Line of Scrimmage: Kurt Warner's Last Stand

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10/08/2007 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kurt Warner's story has always had the unmistakable look of a Hollywood script. You know the tale - supermarket stock boy turned minor league scrapper becomes Super Bowl hero and league MVP, and enhances his leading man qualities all the while by being one of the most gracious, humble, and genuinely likeable pro stars of his era.

Most screenwriters would undoubtedly choose to end the story after Warner's winning performance in Super Bowl XXXIV, but recent developments may have forced a revision of those final pages.

After Arizona starter Matt Leinart fractured his collarbone early in Sunday's matchup at the St. Louis Rams, the fortunes of the 2007 Cardinals were officially turned over to the 36-year-old native Iowan. It was Warner who engineered Arizona's come-from-behind 34-31 win over the Rams in Week 5, a victory that got Ken Whisenhunt's team out to a promising 3-2 start. The Cardinals are now tied atop the NFC West with the Seahawks - a team they have already defeated - and there is reason to suspect they have the goods to make a real run to the playoffs.

Reason number one just might be Warner, who is on the verge of undergoing a late-career renaissance not seen since Johnny Cash teamed up with Rick Rubin.

Warner, who had excelled at running Arizona's two-minute offense in recent tilts against Baltimore and Pittsburgh, entering Sunday with a glistening 125.1 passer rating and 70.7 completion percentage, was efficient in the win in St. Louis. The graybeard was 14-of-28 for 190 yards with a touchdown and a pick, also rushing for a key TD on a sneak with no time remaining in the first half.

Warner proved that he could get it done not just as the change-of-pace quarterback running the two-minute offense, but as the every-down signal- caller expected to finish off the day.

That's encouraging, because this team is firmly on the veteran's shoulders now.

Leinart is expected to be out for 6-8 weeks, and during that timeframe, Warner will be expected to keep Arizona firmly in the NFC West and/or Wild Card races. If Leinart sees the field again in 2007, it will likely be because Warner has failed to achieve the objective of maintaining the Cardinals' standing in the hunt.

But in spite of his age, and in spite of his having washed out with the Rams and Giants in recent years, the odds seem favorable for Warner to succeed in his recent, and likely final, meaningful NFL quest.

He is playing for a head coach, the former offensive coordinator Whisenhunt, who knows how to enhance Warner's skills and mask the things he doesn't do especially well. Warner's lightning-quick delivery and mastery of throwing out of a short-drop meshes well with the inadequacies of an offensive line that is a youthful work-in-progress. His accuracy is a God-send for a team that should have a weekly game plan of getting the ball into the hands of wideouts Larry Fitzgerald and (the currently injured) Anquan Boldin any way it can.

This team is good enough to win an NFC West that lacks a standout club. The hit-or-miss Seahawks have been begging someone to challenge them in the division for years, and the disappointing and injury-scarred 49ers (2-3) and Rams (0-5) are simply looking for answers right now.

The Cardinals look to have the talent in all phases to make a serious push toward double-digit victories. In addition to their obvious offensive qualities, which include the smashing debut of an effective Pittsburgh-style power running game, they also have a ton of talent on the defensive side of the football. Safety Adrian Wilson, linebacker Karlos Dansby, and defensive lineman Darnell Dockett are but three players that any NFL team would love to have, and that trio has been a major part of a unit that is building a reputation as one of the most physical groups in the NFL.

But if Arizona delivers on its immense promise over the next couple of months, you can expect the media to beat the Warner angle into the ground just as we did when he emerged from obscurity in St. Louis years ago.

The fact that this is in all likelihood our last chance to celebrate the two- time MVP lends itself to that coverage approach. Warner is under contract with the Cardinals through 2008, but even if he stays in Arizona as he has previously stated he will, it is highly improbable that he will be the starter heading into next season. The organization has way too much invested in Leinart to halt his development by placing him behind Warner on the depth chart, and it also knows that Warner is a good enough soldier not to complain about being No. 2 behind the former Heisman winner.

Maybe a team with a starting quarterback need would make a run at Warner in the offseason that precedes '08, but the Cardinals have to know by now how valuable an experienced player of his vintage is on the roster, and wouldn't be thrilled about dealing him. Warner probably wouldn't be overly excited about relocating either, since anywhere he went would probably not represent a situation where he could win.

All of which means the coming weeks and months probably represent Warner's swan song in the spotlight. If he can continue to play well and take the Cardinals to heights that the team has never enjoyed during its two decades in Arizona (like say, a division title), he will have added yet another feel-good scene to a movie that most of us thought had been in the can for some time.

It's up to Warner to give the NFL-viewing public the Hollywood ending we so crave.

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