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Warner practices what he preaches: Strong belief, victory

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Updated Dec 8, 2009 11:30 PM ET
     
 
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Kurt Warner walked gingerly to the University of Phoenix Stadium postgame podium Sunday night with a left hip pointer, placed his black leather Bible on the wood lectern, then discussed the Arizona Cardinals' 30-17 pounding of the Minnesota Vikings. Warner cuts a compelling figure. The 38-year-old quarterback and team Bible study leader commands respect inside his locker room as a New Testament devotee and an old-school, tough guy. "He's a warrior," wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald said after Warner's 285-yard, three-touchdown performance. "Not only just to play, but to play at the level he played at was amazing. "We really fed off him. He's a Hall of Fame player for a reason." On a night when Vikings quarterback Brett Favre set a remarkable milestone for toughness with the 283rd consecutive start by a position player, Warner gave his own sermon on resilience. He returned after missing the previous week's last-minute loss to the Tennessee Titans because of post-concussion symptoms. Then, he outplayed Favre. Warner completed 22 of 32 passes, mainly on three- and five-step drops, getting the ball out quickly to exploit Minnesota's vulnerability -- a secondary without injured cornerback Antoine Winfield. Warner gave a flashback to last postseason, when the Cardinals came within a last-minute Ben Roethlisberger comeback drive of edging the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII. When asked about a statement win by the 8-4, NFC West-leading Cardinals , Warner preached finishing and focus. "Doesn't mean a whole lot right now," Warner said. "It's one of those games in the middle of the season, and we have had a lot of them over the last couple of years where a team is hot and they come in here and we play well and beat them. "How we respond and what we do in the next couple of weeks and, most importantly, putting ourselves in the position when, or if, we get into the playoffs to play like we did last year. That's what it is all about." Warner signed a two-year, $23 million deal in the offseason to finish his mission of leading the Cardinals from doormat to Super Bowl championship. His teammates rallied around him when they learned before Sunday's game that Warner would start after splitting practice repetitions with backup Matt Leinart. Jeremy Bridges, a seventh-year backup forced to step in at left tackle when veteran Mike Gandy was lost to a groin injury, held Vikings pass-rush demon Jared Allen without a sack. "I told Kurt toward the end of the game, 'I really didn't want to get you hit today,' " Bridges said. "I apologized for a couple of times that I did." Running back Tim Hightower was stout on blitz protection, picking up linebacker Chad Greenway on a first-and-10 blitz from the Minnesota 39-yard line. "Really, if you look at the Cardinals up until this game, in a lot of ways, they've probably underachieved from their standpoint," Favre said. "They didn't (Sunday). They played like the team that was in the Super Bowl last year."
Tagged: Vikings, Brett Favre, Cardinals, Jeremy Bridges, Kurt Warner

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