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The Arizona Cardinals will play the Philadelphia Eagles at home as a 3 point underdog. BetUS.com was holding this line at Eagles -3 though some online sportsbooks were moving it up to -3 ½ by Monday afternoon.
The Eagles advanced to the NFC Championship Game, where they will play the Cardinals, the first No. 4 seed to ever host a conference championship.
The Giants are the first No. 1 seeded defending Super Bowl champion to lose their first playoff game. They were one of three number one seeds to lose this weekend, the first time this has ever happened.
The Eagles-Cardinals NFC Championship will be the first conference championship game in a non-strike season to feature two teams who won fewer than 10 games in the regular season.
The Panthers' 20-point loss to the Cardinals marked the worst home playoff loss by a No. 2 seed since 1990, when the NFL expanded its postseason format to include 12 teams.
Kurt Warner threw two touchdown passes, Larry Fitzgerald had 166 yards receiving and the Cardinals pounced on Delhomme's six turnovers Saturday night in a 33-13 win over the bumbling Panthers.
A team that had won only two playoff games in their history before last week's win over Atlanta, the Cardinals became the last NFC team to reach the conference championship since the 1970 merger with a win few saw coming.
Entering as a 10-point underdog and ridiculed for their 0-5 record in the Eastern time zone this season, Arizona (11-7) raced to a 27-7 halftime lead and cruised past the mistake-prone Panthers (12-5), who were the league's only unbeaten team at home in the regular season.
"Not many people had very nice things to say about us and didn't give us a chance," said Ken Whisenhunt, the second-year coach who has helped shed the losing culture of the franchise. "I think we've showed we can come to the East Coast and win a game. ... We believe in ourselves. I like being the underdog, and we're going to continue to be the underdog."
