Planet Sport

The Arizona Cardinals took advantage of some costly mistakes by quarterback Matt Ryan to beat the Atlanta Falcons 30-24.

Kurt Warner threw a pair of long touchdown passes and the Arizona Cardinals took advantage of some costly mistakes by Ryan to end the Atlanta Falcons' fairy-tale season with a 30-24 victory Saturday in the NFC wild card playoffs.

Warner threw scoring passes of 42 yards to Larry Fitzgerald and 71 to Anquan Boldin as the Cardinals (10-7) advanced to next weekend's divisional round at either the Carolina Panthers or the top-seeded New York Giants.

Running back Edgerrin James, who had been benched earlier in the season, contributed 73 yards on 16 carries for Arizona, which is in the playoffs for the first time since 1998.

Appearing in their first postseason home game since 1947, when the franchise was located in Chicago, the NFC West champion Cardinals seized control of the game in the third quarter against Ryan and the mistake-prone Falcons (11-6).

Antrel Rolle returned a fumbled snap 27 yards for a touchdown in the opening minute of the second half to put Arizona ahead for good, 21-17.

Rookie Tim Hightower capped a long scoring drive with a 4-yard run to make it 28-17 with 2:48 to go in the third quarter.

Ryan then compounded the troubles on the next play from scrimmage, when his long pass down the right sideline was intercepted by rookie cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.

In the third quarter, four Atlanta possessions resulted in a fumble, a pair of three-and-outs and the interception.

And it only got worse early in the fourth quarter, when defensive end Antonio Smith sacked Ryan in the end zone for a safety that padded the margin to 30-17 with 12:37 to play.