TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) -This is why Kurt Warner is still playing football.
The playoffs, and the opportunity for a fourth trip to the Super Bowl, are the driving force for the 38-year-old Arizona quarterback still at the top of his game.
“This is what it’s all about,” he said. “These first 20 weeks or whatever are solely for this moment.”
Warner brings an 8-3 playoff record into Sunday’s wild card matchup between the Cardinals and the Green Bay Packers.
For all the talk of defense and an improved running game, Arizona’s hopes for a repeat Super Bowl run still ride on the quarterback’s ageless arm.
“It’s pretty obvious what he means to the team and what he brings to our offense,” coach Ken Whisenhunt said. “He’s one of the best to ever play the game.”
d, the regular season is a necessary prelude, nothing more.
“I don’t know the reason for playing the other 16 games unless you are going to have a chance to do this,” Warner said. “This is fun. Opportunities are great. I think we showed last year that once you get to this point, anything is possible.”
Warner’s numbers are down a bit from last season, when his 4,583 yards passing were the second-most of his career, but he has thrown 85 fewer passes than he did a year ago as Arizona ran the ball better in the second half of the season.
Defenses also concentrated on the Cardinals’ downfield passing game, so Warner often had to throw underneath for fewer yards.
He also missed a contest, snapping his 41-game starting streak when he sat out the Tennessee game because of a concussion.
Still, Warner’s 3,753 yards passing this season rank third in franchise history. He completed 66 percent of his passes for 26 touchdowns with 14 interceptions.
During this season, he joined Fran Tarkenton as the only players to pass for 14,000 yards and 100 touchdowns with two teams. In week six, he tied Dan Marino as the fastest player to reach 30,000 yards passing, doing it in 114 games.
On Sunday, Warner will face a Green Bay franchise that 15 years ago brought him to training camp, only to release him in mid-August.
What followed, any NFL fan knows by now, were Arena Football League games, a stint in NFL Europe, and even some time stocking grocery store shelves before Warner suddenly found himself the starter for the Rams.
Two Super Bowl appearances, one championship, two league MVP awards and one Super Bowl MVP honor followed with St. Louis. But the Rams let Warner leave, and after an unsuccessful try with the New York Giants, he came to Arizona, again having to prove himself.
All he did was lead the most downtrodden of NFL franchises to the Super Bowl.
After a second straight NFC West title, his challenge is to do it again.
“He’s been doing this for a long time,” Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy said. “He’s definitely a challenge. He’s the starting point of their offense, particularly when they get in the wide open sets and they put a lot on his plate. He does a great job of taking advantage of the defense.”
Warner played only one, ineffective quarter last Sunday in Arizona’s 33-7 loss to the Packers, hamstrung by Whisenhunt’s decision to play just a basic offense without any of the game planning that can make the Cardinals so efficient.
A year ago, Warner was nursing a sore hip, an injury that led to offseason surgery, and assorted other bumps and bruises.
“I feel a lot better than I did last year,” he said. “… I don’t think there’s anything I’m dealing with that’s as serious in nature as some of the stuff I was dealing with last year.”
Not that it showed on the field. In Arizona’s remarkable four-game run that ended less than a minute shy of a Super Bowl victory, Warner completed 68 percent of his passes for 11 TDs, with just three picks. His 1,147 yards passing broke the playoff record he set nine years earlier with the Rams.
“He’s just a terrific, terrific player,” Cardinals All Pro receiver Larry Fitzgerald said. “He’s so smart. He knows where to go to a football. When he’s playing at a really good level, man, this is a tough offense to stop.”
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