23Nov/0910:06 AM

Six Points: A win is a win - Cardinals hang on to beat Rams

By Vince Marotta

Kurt Warner threw two first half touchdowns and the Arizona Cardinals hung on to beat the St. Louis Rams 21-13 at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis on Sunday.

With the win, the Cardinals are 7-3 overall, 5-0 on the road, and owners of a commanding 3-game lead over the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC West. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

Here’s six things that stood out from the Cardinals’ win on Sunday…

Anquan Boldin has 16 catches for 208 yards in his last two games. He scored the Cardinals’ first td in their 21-13 win over the Rams on Sunday. (Photo: Tom Gannam/AP)

1

A tale of two halves. Again. After a fumble on their first possession and punting on their 2nd, the Cardinals offense clicked into high gear. The next three drives covered 92, 90 and 88 yards and all resulted in touchdowns. The Cardinals went to the locker room with a comfortable 21-3 lead, rolling up 327 yards of offense in the process.
Then the 2nd half happened. Warner had left the game with an apparent head injury, and was replaced by Matt Leinart. We’ve seen cases this season (Jacksonville, Chicago) when the Cardinals build a comfortable lead, they call off the dogs. An 18-point lead against one of the worst teams in the league is definitely comfortable, but this time head coach Ken Whisenhunt had no choice not to make a change at the quarterback position. I’m not sure if it was a change in philosophy or Leinart’s ineffectiveness, but the Cardinals’ offense went through the motions in the second half and made what should have been an easy 4-touchdown win into a one-possession game. The Rams got all the way to the Cardinals’ 7-yard line, and had two cracks at the end zone on third and fourth downs to make it a one-point game.
A better team than the Rams would have made the Cardinals pay for their conservative ways in the 2nd half.

2

Isn’t this his 4th year? At first glance, Matt Leinart’s stats from Sunday look o.k. The Cardinals’ backup completed 10 of 14 passes for 74 yards, and zero interceptions. But look further and you’ll see that that the Cardinals were stuck on 21 points after Warner left the game.
Leinart averaged only 5.3 yards per attempt on Sunday, while Warner averaged 10.7. I understand it’s natural to play a little safer when you’re on the road, protecting a lead with your backup quarterback in the game. But one of two things is happening with the Cardinals…either Ken Whisenhunt puts handcuffs on the offense when Leinart is in the game, or the former USC golden boy is just not very good. This is Leinart’s 4th year in the league, and he looks less comfortable than he did when he was thrown to the dogs as a starting quarterback for a bad football team back in 2006.

3

The running game continues to improve. Outside of Beanie Wells’ first quarter fumble, it was another good day for the Cardinals’ running game. Tim Hightower had a career high 110 yards on just 14 carries, while Wells added 74 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries.
The Cardinals still rank 27th in the league in rushing (94.1 yards per game), but over the last 3 games, they’ve been one of the better running teams in the league.
Only the Tennessee Titans (625 yards) and the Carolina Panthers (549 yards) have amassed more rushing yards than the Cardinals’ 487 over the span of their last three games.

4

Deja vu’? For the second straight year, the Cardinals lead the NFC West through 10 games with a 7-3 record. And once again, they have a comfortable lead in the division–three full games over the San Francisco 49ers.
Last year through ten games, the Cardinals had a 4-game lead over San Francisco, and responded by going 2-4 down the stretch and limping into the postseason at 9-7, and according to some network talking heads, as the “worst team ever to make the playoffs”.
Granted, the last stretch of this year’s Cardinals schedule appears to be a little lighter than last year’s, which included 3 playoff teams and another, New England, that missed the postseason despite winning 11 games.
This season the Cardinals will play only two teams with winning records (Minnesota & Green Bay) in their last six contests of the year.

5

Remember that ‘06 QB draft class? Three quarterbacks were drafted in the first eleven picks of the 2006 NFL Draft. Of the three, only one, Jay Cutler, has been more than an occasional starter, and he’s not exactly the most popular guy in Chicago right now. The other two, Tennessee’s Vince Young and Matt Leinart could meet next Sunday in Nashville if Warner can’t go.

6

Good to have you back. Anquan Boldin wasn’t happy after being inactive two weeks ago against the Chicago Bears because of an ankle injury. But it looks like Ken Whisenhunt’s decision to hold ‘Q back is paying off. Boldin had 8 catches for 103 yards and a touchdown in the Cardinals’ win. It was his 2nd straight 100-yard game, and in each game, he’s had a play of more than 35 yards.