Last week, Kurt Warner threw five interceptions. This week, Warner threw five touchdown passes.
Warner’s turnaround led the Arizona Cardinals to a big win over the Chicago Bears Sunday at Soldier Field — a big win that put the Cardinals in control of the NFC West and the Bears in big trouble in the NFC North.
Going from five picks to five touchdowns doesn’t happen often — the last NFL quarterback to do it was Gary Danielson, as Dan Patrick mentioned while having both Warner and Danielson on his radio show today. But Warner showed again on Sunday that just when he looks like he’s starting to show his age, he responds with a big game.
Overall, Warner completed 22 of 32 passes for 261 yards, and he didn’t throw an interception.
“It’s especially nice to balance all of my picks from last week with my touchdowns from this week,” Warner said afterward, per the Arizona Republic. “But that’s part of the game. It’s one of those things that I’ve been through many times. Unfortunately, I will probably go through it again. But so much of this business is how you respond.”
Larry Fitzgerald was his usual spectacular self, with nine catches for 123 yards and two touchdowns. Warner also found Ben Patrick, Anthony Becht, and Steve Breaston for touchdown passes.
The only issue for the Cardinals’ passing game is whether wide receiver Anquan Boldin is on the same page as the coaching staff. Boldin was inactive with an ankle injury, and he complained not only that he was healthy enough to go, but that coach Ken Whisenhunt wasn’t “man enough” to tell Boldin he was being sidelined.
Whisenhunt may have erred in benching Boldin, and he definitely erred in benching Warner in the fourth quarter. With the Cardinals up 34-14, Whisenhunt thought the game was safely in hand, so he pulled Warner in favor of Matt Leinart. His first pass was intercepted, and the Bears scored a touchdown on the ensuing possession. All of a sudden it was 34-21, and the Cardinals had a game on their hands.
That’s when Warner came back in, threw his fifth touchdown pass, and effectively ended it.
The passing game wasn’t the only thing that worked for the Cardinals; Tim Hightower and Beanie Wells both ran effectively: Hightower picked up 77 yards on 15 carries and Wells ran for 72 yards on 13 carries.
The Cardinals’ running game was aided by the absence of Bears defensive tackle Tommie Harris, who was ejected just a minute into the game for punching Cardinals guard Deuce Lutui. Harris apparently felt that he had been hit with a cheap shot, but responding by punching Lutui — in full view of referee Ed Hochuli — was not a wise decision.
“Tommie Harris has to be smarter than that,” Bears coach Lovie Smith said afterward.
Harris didn’t talk to reporters afterward, but Lutui did. He said he doesn’t have any hard feelings toward Harris.
“It was nothing serious,” Lutui said. “It happened real quick. . . . It was just unfortunate he had to be [ejected] from the game. He’s a real competitive athlete and he looks real good on film. Things like that happen. Sometimes you lose your composure.”
Also hurting the Bears’ defense was the loss of cornerback Charles Tillman, who suffered a shoulder injury in the second quarter. If he’s out for a significant period of time, things will only get worse for the Bears.
Lost in the blowout was that Bears quarterback Jay Cutler played pretty well, completing 29 of 47 passes for 369 yards, with three touchdowns and one interception. Tight end Greg Olsen scored all three of the Bears’ touchdowns in one of his best games as a pro, but he wasn’t in any mood to celebrate his individual achievement afterward.
“Obviously nothing we did was good enough to win the game, so none of our performances were too special or else we would have won,” Olsen told the Chicago Tribune. “At the end of the day, this is a results business, and we didn’t get it done today. No matter what you do personally, the object is to win, and we didn’t do it.”
The Bears’ failure to do it drops them to 4-4, three games behind the first-place Minnesota Vikings in the NFC North. Halfway through the season, a division title looks very unlikely for Chicago, and they’ll need to be better over the next eight games than they were in the first eight if they want to earn a wild card playoff berth.
The Cardinals are now 5-3, including 4-0 on the road. With a two-game lead in the NFC West, they look like a playoff team again — as long as Warner has more five-touchdown games than five-interception ones.
Hopefully this is the last time Whisenhunt puts Leinart in when the game seems to be locked up. He did the same thing earlier in the year against the Jags, and once again Kurt had to come back in. Face it, Leinart is a bust!
Regarding Tommie Harris “losing his composure” and “having to act smarter than that”:
These guys are professional athletes. It should be UNACCEPTABLE that they incur personal fouls for unsportsmanlike conduct IN ANY WAY, whether excessive celebration penalties (such as last night, after Philly’s Brett Celek’s touchdown reception, which then forced the Eagles to kick-off from the FIFTEEN YARD LINE, giving the ensuring Cowboys possession GREAT FIELD POSITION), or the Tommie Harris variety.
Here’s an idea, “Lovie” Smith. Get control of your locker room and your zoo. Instill some discipline. Put Tommie Harris on the bench next week and dock him a game check. Telling him he’s “got to act smarter” is B.S. … you are A WIMP and a poor coach.
YOU ARE IN CHARGE. ACT LIKE IT. You just got BLOWN OUT at home … and one of your “defensive leaders” acted stupidly and narcissistically, costing his team his presense (whatever it was worth — probably not much) for the entire game. YOU’RE PAYING THIS SACK OF CRAP, and there he is sitting on the bench.
SOME LEADERSHIP. This is why the Chicago Bears are going NOWHERE.
Time to fire Lovie Smith.
Wow. You got another post up here in record time.
The Bears defense isn’t just “not as good as it used to be,” it is downright “horrible!”
Boldin wasn’t benched. He was rested bcause the coaching staff knew they could beat the Bears without him. Great player but he needs to grow up.
The Bears are who we thought they were. That’s why we took the field.
“If he’s out for a significant period of time, things will only get worse for the Bears.
Florio- regarding Tillman….if you actually did some real reporting, you’d know that it’s said his injury is not serious and he’s expected to play on Thursday.
ok it’s not just turner that is the problem with the bears anymore although he did not disapoint yesterday either,great call on that reverse to hester killing that drive and any hope of trying to stay with the cardnials.when is the media going to start putting the blame on lovie?he is in charge of the defense right?he is the head coach who has missed the playoffs 2 years in a row and looking at a 3rd right?he is the one who shrugs off each loss like it’s no big deal right?he’s the one one who makes no adj. during the game right?it’s not the plan it’s the players,realy?it’s the players who let the other team go up and down the field at will and guard the best reciever 1 on 1?time to say goodbye and bring in shanahan.they may not win any more but at least they will be watchable.
That was as cheap a shot as I’ve seen by Tommie Harris. It’s right up there with Albert Haynesworth’s cheap shot when he kicked Gurode. He should get a HUGE fine and a multiple game suspension.
Yeah, Boldin needs to shut up, appreciate that he is playing with a contender and they can win easily on the road without him. He should keep his mouth shut, concentrate on healing and getting better, and focus on the home stretch to the playoffs. I appreciate these athletes for being competitors, but check you EGO at the door (for once) and do what’s best for the team! Selfish babies…
Fire Lovie.
Fire Ron Turner.
I want Ron Rivera as the head coach before the Bears fly to San Fran.
Too bad it’s never gonna happen, Vaginia McCheapsky would never pay for coaches that aren’t here anymore.
Well now there’s irony for ya.
After decades of complaining that we don’t have a QB, now that we finally do (Cutler pretty much carried the day vs. AZ) the rest of the team goes bye-bye.
Both OL and DL lines suck. Overall, the defense blows. Period. Toss them all out with the bath water.
So let’s get all hyped up for next year! To start with:
• Trade Tommie “I’m only good when I feel like it” Harris. Take what we can get.
• Unload Urlacher. Al Davis or Dan Snyder will snatch him up. Urlacher is still good but he’s only got two years left at best and he’s dropping fast.
• Unload Lance Briggs. His value is at his highest and really the only player worth a low 1st round pick or certainly 2nd rounder.
• Do not resign Ogunleye. Too old for what he’ll want.
• Do not resign the over-rated Mark Anderson.
• Unload the entire offensive line with the possible exception of Kreutz.
Now fire Angelo and the entire coaching staff. Look, Angelo has not been all that bad in comparison to past GM’s since McMikey fired Vainisi but his and Lovie’s time has past. I like them both but a change is need as well as one more major change.
Bear’s Football.
I am sick to death of hearing about “Bears Football”. How many championships has Bears Football netted in the last 50 years? Two. And unless you’re a little older than me (almost 50) you can’t remember the 1963 season either. Regardless, for a city as great as Chicago, for a loyal group of die hard fans such as the Bears have, two championship seasons in 50 years is just pathetic.
We have to run because of the weather? Please. Tell that to Tom Brady (5 TD’s in the snow), Brett Farve (almost all QB records) while in Green Bay, Elway, or Kelly, or Unitas, or Tarkenton. You get the point. Unfortunately those in power at Halas Hall hold “Bears Football” too closely are too blind to see that time has passed them by.
So basically, let’s start over and build around a good QB and some promising receivers (Hester, Olson, and Knox) and a running back in Forte. Roach, Manning, Brown, and Avalava are the only ones worth keeping on the D side. As for the rest, I wish them well.