The Arizona Cardinals (1-1) easily beat the Jacksonville Jaguars (0-2) today 31-17.  The score was 24-3 at halftime as Kurt Warner ate up the Jaguars secondary completing an NFL record 92% of his passes (24/26).  He had 243 yards and took exactly what the defense gave him, dumping it off for shorter passes most of the game.  Warner had two touchdowns and his performance was a complete turn-around from last week’s game where he threw two interceptions.  Warner hooked up with Larry Fitzgerald for one of his touchdowns and RB Jason Wright for the other.

The Jaguars looked completely over-matched in the first half, but did rally a small comeback in the second half as they scored 14 points.  The Cardinals defense did not look good, but that didn’t matter as the Cards offense was great.  The Jags were never really in the game and the Cardinals looked like the team that went to the Super Bowl last year.

FINAL SCORE:  Cardinals 31, Jaguars 17

The Arizona Cardinals offense looked nothing like the offense that led them to the Super Bowl last year.  In their 20-16 loss against the San Francisco 49ers the offensive rhythm was just not their for quarterback Kurt Warner and the rest of the Cardinals offense.  One of the main reasons for this was the lack of protection for Warner, as he was hurried and rushed out of the pocket on numerous occasions and was sacked three times.

The Cardinals defense will have a tough task in containing Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew, as he was the only bright spot for the Jaguars offense in their week one loss.  The Cardinals did a good job of containing the talented running back Frank Gore to only 30 yards last week, so they hope they can do the same to Jones-Drew.

I expect the Cardinals offense to look much better this week, more like the offense that won the NFC Championship last year.  This is about as close to a “must win” game you can get this early in the season, and the Cardinals are looking to send a message to the Jaguars and the rest of the league.  The Cardinals proved last week that they contain a talented running back, so I think they will be able to keep Jones-Drew from doing too much.  The Jaguars defense did look pretty solid last week, so they will be able to slow the Cardinals offense down some.  I think the Cardinals have too much for the Jaguars to handle though and they will edge out a close win.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Cardinals 28, Jaguars 17

With Anquan Boldin gimpy and Steve Breaston out the Cardinals needed someone to step up and Jerheme Urban answered the call last week.  He caught 5 passes for 74 yards (14.8 avg) against the 49ers last week.  Urban was the #4 WR for the Cardinals last season playing in all 16 games in which he caught 34 passes for 448 yards (13.2 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  The Cardinals need Boldin and Breaston back as soon as possible as Urban seems a little stretched out as a starter.

The Cardinals had some issues in this game and it showed on the field.  Anquan Boldin was limping around and Steve Breaston did not play so Kurt Warner didn’t have all the bullets in his gun.  Warner completed 26 of 44 passes for 288 yards with 1 TD pass and 2 interceptions.  Beanie Wells led the Cards with 29 yards rushing on 7 carries (4.1 ypc).  Tim Hightower only rushed for 15 yards on 8 carries (1.9 ypc) but he also caught 12 passes for 121 yards (10.1 avg).  Larry Fitzgerald had a decent game with six catches for 71 yards (11.8 avg) and a TD.  Jerheme Urban stepped in for the injured WRs and he caught 5 passes for 74 yards (14.8 avg).  The Cardinals finished up this game with 299 total yards on offense (40 rushing, 259 passing).

The defense was outstanding for the Cardinals in this game as they held the 49ers to only 21 yards rushing on 25 carries (0.8 ypc).  The 49ers did throw for 182 yards including a game winning pass from Shaun Hill to Frank Gore. 

The 49ers will likely do the smart thing tomorrow and run the ball a lot trying to keep the ball away from the Cardinals.  Frank Gore will likely be very tired Sunday Night but the Cardinals better also bruise him up some if they want to win this game.  Shaun Hill is a good play action passer so look for Isaac Bruce, Josh Morgan and Arnaz Battle to possibly get deep if the Niners establish the running game early.  Maybe this will be the game that Vernon Davis breaks out as the Cards’ OLBs are a little long in tooth (Clark Haggans and Chike Okeafor).

The Cardinals would like to run the ball a little more this season with Tim Hightower and Beanie Wells.  They might not have much luck against Patrick Willis though as he’s a tackling machine.   With that in mind the Cards might just attack the Niners D with Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston.  Kurt Warner should pile up some huge stats in this game.

PREDICITION:  ARIZONA CARDINALS 34, SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS 30