Kurt Warner’s return to the dome was great for him and not-so great for his former team. Warner was 27-of-39 for 285 yards passing, three touchdowns and no interceptions to lead the Cardinals over the Rams 38-28 Sunday. Warner hit Anquan Boldin eight times for 105 yards and Larry Fitzgerald nine times for 104 yards, tossing a touchdown to each.
St. Louis held two early leads on Sunday, the first advantage coming in the first quarter when Jeff Wilkins made good on a 47-yard field goal. With 1:22 to go in the quarter, Arizona kicker, and St. Louis native, Neil Rackers was good from 32 yards away to tie it.
Marc Bulger hit Torry Holt for a 22-yard touchdown strike on the next possession to help the Rams take a 10-3 lead, but they wouldn’t leave the first half on top.
Warner helped lead the Cardinals to a 12-play, 59-yard touchdown drive to tie the game. With 26 seconds to go in the half, Rackers gave the Cardinals a 13-10 lead with a 33-yard field goal.
Rackers booted a 51-yard field goal in the third quarter to make to make it 16-10, Arizona. The Rams regained the lead on the next drive by going 72 yards on a six play drive that lasted 3:31. Marc Bulger hit Isaac Bruce on a 46-yard touchdown pass. St. Louis led 17-16.
After forcing an Arizona punt on the next possession, the Rams seemed poised to add to their lead; instead they suffered a big blow. After a penalty, Bulger dropped back for a pass and was sacked, bruising his shoulder. Bulger, who also suffered a concussion, was knocked out of the game. Jamie Martin stepped in, but couldn’t lead the Rams to a score on the drive.
The Cardinals took the next drive 48 yards into the end zone, capping it with a nine yard hook up from Warner to Adam Bergen. The two-point conversion was good and Arizona took a 24-17 lead and never trailed again. The Cardinals scored 22 points in the fourth quarter.
Bulger and Martin were a combined 33-for-43 for 385 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. But the Rams rushing attack consisted of just 12 attempts, all to Steven Jackson, for only 12 yards.
With the loss, the Rams fell to 4-6 and the Cardinals improved to 3-7.