Arizona plays Cards right, Leave Buffalo the Bills

[dgr828]

Kurt Warner and the Arizona Cardinals beat visiting Buffalo 41-17, giving the Bills (4-1) its first loss of the season.
The Cards are now on top in the NFC West with a (3-2) record.
Warner had a great day going 33/42 for 250 yards, 2 TDs and 0 INTs.

[moklerman]

Warner had a great day going 33/42 for 250 yards, 2 TDs and 0 INTs.

I would say that it was great for Warner to have a good day. His stat's were only "good" but that is exactly what he's always had trouble settling for. Today was another step in his conforming to "protect the ball" QB'ing. Overall, he's done pretty well in this regard but it's still pretty apparent that it isn't natural to the way he plays.

But, today in particular showed that he can throw a lot of passes, take what the defense is giving and still be productive and not turn it over. Whether he can continue to do that without more games like vs. the Jets is still like a sword of Damocles hanging over Arizona's season.

[laram0]

Kurt Warner played an awesome game.

33/42 -78.6 comp%
250 yds passing
2 td passes
0 ints
2 scrambles for 10 yards
not sacked once
completed passes to 9 different receivers
Anquan Boldin didn't play
36:16 TOP by the Cardinals offense.
28- 1st downs (17 through the air)
9/13 on 3rd down conversions ( Buffalo leads the NFL with a 19% allowance rate)
Offense scored 41 points

Warner lead the offense on 3 long TD scoring drives.
14 plays- 80 yards
12 plays- 78 yards
13 plays- 78 yards

I would say that Warner had better than just a "good" game.

I would love to see this type of game from any of our present QB's!!!!

[moklerman]

I would say that Warner had better than just a "good" game.

Compared to last week for sure but 250 yards and 2 TD's isn't greatness. Especially on 42 passes. The longest play on offense, I believe, was 18 yards. It was the definition of dink and dunk and I have no problem with that. Arizona doesn't have the burners to blow past the cover-2 umbrella and even with speed at WR, Warner has always struggled against deep zones that force him to settle for underneath routes.

So, I agree that it was a big game for Warner but I don't think it was statistically great. 5.5 ypa and 4.8 TD% is efficient but not great. This is splitting hairs though. At this stage of Warner's career and with the bar being set so low in his bad performances, I'm certainly not talking negatively about his performance.

Buffalo dared him to be patient and he beat them. That's a huge step if Warner can continue with it. I've been very impressed with him this year. He got that fluke interception in Washington back vs. Buffalo when his receiver stumbled out of his break and the Buffalo defender dropped a sure INT. So, in 4 out of 5 games he has a total of 1 turnover. The Jets game will hopefully prove to be an aberration.