The Cardinals dominated the Rams yesterday as they should.  Kurt Warner was very sharp in this game completing 24 of 38 passes for 313 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs.  Beanie Wells led the way on the ground for the Cardinals yesterday with 68 yards rushing on 17 carries (4.0 ypc) with a TD run.  He also caught 1 pass for 25 yards yesterday.  Tim Hightower pitched in with 32 yards rushing on 10 carries (3.2 ypc) with a TD run and he also caught 2 passes for 3 yards (1.5 avg).  Anquan Boldin led the way in the passing game for the Cardinals last night with 8 grabs for 116 yards (14.5 avg).  Larry Fitzgerald (5 rec, 48 yards, TD), Early Doucet (2 rec, 43 yards, TD) and Steve Breaston (4 rec, 64 yards) all pitched in for the Cardinals in the passing game yesterday.  The Cardinals finished up with 407 total yards on offense (110 rushing, 297 passing) in this game.

Linebacker Karlos Dansby led the way for the Cardinals’ D with 7 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and 1 QB hit in this game.  Safety Adrian Wilson also had a great game with 4 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack, 1 pass defensed, 1 QB hit and 1 interception yesterday.  CBs Greg Toler and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie both pitched in with pick-offs in this game.  The Rams finished up with a paltry 238 total yards on offense (88 rushing, 150 passing) in this game.  The Cardinals are now 10-5 on the year.

The Arizona Cardinals have lost 30-year old OT Mike Gandy for the rest of the season due to sports hernia surgery.  He played in 12 games (all starts) for the Cardinals this season.  In his three years with the Cardinals, Gandy has played in 44 games starting all of them.  They will miss Gandy.

The Cardinals looked like they were on their way to a easy win earlier today as they went to the locker-room with a 17-0 lead.  But it took a 5-yard TD pass from Kurt Warner to Anquan Boldin with 1:54 left in the game to seal this game and the NFC West.  Kurt Warner was solid completing 23 of 37 passes for 233 yards with 2 TD passes and 1 interception (it was returned 100 yards for a TD by rookie safety Louis Delmas of the Lions).  Beanie Wells had a huge game for the Cardinals earlier today with 17 carries for 110 yards (6.5 ypc) with a TD run.  Tim Hightower only rushed for 4 yards on 6 carries (0.7 ypc) with a TD run but he also caught 6 passes for 34 yards (5.7 avg) today.  Anquan Boldin led the way in the passing game for the Cardinals today with 6 grabs for 72 yards (12.0 avg) with a TD grab.  Larry Fitzgerald pitched in with 4 catches for 36 yards (9.0 avg) with a TD grab.  The Cardinals finished up with 340 total yards on offense in this game (117 rushing, 223 passing).

The defense only gave up 17 of the points today for the Cardinals.  OLB/DE Chike Okeafor led the way for the Cardinals today with 8 tackles.  LB Clark Haggans also had a solid game with 7 tackles, 1/2 a sack and a QB hit.  CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie was outstanding today with 3 tackles, 4 passes defensed and 2 interceptions.  The Lions finished up with 282 total yards of offense in this game (161 rushing, 121 passing).  The Cardinals are now 9-5 on the season as they have clinched the NFC West Crown.

The Lions are really banged up coming into this game so the Cardinals should try to break their will early in this game.  The Lions are allowing 272.1 yards passing per game and opposing QBs have a 108.8 rating against them this year.  That means that Kurt Warner will be throwing the ball a lot to Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, Steve Breaston and Tim Hightower.  The Cardinals will also likely pound the ball on the ground with Beanie Wells and Tim Hightower after they get a comfortable lead. 

The Cardinals should double cover Calvin Johnson from the second he comes out of the locker-room until the game is over as he is the only Lions player on offense that can hurt the Cardinals.  The Cardinals will likely blitz a lot in this game to force Daunte Culpepper into making mistakes.  The Lions will be without Kevin Smith in this game as he is out for the year with a knee injury so the Cardinals won’t have to respect the running game of the Lions.

PREDICTION:  CARDINALS 34, LIONS 10

22-year old RB LaRod Stephens-Howling is making a name for himself as a rookie this year.  Stephens-Howling has played in all 13 games for the Cardinals so far this season and he has carried the ball 4 times for 9 yards (2.3 ypc).  He has also caught 10 passes for 83 yards (8.3 avg) with a TD grab.  But, Stephens-Howling has really excelled on special teams for the Cardinals this season as he has returned 41 kickoffs for 1,013 yards (24.7 avg) including a TD return of 99 yards.  The Cardinals appear to have hit the jackpot with Stephens-Howling who was a 7th round pick out of Pittsburgh last April.