The Arizona Cardinals aren’t that good. They just aren’t.

But they beat the Carolina Panthers despite their shortcomings, then beat the “no respect” drum after the game.

“A lot of people lost money in Vegas,” defensive back Adrian Wilson told the Arizona Republic.

“Don’t nobody believe in the Arizona Cardinals but the Cardinals fans,” defensive end Antonio Smith said. “We love being the underdogs. Best place to be.”

(Better than sitting in the lottery office getting one of those comically over-sized checks?)

The Gridbirds needled media types who dared visit their locker room after their upset victory.

“Look at the front-running media,” defensive end Travis LaBoy said.

“Nobody get on this bandwagon,” cornerback Ralph Brown said.

Don’t worry, Ralph. We won’t. And another skeptic is Gene Wojciechowski of ESPN.com.

“Anything is possible,” he wrote. “You’ve got your Miracle On Ice, your Lyle Lovett marrying Julia Roberts, and your Three 6 Mafia winning an Oscar. But the Arizona Cardinals over the Philadelphia Eagles in next Sunday’s NFC Championship Game? Put it this way: Tim Tebow and the Philippians have a better chance of strip clubbing with Pacman Jones.”

ON THE OTHER HAND

Tipsheet is thrilled for Gridbirds quarterback Kurt Warner, whom the Rams dismissed as washed up several years back.

He added still another playoff victory to his track record. He reaffirmed his standing as one of the top quarterbacks of his NFL era.

He’s no Marc Bulger, but . . .

MAKING FUN OF ANDY REID

ESPN.com personality Bill Simmons railed on Reid, Romeo Crennel and two other NFL coaches for mindless replay challenges and poor clock management. He even proposed a new animated series call “The Flabbergasted Four.”

He wrote: “Every episode would center around them getting in each other’s way, making bad decisions and screwing things up — with Andy Reid repeatedly throwing challenge flags and grinding everything to a halt for three minutes at a time - before they collectively both the last three minutes and another city blows up ‘MacGyver’-style.”

That spurred this creative effort:

MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

Questions to ponder while Australians lament Maria Sharapova’s disabling shoulder injury:

• Why was the Baltimore-Tennessee officiating crew in the tank for the Ravens? Why did they ignore that obvious delay-of-game penalty?
• Is Jake Delhomme color blind?
• If that is how Missouri intends to play in Big 12 Conference road games, will even the NIT be out of its reach this spring?
• Aren’t the Blues overdue for another crippling injury?

THE THRILL OF VICTORY

After seeing this, we’re guessing that folks in Florida are still recovering from the BCS Championship Game.

Erin Andrews, step aside.

QUIPS ‘R US

Here is what some of America’s leading sports pundits have been writing:

Dan Daly, Washington Times: “The Browns have fired one former Bill Belichick assistant, Romeo Crennel, and replaced him with another, Eric Mangini. And if Mangini doesn’t work out, well, maybe Charlie Weis will be available by then.”

Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle: “The Cowboys wave adios to Adam “Pacman” Jones. His agent says Pacman is ‘surprised and somewhat hurt.’ Which beats the heck out of being surprised and somewhat maimed for life.”

Bill Simmons, ESPN.com: “Like everyone else, I did a quintuple take upon seeing that NBC had trotted out failed Lions GM Matt Millen as one of its pregame studio guys. Like everyone else, I was confused about what NBC thought my reaction should be — should I be nodding intently as Millen broke down the Cards-Falcons game and saying, ‘That’s a great point, Guy Who Single-Handedly Murdered The Lions?’ Like everyone else, I felt bad for Detroit fans, who had just put the 0-16 season behind them and probably looked forward to a pain-free playoffs … and suddenly, there was the John Wilkes Booth of their franchise staring at them in HD.”

Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel: “Shouldn’t Sam Bradford’s Heisman Trophy have Tim Tebow’s face on it?”

Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “Padraig Harrington was voted PGA Tour Player of the Year for 2008. Didn’t hear his acceptance speech, but I trust he saved the biggest thanks for Tiger Woods being injured. That’s like Pluto winning Planet of the Year the one year Earth wasn’t eligible.”

Dwight Perry, Seattle Times: “Lumberjack edged out dairy farmer as the distinction of worst job among 200 professions surveyed by CareerCast.com, a new job site. Somehow missing the cut: Pacman Jones’ bodyguard and John Daly’s spin doctor.”

Mike Vaccaro, New York Post: “In truth, last year’s Giants were perfect when they had to be, saving their best football for January and February. And, in truth, what ultimately sent them hurtling back through the looking glass was getting a good, up-close view of the newest model of their old selves. Only it’s Andy Reid re-winning the hearts and minds of his skeptical fans now. It’s Donovan McNabb converting a legion of doubters into acolytes. It’s a green-clad team with wings on its helmets that is starting to bear the unmistakable look of a team charging along with adrenaline in its engine and the wind at its back.”
MEGAPHONE

“I’m at a loss for words, Usually I’m not.”

Delhomme, shooing away scribes after literally throwing Carolina’s playoff hopes away.