MATT YOUMANS: Warner should help Cardinals bounce back

[clevfan]

Nov. 07, 2009
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

MATT YOUMANS: Warner should help Cardinals bounce back

Inconsistency has been an obvious trait of the Arizona Cardinals this season. If the personality of a football team is perplexing, the quarterback is often the reason, and Kurt Warner is an example.

The ugly side of Warner's split personality showed last week in the Cardinals' surprising loss to the Carolina Panthers. He threw five interceptions and lost a fumble.

Warner has passed for 11 touchdowns with 11 interceptions, and Arizona is 4-3. He threw for seven touchdowns with two interceptions in the four wins.

The 38-year-old Warner is past the prime of his career, and on his bad days he looks a lot like an erratic rookie. But he also has shown a steady ability to bounce back from poor performances, and let's hope that will be the case Sunday.

I'm backing the Cardinals as 3-point underdogs against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. The Cardinals are 3-0 on the road -- with victories over Jacksonville, Seattle and the New York Giants -- and have covered six in a row in the underdog role.

Arizona's running attack borders on pathetic, but wideouts Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin compensate by stretching defenses and picking up yards after the catch. Boldin is listed as questionable with a sprained right ankle, but he practiced Friday and is expected to play.

The Bears are mediocre defensively, allowing 21.4 points per game, and rank 26th in the NFL in rushing offense.

These teams compare pretty evenly, so what the game should boil down to is which quarterback makes more plays, positive or negative.

Warner needs to avoid costly mistakes and let Chicago's Jay Cutler do the imploding. Cutler also has 11 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions.

The last time I supported Arizona, its defense was embarrassed by Peyton Manning and Warner stunk it up in a lopsided home loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Cutler is not in Manning's league, however.

The Cardinals' success on the road this season coupled with Warner's resiliency makes the underdog the play at plus-3.

Four more plays for Week 9 (Home team in CAPS):

• Ravens (-3) over BENGALS: One of the season's biggest surprises is Cincinnati's Cedric Benson, who is fourth in the league in rushing with 720 yards. Baltimore's defense ranks fourth against the run, allowing 87.6 yards per game. The Bengals rallied late to beat the Ravens 17-14 on Oct. 11, so Baltimore needs this division revenge game.

• Texans (+9) over COLTS: Injuries are weakening the Indianapolis defense, as strong safety Bob Sanders and cornerback Marlin Jackson are done for the season. Houston has scoring potential with the pass-catch combination of Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson, and its defense has improved. The Colts won both meetings last year, but by a total of only 10 points.

• GIANTS (-5) over Chargers: The Giants will be playing with urgency after three consecutive losses, and coach Tom Coughlin will make sure of it. San Diego's Norv Turner is a coach to bet against. I'll try the Giants again at less than a touchdown.

• BRONCOS (+3) over Steelers: It was no surprise what happened to Denver last week. The Broncos were in a bad spot, off a bye and on the road against a desperate Baltimore team. Denver's defense will go back to work and control Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh offense just enough to keep this tight all the way.

Last week: 3-2 against the spread

Season: 20-19-1