FanHouse ReggieWells

Over the past two weeks we've heard all about the numerous connections between Pittsburgh and the Arizona Cardinals, and there are plenty. So many, in fact, that the Cardinals are jokingly referred to as "Pittsburgh west" by Steelers fans.

The story's of Ken Whisenhunt and Russ Grimm are well documented. Clark Haggans, Brian St. Pierre, Jerame Tuman and Sean Morey are all former Steelers, while Steve Breaston and Reggie Wells were actually born in Pittsburgh.

TAMPA, Fla. -- If you're one of those NFL draft obsessives who tunes in to the NFL Network to watch the scouting combine, you know John Lott.

TAMPA -- If you're one of those NFL draft obsessives who tunes in to the NFL Network to watch the scouting combine, you know John Lott.

In doing these Between The Lines posts, it's always interesting to see if mismatches jump out, or if there is a player that seems either underrated or overrated.

Normally it doesn't happen. The conventional wisdom on most teams is pretty accurate, and it's really hard to find a stud on the offensive or defensive line that hasn't been noticed at all. But as the Falcons get ready to play the Cardinals this weekend, there is a mismatch that jumps out from paying attention to the two team's lines: if the Falcons are wise with where they line up John Abraham, he could dominate this game.

There are a lot of factors to consider in Saturday's game: how will Matt Ryan react to his first playoff start, can the Cardinals slow down Michael Turner and is the Cardinals' triple-threat at receiver too much for the Falcons secondary, but as I see it, this game will first be decided by whether the Cardinals can block Abraham.

He wasn't spectacular by any means -- three Gus Frerotte interceptions, including two back-breakers in the fourth quarter, spelled doom -- but he also moved the ball better than Marc Bulger has all season and did a much better job of spreading the ball to some of the team's new weapons. But in the battle of the backups, Kurt Warner returned home and shined just a little bit brighter.

In reality, the new starter didn't look terribly impressive himself. And, in fact, the Cardinals got a lot of help from beneficial refs, who handed the Cardinals two questionable calls. At the end of the half, the Cardinals were stopped on the Rams' one-yard line, but the refs gave the Cardinals a bonus play with no time on the clock when they called a delay of game, quite dubiously, because the Rams accidentally kicked the ball. Touchdown. On another call, Edgerrin James appeared to fumble near the goalline, recovered in the endzone by Cardinals lineman Reggie Wells. A challenge led to James being ruled down by contact before the fumble. Touchdown. The refs were correct in that James was down before the ball came out, but it never crossed the stripe.

It's a shame, too, that superb efforts from Fahkir Brown, who intercepted two passes and added an element missing from the Rams' defense in his first game returning from suspension, and Brian Leonard, who carried 18 times for 102 yards in his second start, were wasted. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Roderick Hood, who had two interceptions, and Larry Fitzgerald, who's gotta love having Warner and no Anquan Boldin. Fitzgerald had his second 100-yard day, and finally got in the endzone.

Look at the numbers, look at the game tape: these teams' performances were nearly identical. It was Frerotte's interceptions, and the two lucky breaks the Cardinals got, that made the difference.