Cardinals hitting the ground running

Football Betting Lines

09/18/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If it is one thing the Arizona Cardinals did not excel at last season, it was running the football.

Despite landing Edgerrin James via free agency prior to the year, Arizona finished the 2006 campaign ranked 30th in the NFL in rushing offense. James himself managed 1,159 yards over 16 games, his lowest total in four seasons. The Cardinals as a team rushed for just 1,338 yards.

Many different factors played into Arizona's poor performance in the ground game last year. A subpar offensive line probably directly effected James, who was also adapting to a new system. It didn't help when the Cardinals fell behind early in games, either.

When new head coach Ken Whisenhunt took over, he decreed the Cards would run the ball more. However, his club couldn't put the San Francisco 49ers away on the ground in a 20-17 defeat on opening weekend.

The Cardinals made sure that didn't happen again in Week 2. James ran for 128 yards and a score in a 23-20 win over Seattle, with 69 of those yards coming in the second half.

With the game even at 20-20, the Cardinals defense came up with a big fumble recovery at the Seahawks' 46-yard line with under two minutes left. No sweat, as James took four straight carries for a total of 22 yards to set up Neil Rackers' game-winning 42-yard field goal with just four ticks left.

"At that situation, Seattle is playing it much like we were playing it, to stop the run," Whisenhunt said. "So when you can do that, when you can run the football on a team that is trying to stop it like that, which is what we didn't do against San Francisco in the fourth quarter, you can build on that."

James also had a 17-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter that helped put Arizona ahead 17-0. It was his longest scoring run since September 9, 2004.

In the 53 contests "Edge" has surpassed 100 rushing yards in a game, his team has posted a victory 47 times. Arizona is 4-0 when he goes over the 100-yard plateau.

"That is what we talked about in all off preseason and into the season," said Whisenhunt, who picked up his first win as a head coach in his regular-season home debut, on running the ball at the end of games. "So it was nice to see us be able to do that."

Whisenhunt and new assistant head coach/offensive line coach Russ Grimm -- both of whom came over from Pittsburgh in the offseason -- also deserve a lot of credit for getting the offensive line to play better.

The addition of tackle Levi Brown, the fifth overall pick in the 2007 draft, has helped a lot, but the club prevailed on Sunday despite being without centers Al Johnson and Nick Leckey.

Another good sign for the offensive line is that quarterback Matt Leinart has been sacked just once through two games, after getting sacked 21 times in 12 games during 2006.

"We wanted to close this game out," said Leinart. "We ran the ball exceptionally well all game. Edge did a great job, the offensive line did a tremendous job and we just found a way to win."

A SPECIAL WIN

Rackers booted three field goals, including his game-winner, as he continues to try to rebound from a poor 2006 by his standards. After hitting 40-of-42 field goal attempts in 2005, including a 6-of-7 effort from 50-plus yards, Rackers made just 28 of his 37 tries last season.

He is 4-for-5 so far this season after missing a 53-yard attempt at the end of the first half against Seattle.

Rackers said his game-winning boot reminded him of a kick he didn't make last season. In a Monday night clash with the Bears -- a game the Cardinals led 20-0 at the half -- Rackers missed a 40-yard field goal try with under a minute to play. Arizona went on to lose, 24-23.

The game was seen as the downfall of former head coach Dennis Green, who went on a classic tirade when talking to the media after the game. He was dismissed by the club at season's end.

But back to Rackers.

"It feels great," the Arizona kicker said. "For people who don't know that was the exact spot, 41 yards on the left hash, as the Chicago game. This offseason I probably hit that ball 500 times, so I felt pretty confident going out there. It feels like a great weight lifted off my shoulder."

WOUNDED CARDS

In addition to Johnson (knee) and Leckey (knee) missing Sunday's game, other notable inactives included guard Brad Badger and defensive tackle Alan Branch.

Johnson and Leckey's unavailability prompted the Cardinals to sign center Chukky Okobi last Wednesday. The 6-foot-1, 305 pound Okobi was a fifth-round selection by Pittsburgh in the 2001 NFL Draft out of Purdue. He appeared in 77 games with the Steelers, including seven starts in six seasons.

Johnson and Branch are both questionable for this weekend. Branch, the first pick of the second round in the 2007 draft, has yet to play because of a broken hand.

WHO IS HOT

Through two games, James has 220 rushing yards on 50 carries with a pair of touchdown runs. He has also caught four passes for 42 yards.

WHO IS NOT

Running back J.J. Arrington continues to fail in an attempt to serve as a solid backup. He has five rushing attempts for 14 yards, good for just a 2.8 yards per carry average.

NEXT UP: QUOTH THE RAVEN

Arizona faces a tough task as it hits the road to play the Ravens and their hard-nosed defense this Sunday in Baltimore.

The Cardinals have battled the Ravens just three times in franchise history. Arizona dropped two in a row to Baltimore on the road after defeating the club in its initial meeting in Phoenix back in 1997.

The Ravens posted a 26-18 victory in their most recent meeting with the Cardinals in 2003.