Kurt Warner leads Cards to win at Seattle

The Arizona Cardinals boast a perfect 4-0 record at home this year, but heading into Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks were only 2-3 on the road.  They’re now 3-3 on the road as they had no trouble with the lowly Seahawks who dropped to 2-8 on the season.  Kurt Warner had another impressive passing performance and was instrumental in helping the Cards to a victory that extended their lead in the NFL West to 4 games.

Arizona certainly has been helped by playing in the league’s worst division—they’re the only team in the NFC West with a winning record and their division “rivals” (San Francisco, Seattle and St. Louis) have combined for a 7-23 record to date.   Still, the Cards have taken care of their business and are now 7-3 for the first time since 1977.  Barring a monumental collapse by Arizona and a seismic shift in the fortunes of their NFC West rivals they’ll almost certainly win the division this year.

Kurt Warner threw for 395 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception—his fifth 300 yard game of the season and fourth straight.  He also threw a TD pass in his 18th consecutive game, the second longest streak in team history.  Despite his individual superlatives, Warner was more focused on his team’s fortunes:

"You know, it's fun. That's all I want is another chance to compete for a championship. We're back in the mix again. Obviously, there's still a long way to go, but to be 10 games in and be in the mix is fun. We haven't been there in a while. I haven't been there in a while."

Seattle coach Paul Holmgren has all but thrown in the towel on 2008, admitting that he’s “exhausted” in advance of a yearlong sabbatical in 2009.  He made clear in no uncertain terms that at 2-8 the Seahawks priorities are now player development rather than wins and losses:

"We're not idiots. We can do the math."

That math no doubt indicates that the Seahawks next three games are going to be extremely challenging—starting with back-to-back games against NFC East rivals who desperately need the wins as Washington comes to town next Sunday followed by a trip to Dallas on Thursday, 11/27.  On Sunday, December 7th they’ll host the New England Patriots.  In fact, they’ve only got one remaining game against a team with a losing record (12/14 at St. Louis).

Arizona, meanwhile, has their own tough scheduling stretch but with the putrid performance of the other teams in the NFC West they’ve got some breathing room.  They’ll host the New York Giants on Sunday before travelling to Philadelphia for a Thanksgiving Day game against the Eagles.  A relatively easy game against St. Louis at home is on the docket for 12/7.