Warner and Cardinals slide past Niners

Football Betting Lines

09/07/2008 - San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kurt Warner was an efficient 19-of-30 for 197 yards and a touchdown as the Arizona Cardinals edged the San Francisco 49ers, 23-13 in the season opener for both NFC West squads.

Edgerrin James carried the ball 26 times for 100 yards, while rookie Tim Hightower rushed for a touchdown for the Cardinals (1-0), who owned a 15- minute edge in time of possession for the game. Anquan Boldin had eight receptions for 82 yards -- all in the second half.

J.T. O'Sullivan, in his first career start, threw for 173 yards and an interception on 13-of-19 passes for San Francisco (0-1), which totaled just 269 total yards and lost four fumbles. Frank Gore rushed 14 times for 96 yards with most coming on a 41-yard TD scamper. Bryant Johnson had three catches for 48 yards against his former team.

Arizona broke the 10-10 tie after halftime, marching down the field after the kickoff behind two third-down conversions -- converting both on the arm of Warner. The Cards got the ball inside the Niners 10-yard line, but a sack on 3rd-and-6 yielded a short field goal from Neil Rackers from 31 yards away.

The Cardinal special teams came up with a big play on the next kickoff. Rackers kicked it short to Takeo Spikes, who muffed the ball into the hands of Matt Ware for a quick turnover. A roughing the passer penalty on 3rd-and-9 extended the ensuing drive and the Cardinals went for it on 4th-and-1 from the two, handing it to Hightower, who broke the plane for a 20-10 lead.

The two scoring drives for the Cardinals combined for 23 plays, 98 yards and took nearly 11 minutes off the clock.

Using short passes from O'Sullivan and 18 yards rushing from Gore, San Fran controlled the ball for the next 6:58 but only managed a 30-yarder through the uprights from Joe Nedney.

But again the Cardinals grinded it out, running the ball 11 of the next 18 snaps on time-consuming march. Though the drive only resulted in a 30-yard Rackers field goal, it took 10:08 off the clock and made it a two-possession game with 1:57 to go.

Arizona's Travis LaBoy sealed the game by sacking O'Sullivan and stripping the ball in the process, and the Cardinals ran out the clock from there.

After a three-and-out from the 49ers to start the game, Arizona received good field position at the San Fran 40 behind Steve Breaton's 17-yard punt return. The Cardinals only managed three points, however, on Rackers' 25-yard boot.

Gore put the Niners on the board at the six-minute mark of the first quarter, taking a handoff up the middle and bouncing it to the outside. The defenders came up to make the tackle, but the back sprinted past for a 41-yard jaunt to pay dirt.

With four minutes gone in the second, Warner, who got the starting nod over 2006 first-round pick Matt Leinart, launched a 40-yard bomb to Breaston down the right side of the field, as the receiver toed the sideline to stay inbounds at the goal line. The play set up Warner's jump ball to Larry Fitzgerald in the left-corner of the end zone at the 10:25 mark of the frame.

The Niners tied the game at 10 several possessions later. Starting at their own 10, O'Sullivan took to the air, highlighted by a 31-yard completion to Johnson. After an incompletion on 3rd-and-1 at the two-minute warning, the Niners settled for a 39-yard Nedney field goal.

Game Notes

O'Sullivan lost two of the Niners' four fumbles...San Francisco still leads the all-time series with the Cards, 19-15, including a home-and-home sweep of its division rival a year ago...Warner is 8-1 in his career versus San Fran...LaBoy finished with two sacks, while Parys Haralson had 2 1/2 for the 49ers...Arizona had 285 total yards in the win...Fitzgerald finished with three catches for 31 yards...San Fran tight end Vernon Davis led the team with 51 yards receiving on three grabs.