Kurt Warner Not Past His Prime: His Resurgence Key to Arizona Cardinals' Success

(Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)

Despite losing in Super Bowl XLIII, in which some questionable calls were made that arguably played a factor in the outcome in the Cardinals' loss to the Steelers, Kurt Warner has made a resurgence in the National Football League at the glaring age of 37 years old.

The pro-bowl quarterback has been on three different football teams in the last six years, and has had some ups and downs in his career with the down-part taking place from his later years in St. Louis, to his one year stint with New York, and then on to his first two years with Arizona.

When Arizona drafted Matt Leinart out of USC tenth overall in the 2006 NFL Draft, Warner knew that his time with the Cardinals was either coming to an end, or he was being handed the clipboard.

With the organization going in a different direction with a huge financial investment in the former USC standout quarterback, it didn't look too good for the former MVP who was benched mid-season in 2006 for poor play.

It looked like Leinart with his enthusiasm and upside was going to be just what the Cardinals needed...

Until Leinart flopped, particularly in last years preseason when it was a quarterback battle between him and Warner for a chance to lead the team into the 2008 regular season. Leinart threw three interceptions in Oakland, while looking lost and hurried. Warner was named the starter for the regular season soon after.

No one could really predict what was going to happen with the 2008 Cardinals, who had thought Leinart was going to take them to places that Kurt Warner could not reach considering that he was on the "downside" of his career.

Warner had moved the offense better than Leinart in 2007 having better numbers (27 touchdowns, 17 interceptions) than Leinarts' (two touchdowns, four interceptions) with a quarterback rating of 89.8 to Leinarts' 61.9.

The Cardinals obviously felt better that their backup quarterback could step in and be the quarterback if needed, being that the two years previous when handed the job he collapsed. They felt good enough about Warner that they declared it would be a quarterback battle between him and Leinart going into '08.

Giving Leinart a chance to re-claim his job since he ended the 2007 season on injury-reserve was priority with his cap number and expected stardom coming from USC and being the "can't miss" pick.

As stated earlier, Warner won the job as Leinart choked in preseason and Cardinals fans held their breath as the aging veteran quarterback was given yet another chance to show people he wasn't done in the NFL just yet.

The Cardinals first game came against their NFC West rivals, the 49ers in San Francisco. Kurt Warner was sacked three times, but went 19 of 30 for 197 yards and a touchdown in the win, to start the Cardinals unexpected good start.

Over the next five weeks, the Cardinals went 4-2 as Warner threw 13 touchdowns to 6 interceptions before going into their bye week.

The offense looked very good with Warner at the hands and he seemed to be making a lot less mistakes than seasons previous and making a lot more smart decisions.

The team as a whole looked up to him as their leader, and the rest is history as numerous times in Arizona the fans chanted "MVP," and Warner took it all in stride while really having a remarkable season.

Warner's numbers for the 2008 regular season speak for themselves. He threw for 30 touchdowns, 4,583 yards and just 14 interceptions, with the third best passer rating in the league with 96.9.

His all-pro receivers Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin both finished with 1,000 yards receiving, along with up and coming young receiver Steve Breaston who in the previous season only caught eight passes. That's three receivers on one team that had over 1,000 yards receiving-a shocking stat.

Warner and the Cardinals had a shaky season end as they seemed to be a little less motivated with the postseason within their grasp, as they had the best record in the depleted NFC West throughout the entire season without breaking much of a sweat.

This brought up a lot of question marks going into the playoffs, as many football experts said they were "pretenders" and would probably lose their first game against the new and improved Mike Smith Atlanta Falcons.

Kurt Warner wasn't even sacked in the game, as he threw two touchdowns and the Cardinals handled the young Atlanta team winning 30-24. So much for one and done.

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