Warner, Arizona Cardinals Back in St. Louis

NFL News - November 17th, 2009 - Written by John

After sputtering early in the season, and then flopping against the Carolina Panthers, the Arizona Cardinals have finally found some momentum and look to create even more space in the hapless NFC West. Kurt Warner has thrown for more than 600 yards in his last two games, Larry Fitzgerald found the end zone three times and the Cardinals go for three-in-a-row against the St. Louis Rams on Sunday.

The Cardinals are nine-point favorites on the road, according to BetUS, with a total of 46 1/2. Arizona, despite going up-and-down most of the last two years, is 8-2 ATS in it's last 10 games against the NFC. That includes a 2-1 mark in conference this year. St. Louis, however, is as inept as their 1-8 record indicates, going 6-16 ATS against teams with winning records recently. The Rams haven't beaten the Cardinals since early 2005, the first year Kurt Warner was inked to join the team.

It was Warner's only loss to his former team tries. In seven career games against St. Louis, he has an overall rating of 92, throwing for over 1,900 yards and 11 touchdowns. That's bad news for the Rams considering Warner is in his best stretch in '09, throwing for seven touchdowns in his last two games, both wins. It has been more than enough to erase the memory of a disasterous Week Eight performance against the Carolina Panthers, in which Warner was picked off five times and lost 34-21.

But the biggest revelation has been in the running game. Two weeks ago, the Cardinals were dead-last in the NFL in rushing, but since then gained 274 yards against Chicago and Seattle. Beanie Wells had his best day as a pro last week against the Seahawks, picking up 85 yards and scoring muiltiple touchdowns for the first time ever.

Anquan Boldin made a strong return after an ankle injury. He caught a team-high nine passes for 105 yards and was targeted another two times. He and Larry Fitzgerald have combined for 1,214 yards and nine touchdowns on the year, and back-up Steve Breaston has gobbled up 545 extra yards.

But the Rams have recovered after an aweful head start, beating the Detroit Lions in Week Eight for their first win, then pushing the unbeaten New Orleans Saints to the brink last week. In fact, Marc Bulger had a chance to win it at the tail end until his hail mary was batted down.

Steven Jackson remains as one of the league's superstars in the backfield. His 915 yards are just under Adrian Peterson for second-place and will likely become the third player in the league to eclipse 1,000.

Bulger's favorite target, Donnie Avery, is coming off by far his best week of the year, torching a good Saints secondary for two touchdowns on four catches.

Our NFL Week 11 Betting Odds will be a huge help to those of you thinking of betting on any of the week 11 games.

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