azdad1978
Championship!!!!
Kurt Warner returns to his former home for the first time as a visitor this week as the Cardinals travel to their NFC West rival St. Louis Rams. Warner was the Rams starting quarterback for their 1999 and 2001 Super Bowl appearances. Warner was named the Super Bowl XXXIV MVP in 1999 in the Rams victory over the Tennessee Titans and the NFL MVP in 1999 and 2001.
The Cardinals and the Rams have met 40 times dating back to 1946. The teams met twice annually from 1946-49 while the Cardinals were based in Chicago. That rivalry resumed in 2002 when the Cardinals entered the NFC West Division.
This week’s contest marks the 2005 series finale for the Cards and Rams. The teams met in the second week of the season as the Cardinals hosted the Rams in their home opener.
The Cardinals home opener marked the return of Kurt Warner against his former team, and the Cardinals had plenty of opportunities for victory but suffered a five-point defeat to the Rams after a late-game rally ended deep in St. Louis territory with a clock run-off. The Cardinals produced four scores to the Rams three but Arizona’s were all field goals while St. Louis’ scored a pair of touchdowns and a field goal.
The visitors struck first by moving 80 yards on the game’s opening drive and capped it with a 19-yard pass from Marc Bulger to Torry Holt. Later in the first, Arizona advanced to the Rams 11 but was forced to settle for a 29-yard Neil Rackers FG. Late in the first, a Warner fumble turned it over to the Rams at the Arizona 20 but one play later DT Darnell Dockett INT’d a Bulger shuffle pass to end that threat. Midway through the second, the Cards reached the Rams 1 but were backed up on a fumbled exchange, then a sack, and the drive ended with a 26-yard Rackers FG that trimmed the St. Louis lead to 7-6. A 39-yard Jeff Wilkins FG with 3:44 left in the second made it a 10-6 game at the half.
Arizona’s first drive of the second half resulted in a 48-yard Rackers FG that made it 10-9 but St. Louis answered quickly with an 8-play, 76-yard drive that ended with a 7-yard Steven Jackson TD run. Trailing 17-9, the Cards reached the St. Louis 8 midway through the fourth but another sack pushed them back and in resulted Rackers’ fourth FG of the game, this one a 35-yarder that made it 17-12 with 6:59 to play. Arizona’s defense forced a punt on the next series but the Cards offense had to punt it back with just over 3:00 to play. The defense came up big again, sending the Rams three-n-out on the next possession and Arizona’s offense took over at its own 14 with 1:53 to play and one timeout. Warner then completed six straight passes for 76 yards to move the Cards to the St. Louis 5 with :27 to play. On the next play, however, an Adam Archuleta sack backed them up to the 10 and then LT Leonard Davis was called for a false start with 7 seconds on the clock and the ensuing 10-second runoff ended the game. It was one of 8 penalties (5 in the second half) called on the Cardinals, resulting in 72 yards.
The Cardinals enter this week’s game 2-7 and are coming off a 29-21 loss in Detroit while the Rams enter the game at 4-5 after falling to the Seattle Seahawks 31-16 last week.
The Cardinals fell behind early in the Motor City and though they rallied to close the gap late in the fourth quarter, ran out of time on their comeback attempt.
Detroit struck early by taking the opening kickoff 59 yards in 7 plays on a drive that ended with a 7-yard pass from Joey Harrington to WR Roy Williams, the first of three TD hook-ups they had on the afternoon. Later in the first, a Nick Harris punt pinned the Cards at their own 2 and on the next play, DT Dan Wilkinson stuffed FB Obafemi Ayanbadejo in the end zone for a safety. Early in the second quarter, Harrington connected with Williams on a 21-yard TD pass that put the Lions up 16-0. Arizona got on the board on the ensuing drive when Neil Rackers nailed a 51-yard FG, his fifth of the year from 50+ yards. That FG, along with a 28-yarder in the fourth quarter, enabled Rackers to remain a perfect 28 for 28 on FGs for the season. Late in the first half, a Marcel Shipp lost a fumble that the Lions converted into a 26-yard Jason Hanson FG as the half expired.
The Cardinals opened the second half by marching 79 yards in 9 plays and scored their first rushing TD of the year on a 1-yard J.J. Arrington plunge that, along with an Ayanbadejo run for the 2-point conversion, made the score 19-11. Detroit answered quickly, however, and pushed the lead back into double-digits with a 29-yard Harrington-to-Williams TD. Rackers and Hanson traded FGs to open the fourth quarter and Detroit’s lead remained at 15 points until Kurt Warner hit Larry Fitzgerald with an 8-yard scoring pass with 2:24 to play. The Cards failed to recover the ensuing onsides kick attempt but the defense forced the Lions to punt after three plays. After taking over at its own 18 with 1:01 to play, the Cards offense reached the 39 before turning it over on downs. Warner topped 300 passing yards for the second straight week while Fitzgerald recorded his second consecutive 100-yard receiving game and fifth of the year.
The season-long injury problems continued for the Cardinals, who entered the game without recently injured players like wide receivers Anquan Boldin and Bryant Johnson and DE Bertrand Berry. Early in the contest, they lost LG Reggie Wells for the season with a broken ankle while LB Karlos Dansby later exited with a groin injury.
Warner recorded his 33rd career 300-yard passing game, completing 29 of 45 passes for 359 yards and one touchdown. Warner did not take a sack or give up an interception in the game and connected with Larry Fitzgerald for an eight-yard touchdown.
Fitzgerald leads the NFL in receptions with 61 for 854 yards and five touchdowns. He has topped 100 yards receiving in each of the last two games and five this season.
The Cardinals will take on the Jacksonville Jaguars at Sun Devil Stadium next week before going on the road for the third time in four weeks to San Francisco to close out their divisional games.
http://www.azcardinals.com/news/news_details.html?iid=3235
The Cardinals and the Rams have met 40 times dating back to 1946. The teams met twice annually from 1946-49 while the Cardinals were based in Chicago. That rivalry resumed in 2002 when the Cardinals entered the NFC West Division.
This week’s contest marks the 2005 series finale for the Cards and Rams. The teams met in the second week of the season as the Cardinals hosted the Rams in their home opener.
The Cardinals home opener marked the return of Kurt Warner against his former team, and the Cardinals had plenty of opportunities for victory but suffered a five-point defeat to the Rams after a late-game rally ended deep in St. Louis territory with a clock run-off. The Cardinals produced four scores to the Rams three but Arizona’s were all field goals while St. Louis’ scored a pair of touchdowns and a field goal.
The visitors struck first by moving 80 yards on the game’s opening drive and capped it with a 19-yard pass from Marc Bulger to Torry Holt. Later in the first, Arizona advanced to the Rams 11 but was forced to settle for a 29-yard Neil Rackers FG. Late in the first, a Warner fumble turned it over to the Rams at the Arizona 20 but one play later DT Darnell Dockett INT’d a Bulger shuffle pass to end that threat. Midway through the second, the Cards reached the Rams 1 but were backed up on a fumbled exchange, then a sack, and the drive ended with a 26-yard Rackers FG that trimmed the St. Louis lead to 7-6. A 39-yard Jeff Wilkins FG with 3:44 left in the second made it a 10-6 game at the half.
Arizona’s first drive of the second half resulted in a 48-yard Rackers FG that made it 10-9 but St. Louis answered quickly with an 8-play, 76-yard drive that ended with a 7-yard Steven Jackson TD run. Trailing 17-9, the Cards reached the St. Louis 8 midway through the fourth but another sack pushed them back and in resulted Rackers’ fourth FG of the game, this one a 35-yarder that made it 17-12 with 6:59 to play. Arizona’s defense forced a punt on the next series but the Cards offense had to punt it back with just over 3:00 to play. The defense came up big again, sending the Rams three-n-out on the next possession and Arizona’s offense took over at its own 14 with 1:53 to play and one timeout. Warner then completed six straight passes for 76 yards to move the Cards to the St. Louis 5 with :27 to play. On the next play, however, an Adam Archuleta sack backed them up to the 10 and then LT Leonard Davis was called for a false start with 7 seconds on the clock and the ensuing 10-second runoff ended the game. It was one of 8 penalties (5 in the second half) called on the Cardinals, resulting in 72 yards.
The Cardinals enter this week’s game 2-7 and are coming off a 29-21 loss in Detroit while the Rams enter the game at 4-5 after falling to the Seattle Seahawks 31-16 last week.
The Cardinals fell behind early in the Motor City and though they rallied to close the gap late in the fourth quarter, ran out of time on their comeback attempt.
Detroit struck early by taking the opening kickoff 59 yards in 7 plays on a drive that ended with a 7-yard pass from Joey Harrington to WR Roy Williams, the first of three TD hook-ups they had on the afternoon. Later in the first, a Nick Harris punt pinned the Cards at their own 2 and on the next play, DT Dan Wilkinson stuffed FB Obafemi Ayanbadejo in the end zone for a safety. Early in the second quarter, Harrington connected with Williams on a 21-yard TD pass that put the Lions up 16-0. Arizona got on the board on the ensuing drive when Neil Rackers nailed a 51-yard FG, his fifth of the year from 50+ yards. That FG, along with a 28-yarder in the fourth quarter, enabled Rackers to remain a perfect 28 for 28 on FGs for the season. Late in the first half, a Marcel Shipp lost a fumble that the Lions converted into a 26-yard Jason Hanson FG as the half expired.
The Cardinals opened the second half by marching 79 yards in 9 plays and scored their first rushing TD of the year on a 1-yard J.J. Arrington plunge that, along with an Ayanbadejo run for the 2-point conversion, made the score 19-11. Detroit answered quickly, however, and pushed the lead back into double-digits with a 29-yard Harrington-to-Williams TD. Rackers and Hanson traded FGs to open the fourth quarter and Detroit’s lead remained at 15 points until Kurt Warner hit Larry Fitzgerald with an 8-yard scoring pass with 2:24 to play. The Cards failed to recover the ensuing onsides kick attempt but the defense forced the Lions to punt after three plays. After taking over at its own 18 with 1:01 to play, the Cards offense reached the 39 before turning it over on downs. Warner topped 300 passing yards for the second straight week while Fitzgerald recorded his second consecutive 100-yard receiving game and fifth of the year.
The season-long injury problems continued for the Cardinals, who entered the game without recently injured players like wide receivers Anquan Boldin and Bryant Johnson and DE Bertrand Berry. Early in the contest, they lost LG Reggie Wells for the season with a broken ankle while LB Karlos Dansby later exited with a groin injury.
Warner recorded his 33rd career 300-yard passing game, completing 29 of 45 passes for 359 yards and one touchdown. Warner did not take a sack or give up an interception in the game and connected with Larry Fitzgerald for an eight-yard touchdown.
Fitzgerald leads the NFL in receptions with 61 for 854 yards and five touchdowns. He has topped 100 yards receiving in each of the last two games and five this season.
The Cardinals will take on the Jacksonville Jaguars at Sun Devil Stadium next week before going on the road for the third time in four weeks to San Francisco to close out their divisional games.
http://www.azcardinals.com/news/news_details.html?iid=3235
