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.

30-year old safety Adrian Wilson is still a top playmaker for the Cardinals.  He has played in all 13 games for the Cardinals this season and he has made 65 tackles, 1/2 a sack, 10 tackles for a loss, 1 forced fumble, he has defensed 12 passes and he has 4 interceptions.  Look for him to make some huge plays against the sloppy Detroit Lions this weekend.

The Cardinals have placed safety Matt Ware on the Injured Reserve List with a knee problem.  Ware played in 11 games this season for the Cardinals and he made 24 tackles, defensed 1 pass, forced 1 fumble and he has 1 interception.  The Cardinals will miss Ware especially on special teams the last three weeks.

The Cardinals have signed 27-year old kicker Mike Nugent.  Nugent played in 4 games earlier this season for the Buccaneers and he only made 2 of 6 field goals (33.3%) and all six of his extra points which was good for 12 points.  Nugent has now played in 53 games in his 5 years in the NFL and he has connected on 77 of 98 field goals (77.6%) and 89 of 91 extra points which is good for 320 points.  Nugent will replace Neil Rackers this week whose injured groin needs rest.  Rackers has played in all 13 games for the Cardinals this season and he has made 16 of 17 field goals (94.1%) and he has connected on 36 of 37 extra points good for 84 points.  The Cardinals better keep their fingers crossed this week that the game doesn’t come down to Mike Nugent trying to win it with a field goal.

Kurt Warner had an off night and the Arizona Cardinals (8-5) couldn’t get their offense going against the San Francisco 49ers (6-7).  The seven turnovers probably didn’t help either, as Warner had 2 interceptions and they lost 5 fumbles as a team.  It could have been even worse since they had 7 fumbles but recovered two of them.  Warner went 16/29 for 178 yards and failed to find the endzone.  Beanie Wells had a decent game, rushing for 79 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries, but he was one of several Cardinals’ players to lose a fumble.

With all of the turnovers, the Cardinals were lucky the game was even this close.  The defense couldn’t really help much, as they played decent.  They picked off Alex Smith twice, but he also had 2 touchdowns.  He finished with only 144 passing yards on 19/35.  Frank Gore ran all over them though, finishing with 167 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries.  It didn’t matter that much though, because 7 turnovers is an absurd amount and the Cardinals should have lost by more.

The Arizona Cardinals (8-4) are coming off their best defensive performance and will be looking to continue that strong play Monday night against the San Francisco 49ers (5-7).  The 49ers beat the Cardinals in the season opener, but the Cardinals are a much better team at this point of the season.  They are third in the league in sacks, so the defense will be able to get a lot of pressure on 49ers’ quarterback Alex Smith.  If they can rattle Smith around, then the 49ers wont have much of a chance.  They held Adrian Peterson to 19 yards on 13 carries, so they shouldn’t have a problem Frank Gore.

On offense, the Cardinals have been clicking very well.  Kurt Warner has two great weapons to throw to in Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, and he has had little problems finding both of them for big plays.  The 49ers give up 250 passing yards per game, so Warner and company should be able to air it out all night.  They aren’t particularly good at stopping the run either, so Beanie Wells and Tim Hightower should help carry some of the offensive load.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Arizona Cardinals 34, San Francisco 49ers 24