NFC Championship, 2008: Arizona 32 Philadelphia 25

Game information
Arizona built up an 18-point halftime lead, but had to fight off an Eagles comeback attempt to earn their first conference championship and Super Bowl appearance in franchise history. Arizona also became the second team ever to make it to the Super Bowl with a 9–7 record, joining the 1979 Los Angeles Rams. Arizona also became the first #4 seed to host a conference championship game. Until the 2021 season, this was the last time that any team seeded below #2 has hosted a conference championship game.

Arizona took the opening kickoff and stormed down the field with a 9-play, 80-yard drive. Edgerrin James rushed four times for 33 yards on the drive, while Kurt Warner completed all four of his passes for 44 yards, the last one a 9-yard touchdown pass to Larry Fitzgerald. Philadelphia responded on their ensuing possession, starting it off with a 21-yard scramble by Donovan McNabb to the Arizona 39-yard line and finishing it with a 45-yard field goal by David Akers.

Following a punt, McNabb threw an interception to Aaron Francisco, but DeSean Jackson forced Francisco to fumble the ball during the return and Eagles lineman Jon Runyan recovered it. After the fumble, Philadelphia drove into scoring range, but they ended the drive with no points when Akers missed a 47-yard field goal attempt, ending his postseason record streak of consecutive field goals at 19. On the next play, Warner threw a 62-yard touchdown pass to Fitzgerald off of a double pass play, giving the Cardinals a 14–3 lead. It was the second time Arizona found pay-dirt on a trick play during the playoffs (after a flea flicker in the wild card game).

Two plays into the Eagles next drive, McNabb completed a 47-yard pass to Kevin Curtis on the Arizona 19-yard line. But Arizona halted the drive at the 15, forcing Philadelphia to settle for a 33-yard field goal from Akers. Then the Cardinals took the ensuing kickoff and stormed down the field for another score. First James rushed for 22 yards, then Tim Hightower ran for 5, and then Warner completed a 16-yard pass to J. J. Arrington at the Eagles 30-yard line. Following two more Warner completions for 22 yards, he finished the drive with his third touchdown pass to Fitzgerald, making the score 21–6.

After a Philadelphia punt, Warner led the Cardinals down the field again for more points. Starting with 1:31 left in the half, an unnecessary roughness penalty on Quintin Demps moved the ball to the Arizona 36. Then Warner completed a pair of passes to Jerheme Urban and Fitzgerald for 32 yards. A sack by linebacker Trent Cole pushed them out of field goal range, but on the next play, Warner's 13-yard completion to Anquan Boldin set up a 49-yard field goal by Neil Rackers, making the score 24–6 at halftime.

Philadelphia's defense made a major improvement in the third quarter, limiting Arizona to nine rushing yards, one completion, and no first downs. Meanwhile, the Eagles cut the score to 24–13 with a 90-yard scoring drive. The Eagles converted three third downs on the drive, including McNabb's 50-yard completion to Curtis on third and 19, and finished it off with a 6-yard touchdown reception by tight end Brent Celek. The Eagles quickly forced a punt on Arizona's ensuing possession, and Jackson returned it 13 yards to the Philadelphia 39-yard line. Five plays later, McNabb's threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Celek. Rather than try to cut their deficit to three points, Philadelphia decided to kick the extra point, but Akers' kick was no good, keeping the score at 24–19. It was the first time Akers had missed an extra point all season.

Early in the fourth quarter, Philadelphia took their first lead of the game with McNabb's 62-yard touchdown pass to Jackson, giving his team a 1-point lead after the two-point conversion attempt failed. But the Cardinals responded with a 14-play, 74-yard drive to retake the lead for good, featuring a 6-yard run by Hightower on fourth down and 1 on the Eagles 49-yard line. Warner completed all five of his passes for 56 yards on the drive and finished it off with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Hightower with less than three minutes left. Then his 2-point conversion pass to Ben Patrick made the score 32–25. Finally, the Cardinals defense sealed the victory by forcing a turnover on downs at the Arizona 47-yard line. By the time Philadelphia got the ball back, only 10 seconds remained. In a desperate lateral play, Darnell Dockett intercepted Jackson's throw, ending the game.

Fitzgerald finished the game with nine receptions for 152 yards and three touchdowns. This gave him an NFL postseason record 419 total receiving yards in his three playoff games. McNabb's 375 passing yards and Warner's 145.7 passer rating were each third-highest recorded in the NFC championship game as of 2009. Both teams combined for an NFC postseason record 823 yards.

For the second time in five years, an all-Pennsylvania Super Bowl was denied. The Steelers lost the 2004 AFC Championship Game to the New England Patriots, who went on to win Super Bowl XXXIX over the Eagles 24–21.

This was the third postseason meeting between the Eagles and Cardinals. Both teams split the prior two meetings. The most recent ended with Philadelphia defeating the then-Chicago Cardinals 7–0 in the 1948 NFL Championship Game.

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