4.0	2-0	5
D. Rodgers-Cromartie	42	0.0	4-1	19
Chike Okeafor	60	4.5	1-0	3
Keith Brooking	102	0.0	0-0	3
John Abraham	38	16.5	0-0	1
Chris Houston	61	0.0	2-1	16

It appears that the defenses are pretty much the same, however the Cardinals do not have the pass rush that the Falcons do. They have better pass coverage, though, which is what makes it a little more even.

Forecast: I like the Cardinals in this one. I am not really sure why I like them more than the Falcons, but it just makes sense to me. So, Cardinals win this one 24-20.

Home Field