Arizona Cardinals fly past Seahawks, set sights on Falcons

December 29, 12:26 AMPhoenix Sports ExaminerTom Kessler

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The Arizona Cardinals rediscovered their prolific passing attack just in time for the playoffs, soaring past the Seattle Seahawks 34-21 on Sunday in their regular-season finale as Kurt Warner threw for 263 yards and four touchdowns.

The NFC West champion Cardinals (9-7) now will take their aerial circus into the postseason. They will host the franchise’s first home playoff game since 1947 when they play the Atlanta Falcons at 2:30 p.m. Mountain time Saturday, Jan. 3 at University of Phoenix Stadium. (For more details on the NFC playoff bracket, click here.)

While the Cardinals entered Sunday’s game against the visiting Seahawks locked in as the fourth seed in the NFC playoffs, they viewed the contest as a significant test of their ability to rebound from blowout losses the previous two weeks against the Minnesota Vikings (who dealt them a 35-14 setback on Dec. 14) and New England Patriots (who handed them a 47-7 shellacking on Dec. 21).

Arizona emerged from Sunday’s clash with a passing grade, scoring a pair of touchdowns through the air in the second quarter and two more in the third against a Seattle team that was aiming to steal a victory in Mike Holmgren’s last game as head coach.

A week after being held to 30 yards passing in a New England snowstorm, Warner completed 19 of 30 attempts in three quarters of action against the Seahawks.

Trailing 7-0 on Sunday as the clock clicked toward halftime, the Cardinals drew even on a 16-yard pass from Warner to Jerheme Urban with 5:45 left in the second quarter and then pulled in front 14-7 on a 5-yard toss from Warner to Larry Fitzgerald with 4:23 left before the intermission.

After the Seahawks tied the score at 14-14 on a 30-yard pass from Seneca Wallace to Deion Branch with 1:17 left in the second period, the Cardinals took control in the third.

Arizona went ahead to stay when Fitzgerald caught a 38-yard touchdown pass from Warner with 8:43 left on the third-quarter clock. Later in the same period, Warner threw his fourth touchdown of the day (and franchise record 30^th of the season) when he found Steve Breaston for a 14-yard scoring strike.

Fitzgerald finished the game with five catches for 130 yards, while Breaston gained 91 yards on five receptions. In increasing his total to 1,006 yards receiving on the year, Breaston joined Fitzgerald (who ended the regular season with 1,431 yards) and Anquan Boldin (who did not play Sunday because of a shoulder injury but finished the campaign with 1,038 yards) in reaching quadruple figures. Fitzgerald, Boldin and Breaston are just the fifth trio of teammates in NFL history to each finish with at least 1,000 yards receiving in the same season.

The Cardinals also were successful running the football against the Seahawks, as Edgerrin James rushed for a game-high 100 yards on 14 carries in his most-extensive action since October. James, who had been relegated to the bench in recent weeks behind Tim Hightower and J.J. Arrington, busted loose for a 35-yard run in the fourth quarter for his longest gain in three seasons with Arizona.

The Cardinals reached a milestone Sunday by setting a franchise record for most points scored in a season. With 427 points scored this year, the Cardinals eclipsed the previous team high of 423 set by the 1984 St. Louis Cardinals, who were led by quarterback Neil Lomax, running back Ottis Anderson and wide receiver Roy Green.