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The dream is still alive for the Arizona Cardinals.

For a second straight week, the Cardinals played dominant defense and used their big play offense to crush an NFC South opponent, this time on the road against the vaunted Carolina Panthers.

Prior to tonight’s victory, Arizona was 0-5 in games on the east coast, but the Cardinals cruised to an easy victory in this one, racking up five interceptions and one fumble recovery en route to 33-13 win.

Panthers QB Jake Delhomme played one of the worst games of his career, on his 34th birthday to boot, and was responsible for all six turnovers, two of which came deep in Cardinals territory. Arizona once again was able to shut down a strong running attack, limiting Panthers RBs DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart to just 75 yards on 15 carries and one touchdown.

This has to be a bitter pill for the Panthers to swallow, after they put together a fantastic season, only to spoil it completely by laying an egg at home against an opponent that on paper was clearly inferior.  This could also open the door for speculation on Carolina head coach  John Fox’s future with the club, although the team will likely leave well enough alone on that front given Fox’s popularity in the locker room.

Now it’s on to TV watching for the Cardinals, hoping against hope that the Philadelphia Eagles can find a way to win on the road against their longtime division rival in New York, as Arizona would then host the NFC Championship game next week. Much like Baltimore, the Cardinals are a team that no one in the NFC wants to play right now, and could pose a significant threat next week to the victor of the Eagles-Giants showdown.

Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers Cardinals, Panthers

Arizona Cardinals WR Anquan Boldin will be a gametime inactive according to Adam Schefter (NFL.com). Head coach Ken Whisenhunt made it pretty clear earlier today that the team could not afford to lose a roster spot against Carolina if Boldin suited up and failed to make it onto the field consistently.

This is a tough loss for the Cardinals, as Boldin is their best YAC receiver and even as a decoy on most plays, he would have tied up multiple Carolina defenders. That being said, Arizona has two outstanding WRs in Larry Fitzgerald and Steve Breaston ready to go, which is something very few teams can boast of having, so they should be okay today offensively.

Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers Anquan Boldin, Cardinals, Panthers

Here’s some of the news from the league this morning. Enjoy the links for now… I’ll be back later to bust out my picks for today’s playoff games along with a breakdown of each match up.

• Cardinals DT Darnell Dockett was fined $20,000 by the league for excessive celebration during Arizona’s win last week against Atlanta. The No Fun League strikes again!

• Who needs Defensive Player of the Year when you can take home the Butkus award? Cowboys OLB DeMarcus Ware that’s who.

• Speaking of fines, Colts DE Dwight Freeney was docked $20,000 for comments the league deemed “inappropriate.” Freeney was bent about quite a few of the officiating decisions made in last week’s playoff loss to the Chargers, especially the ones in OT.

• As if playing for the Lions wasn’t bad enough… LB Jordan Dizon is apparently on the lam from the law, and will be served with a bench warrant very soon, after he failed to prove he did any of the community service that resulted from his drunk driving conviction. * Update - Dizon has proven his community service did take place and will not face the warrant

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