Story Photos
 Mike Holmgren talks with Seneca Wallace, left, and quarterbacks coach Bill Lazor during Sunday's 34-21 loss to the Cardinals on Sunday. Ross D. Franklin / AP
|
Seahawks wrap up 4-12 season with loss at Arizona
Monday, December 29, 2008 12:12 PM PST
By Bob Baum
The Associated Press
Printable version
E-mail this articleGLENDALE, Ariz. — The Cardinals were sputtering and the home fans were booing.
Then Larry Fitzgerald caught a 50-yard pass from Kurt Warner and everything changed for an Arizona team that had been pounded twice since clinching the NFC West title.
“A lot of times great players make those plays for you,” Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said. “That seemed to wake us up in all facets, and we played well from that point.”
Warner threw four touchdown passes, two of them to Fitzgerald, and the Cardinals spoiled Mike Holmgren’s final game as Seattle coach Sunday with a 34-21 victory over the Seahawks.
It provided some much-needed momentum for an Arizona team that had been outscored 82-21 in losses to Minnesota and New England. The Cardinals will play their first home playoff game since 1947 when they face Atlanta on Saturday (4:30 p.m., EST).
Arizona (9-7) finished the regular season with a winning record for the first time in a decade and only the second time since 1984. The Cardinals were unbeaten against NFC West foes.
“Being 6-0 in the division is the first thing that stands out,” Whisenhunt said. “How important this is. Anytime, anywhere in the NFL that doesn’t happen a lot.”
Fitzgerald, in a spectacular performance with teammate Anquan Boldin out with a shoulder injury, caught five passes for 130 yards. He had touchdown catches of 5 and 38 yards after his 50-yarder set up the Cardinals’ first score.
“My team was relying on me and I knew I needed to step up and make some plays,” Fitzgerald said. “We had been dragging for a couple of weeks and I wanted to just make sure I was accountable.”
Warner completed 19 of 30 for 263 yards and was intercepted once. His four touchdown passes gave him a franchise-record 30 for the season. Matt Leinart played the final quarter in relief of Warner and directed the team to a pair of field goals.
Edgerrin James, in his first extensive play since he was benched eight games into the season in favor of rookie Tim Hightower, carried 14 times for 100 yards for a team that ranked last in the NFL in rushing. His 35-yard run, the longest in his three seasons with the Cardinals, set up Neil Rackers’ 23-yard field goal that put Arizona ahead 31-21 with 8:26 to play.
James, who had asked through his agent to be traded, said he was told Monday that he’d be starting. He said he believed “a lot of people knew” he could still play.
“You just always want to go out and perform, you just want to go out and play,” he said.
The 57th 100-yard game of James’ career pushed him ahead of Franco Harris to 11th on the NFL career rushing list.
Whisenhunt wouldn’t commit to James being the starter against the Falcons.
“I’m certainly not down on Tim Hightower,” Whisenhunt said, “but we’ll prepare for Atlanta and see what we feel is the best fit for us going forward.”
Seneca Wallace completed 24-of-43 for 250 yards and two touchdown passes for the Seahawks. He was intercepted twice.
“We were still trying to go out and win the game, give 100 percent for him (Holmgren) and try to send him out on a light note,” Wallace said, “but we made some mistakes that hurt us.”
Arizona had lost four of five overall going into Sunday’s game.
“I just think we needed to get back to playing with energy and doing what we do,” Warner said. “I think we did that to a large degree today, and it’s something we can build on going into the playoffs.”
Holmgren’s team, ravaged by injuries throughout the season, beat the New York Jets in his final home game as coach a week ago, but there was no fond farewell this time. The coach, who is stepping down and vows to spend at least one year out of football, has a 174-122 career NFL record, 90-80 with Seattle.
He said he was too emotional to speak to the team after the game.
“I told them, tomorrow during the meeting,” he said, “because if I tried to do it now it would be ridiculous. They mean a lot to me, and the thing I’ll miss the most is the players.”
Steve Breaston caught five passes for 91 yards, the last a 7-yarder in the waning seconds, to join Fitzgerald and Boldin as 1,000-yard receivers. It was the fifth time in NFL history that three teammates passed the 1,000-yard mark. Breaston had 999 before the late pass.
On the second play from scrimmage, Ralph Brown intercepted Seneca Wallace’s pass at the Arizona 49, ending the Seattle quarterback’s franchise-record string of 184 attempts without an interception.
Notes: Arizona broke the franchise record for points in a season with 424, one more than in 1984. ... The previous Cardinals record for most TD passes in a season was 28 shared by Charley Johnson (1963) and Neil Lomax (1984). ... Seattle’s Deon Grant dropped a potential interception with nothing but open field in front of him just before Rackers’ first field goal. ... Seattle lost OT Kyle Williams to a concussion in the second half. ... James also gained 100 yards in the season opener.
Past Month's Most Commented Stories