GLENDALE, Arizona (Ticker) -- With a chance to "prove it," the
Arizona Cardinals answered their many skeptics - but not without
a major scare.

The Cardinals completed one of the more improbable runs in NFL
history, riding four touchdown passes from Kurt Warner to
outlast the Philadelphia Eagles, 32-25, in Sunday's NFC
championship game.

Arizona (12-7) claimed its first league title since beating
these same Eagles in 1947, ending the second-longest drought in
North American sports history in advancing to its first Super
Bowl against the AFC champion Pittsburgh Steelers.

"I want to say Arizona Cardinals and Super Bowl in the same
sentence," said Warner, who became the third quarterback in
league history to lead two different teams to conference titles.
"I like the way that sounds."

Throughout the week, Arizona's players donned T-shirts with the
words "Prove It" as an answer to those who questioned its
playoff credentials.

Prove it the Cardinals did, becoming the second nine-win team to
reach the Super Bowl since the advent of the 16-game regular
season in 1978.

Arizona also was berated for winning the softest division (NFC
West) in the league and losing four of its last six games,
including a Thanksgiving night massacre in Philadelphia, but
they put such talk to rest with Sunday's victory.

"I can't even put it into words, it has been a roller-coaster
ride for eight years and to finally get to this point it means a
lot," Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson said. "Tonight the Arizona
Cardinals changed their stripes.

"We have had that us-against-them mentality for the whole
playoffs. We have been using that as motivation."

Warner's fourth scoring pass of the day, an 8-yard toss to
rookie running back Tim Hightower, provided the winning
touchdown for Arizona, which squandered an 18-point halftime
lead before rallying to hold off a near-miraculous comeback by
the Eagles (11-7-1).

After coughing up the lead, the Cardinals responded by moving 72
yards in 14 plays for the go-ahead score with 2:53 to play.

"On that final drive we got it with seven-something on the clock
and took it five minutes down the field and scored a touchdown,"
Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt said. "(That) really is an
indication of our growth as a team. The biggest thing was not
panicking and I did not see anyone panic."

The drive included a gutsy call by Whisenhunt, who went for it
on 4th-and-inches at midfield with just over 7 1/2 minutes to
play.

"It was so close I felt we were going to get it," Whisenhunt
said. "I understand the situation and where it was, but the way
our offensive line has played the last few weeks, I thought we
would get it."

Larry Fitzgerald had his third consecutive monster game in the
postseason, hauling in nine receptions for 152 yards and three
first-half touchdowns as the Cardinals avenged a 48-20 beating
at Philadelphia on Thanksgiving night.

In the three-game playoff run to the Super Bowl, Fitzgerald had
23 catches for a postseason-record 419 yards and five
touchdowns. He also tied a record with the three scoring
receptions in one game.

"We had some favorable looks and Kurt threw it in there to me
and gave me a chance to make some plays," Fitzgerald said. "It
is my job and I want to make sure I am accountable - and if I am
not, I get that death stare from Kurt."

"I don't know how many huge plays he has made for us in the
playoffs," Whisenhunt said of Fitzgerald.

Warner finished 21-of-28 for 279 yards and zero interceptions to
earn a trip to his third Super Bowl - and first since the 2001
season with the St. Louis Rams.

"There were times when they got the best of us and we got the
best of them at times," Warner said. "You have to hope you win
those share of those battles and today we did and that was a
huge difference offensively."

Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb led a valiant comeback by
completing 28-of-47 passes for 355 yards and three second-half
touchdown passes, including a 62-yarder to rookie DeSean Jackson
that gave Philadelphia its only lead at 25-24 with 10:45 to play
in the game.

But the upstart Cardinals, the only No. 4 seed in NFL history to
host a championship game, would not be denied, stringing
together a 14-play, 72-yard drive for the deciding touchdown.

"The second half really told the tale," McNabb said. "We got
things going. We felt like any play that we called was going to
be a great play for us, but they were able to prevail."

It was the fifth appearance in the championship game in 10
seasons for the Eagles, tying the New England Patriots for the
most of any team in that span.

But that Eagles fell to just 1-4 in those contests, which all
have come under coach Andy Reid.

"It is a very sudden thing when you lose in the playoffs," Reid
said. "The reality is there is one happy team at the end of the
year. You are in the playoffs and you expect to move on, so
right now it hurts.

"In the first half, they played better football than us. We put
ourselves in a bind. We had to come back from quite a bit and
we did, but give the Cardinals credit for rallying and punching
in the last touchdown."

The late touchdown hardly seemed like it would be necessary
following the way Arizona shredded the Eagles' defense in the
first half, moving the ball at will against a unit that had not
allowed more than 14 points in the previous six games.

Warner was perfect on his first four pass attempts, capping a
nine-play, 80-yard drive with a 9-yard strike to Fitzgerald as
Arizona took a 7-0 lead with 9:20 left in the opening period.
Edgerrin James had four rushes for 33 yards on the march.

David Akers answered with a 45-yard field goal for Philadelphia,
which appeared to catch a break when Aaron Francisco's
interception of McNabb was stripped away by Jackson and
recovered by the Eagles.

Philadelphia could not capitalize, though, as Akers was wide
right on a 47-yard attempt with 13 1/2 minutes left in the half,
ending his NFL-record streak at 19 consecutive field goals in
the postseason.

On the very next play from scrimmage, Warner, off a
flea-flicker, hit a leaping Fitzgerald on a 62-yard scoring pass
to push the lead to 14-3.

"I see that every day," Whisenhunt said. "I think the biggest
steps we made is our quarterbacks trust Larry. In some
situations what we have to do is throw the ball up to him
because he is pretty darn consistent making those plays."

After the Eagles had to settle for another field goal by Akers,
this time from 33 yards, Warner moved the Cardinals 73 yards in
nine plays. He floated a 1-yard pass to Fitzgerald in the left
corner of the end zone, ballooning the margin to 21-6 with 3:06
left in the half.

Neil Rackers ended the first-half carnage for the Eagles,
booting a 49-yard field goal as time ran out for a 24-6 lead at
intermission.

But the Eagles showed their mettle, scoring three touchdowns in
a 9 1/2-minute span bridging the third and fourth quarters to
inch in front.

McNabb threw scoring passes of 6 and 31 yards to tight end Brent
Celek, who had 10 receptions for 83 yards, in the third quarter
before the go-ahead bomb to Jackson early in the fourth.

"We got into a comfort zone," McNabb said. "We started running
different plays and got opportunities. We felt like every
opportunity we would step on the field we were going to score."

Fitzgerald said no one in the Arizona locker room was feeling
secure at halftime despite the comfortable cushion.

"They have been in this position five times out of the last (10)
years and we went into halftime with a nice lead but we knew we
were going to get their best shot and we were able to weather
the storm," he said.