NFL: ARIZONA at NEW ORLEANS <div class="pre">** CONFIRMED ** NFL ARIZONA 24 NEW ORLEANS 31 FINAL</div>
NFL: ARIZONA at NEW ORLEANS <div class="pre">NFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL --- --- --- --- ----- ARIZONA 7 7 7 3 24 NEW ORLEANS 7 14 10 0 31 FINAL SCORING SUMMARY 1ST QUARTER: 3:00 ARI - TD, TROY BIENEMANN 1 YD PASS FROM KURT WARNER (NEIL RACKERS KICK). Drive: 4 plays, 8 yards in 2:11. Key plays: Blackstock 8-yard return of Stecker fumble to New Orleans 34. ARIZONA 7-0. 8:42 NOR - TD, MARQUES COLSTON 19 YD PASS FROM DREW BREES (MARTIN GRAMATICA KICK). Drive: 13 plays, 74 yards in 6:11. Key plays: Brees 10-yard pass to Colston to New Orleans 40; Brees 15-yard pass to Colston to Arizona 18; Thomas 9-yard run to Arizona 18; ARIZONA 7-7. 2ND QUARTER: 1:13 NOR - TD, AARON STECKER 1 YD RUN (MARTIN GRAMATICA KICK). Drive: 13 plays, 74 yards in 6:11. Key plays: Brees 10-yard pass to Colston to New Orleans 40; Brees 15-yard pass to Colston to Arizona 38; Stecker 10-yard run to Arizona 28; Brees 8-yard pass to Cooper on 3rd-and-2 to Arizona 2. NEW ORLEANS 14-7. 4:59 ARI - TD, LARRY FITZGERALD 18 YD PASS FROM KURT WARNER (NEIL RACKERS KICK). Drive: 7 plays, 66 yards in 3:46. Key plays: Warner 16-yard pass to T Smith to midfield; James 21-yard run to New Orleans 14. ARIZONA 14-14. 13:02 NOR - TD, DAVID PATTEN 32 YD PASS FROM DREW BREES (MARTIN GRAMATICA KICK). Drive: 4 plays, 55 yards in 1:02. Key plays: Harper 31 yard interception return to New Orleans 45; Brees 19-yard pass on 3rd-and-6 to Arizona 32. NEW ORLEANS 21-14. 3RD QUARTER: 2:58 NOR - TD, AARON STECKER 6 YD RUN (MARTIN GRAMATICA KICK). Drive: 2 plays, 7 yards in 0:44. Key plays: Shanle 26-yard fumble return to Arizona 14 plus 7-yard chop block penalty on Cardinals' Arrington to Arizona 7. NEW ORLEANS 28-14. 8:46 ARI - TD, BEN PATRICK 3 YD PASS FROM KURT WARNER (NEIL RACKERS KICK). Drive: 10 plays, 80 yards in 5:48. Key plays: Warner 14-yard pass to T Smith to Arizona 41; Warner 10-yard pass to Boldin to New Orleans 49; Warner 14-yard pass to Patrick to New Orleans 35; Warner 13-yard pass to B Johnson to New Orleans 22; James 14-yard run to New Orleans 13. NEW ORLEANS 28-21. 14:10 NOR - FG, MARTIN GRAMATICA 31 YD. Drive: 9 plays, 67 yards in 5:24. Key plays: Brees 16-yard pass to Stecker to New Orleans 36; Brees 21-yard pass to Colston to Arizona 32; 11-yard unsportmanlike conduct on Cardinals' on 3rd-and-1 A Smith to Arizona 12. NEW ORLEANS 31-21. 4TH QUARTER: 5:49 ARI - FG, NEIL RACKERS 26 YD. Drive: 11 plays, 70 yards in 6:39. Key plays: Warner 11-yard pass to James to Arizona 25; Morey 13-yard run on 4th-and-7 to Arizona 38; Warner 22-yard pass to Boldin to New Orleans 38; Warner 25-yard pass to Boldin to New Orleans 13. NEW ORLEANS 31-24. ARIZONA - NEW ORLEANS Final Statistics TEAM STATISTICS ARIZONA NEW ORLEANS FIRST DOWNS 17 24 Rushing 4 8 Passing 13 15 Penalty 0 1 THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY 3-11-27% 4-9-44% FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY 2-2-100% 1-1-100% TOTAL NET YARDS 317 421 Total offensive plays 54 60 Average gain per play 5.9 7.0 NET YARDS RUSHING 103 114 Rushing attempts 22 29 Average gain per rush 4.7 3.9 Tackles for loss-yards 2-5 0-0 NET YARDS PASSING 214 307 Times sacked: Number-Yards 2-19 1-8 Gross passing yards 233 315 PASS ATTEMPTS-COMPLETIONS-HAD INTERCEPTED 30-19-1 30-26-0 Avg gain per pass play 6.7 9.9 KICKOFFS: Number-In End Zone-Touchbacks 5-4-0 6-1-1 PUNTS: Number and Average 3-46.3 2-48.5 Had blocked 0 0 Net punting average 37.7 48.5 TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE (Not including kickoffs) 26 31 Number-Yards: Punt Returns 2-26 1-0 Number-Yards: Kickoff Returns 4-92 5-103 Number-Yards: Interception Returns 0-0 1-31 PENALTIES: Number-Yards 10-78 3-15 FUMBLES: Number-Lost 3-1 3-2 TOUCHDOWNS 3 4 Rushing 0 2 Passing 3 2 Interceptions 0 0 Other (blocked kicks, etc.) 0 0 EXTRA POINTS: Made-Attempts 3-3 4-4 Kicking: Made-Attempts 3-3 4-4 Passing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0 Rushing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0 FIELD GOALS: Made-Attempts 1-2 1-1 FGs - PATs had blocked 0-0 0-0 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY 3-4-75% 3-4-75% GOAL TO GO EFFICIENCY 2-2-100% 2-2-100% SAFETIES 0 0 TIME OF POSSESSION 28:08 31:52 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS ARIZONA NEW ORLEANS RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- E JAMES 16 84 5.3 21 0 A STECKER 22 95 4.3 15 2 S MOREY 1 13 13.0 13 0 P THOMAS 2 20 10.0 11 0 J ARRINGTO 3 8 2.7 4 0 D PATTEN 1 1 1.0 1 0 K WARNER 1 0 0.0 0 0 D BREES 4 -2 -0.5 0 0 S BREASTON 1 -2 -2.0 0 0 PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- K WARNER 19-30-233 1 3 25 D BREES 26-30-315 0 2 32 Sacked-Yards Lost: K WARNER 2-19. Sacked-Yards Lost: D BREES 1-8. RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- A BOLDIN 6 83 13.8 25 0 M COLSTON 8 114 14.3 21 1 B JOHNSON 2 35 17.5 22 0 A STECKER 6 46 7.7 16 0 T SMITH 2 30 15.0 16 0 D PATTEN 4 71 17.8 32 1 L FITZGERA 2 27 13.5 18 1 B MILLER 3 39 13.0 22 0 B PATRICK 2 17 8.5 14 1 T COPPER 2 29 14.5 21 0 S BREASTON 2 16 8.0 13 0 M KARNEY 2 14 7.0 11 0 J ARRINGTO 1 13 13.0 13 0 P THOMAS 1 2 2.0 2 0 E JAMES 1 11 11.0 11 0 T BIENEMAN 1 1 1.0 1 1 INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- R HARPER 1 31 31.0 31 0 PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- M BERGER 3 139 46.3 0 2 56 S WEATHERF 2 97 48.5 0 0 53 T = Touchbacks, I = Inside 20 PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- S BREASTON 2 26 13.0 29 0 L MOORE 1 0 0.0 0 0 KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- S BREASTON 4 92 23.0 28 0 P THOMAS 5 103 20.6 24 0 KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA ---------------------------------- ---------------------------------- N RACKERS 3/3 1/2 M GRAMATIC 4/4 1/1 Dist.: (54) 26 Dist.: 31 O-D O-D FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------ K WARNER 2 1 0 1-0 D PATTEN 1 1 0 0-0 E JAMES 1 0 0 0-0 A STECKER 1 1 0 1-0 R BROWN 0 0 1 0-0 D BREES 1 0 0 0-0 K DANSBY 0 0 1 0-0 J CRAFT 0 0 1 0-0 D BLACKSTOCK 0 0 0 0-1 S FUJITA 0 0 1 0-0 C PACE 0 0 0 0-1 S SHANLE 0 0 0 0-1 A JOHNSON 0 0 0 1-0 L MOORE 0 0 0 1-0 DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------ G HAYES 10 9 1 1-8 S FUJITA 10 7 3 2-19 T HOLT 9 7 2 0-0 M SIMONEAU 8 6 2 0-0 K DANSBY 8 4 4 0-0 J DAVID 6 5 1 0-0 A FRANCISCO 6 5 1 0-0 W SMITH 5 4 1 0-0 A ROLLE 6 4 2 0-0 M MCKENZIE 4 3 1 0-0 C PACE 5 5 0 0-0 S SHANLE 4 3 1 0-0 J TAFOYA 3 3 0 0-0 C GRANT 3 2 1 0-0 R HOOD 3 3 0 0-0 R WYNN 2 2 0 0-0 D DOCKETT 3 3 0 0-0 R HARPER 2 2 0 0-0 A BRANCH 3 2 1 0-0 J CRAFT 2 2 0 0-0 R BROWN 1 1 0 0-0 K KAESVIHARN 2 1 1 0-0 G WATSON 1 1 0 0-0 H THOMAS 2 1 1 0-0 M ADAMS 1 1 0 0-0 J COOPER 1 1 0 0-0 D BLACKSTOCK 1 1 0 0-0 U YOUNG 1 1 0 0-0 R BAILEY 1 0 1 0-0 A LAKE 1 1 0 0-0 T EVANS 1 0 1 0-0 K CLANCY 1 0 1 0-0 Att: 70,007</div>
NEW ORLEANS (Ticker) -- Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saintsknow it's not how you start that matters - but how you finish. Brees threw a pair of touchdown passes and Aaron Steckerrecorded his first career two-score game as the Saints kepttheir playoff hopes alive with a 31-24 victory over the ArizonaCardinals on Sunday. There were high preseason expectations for the Saints (7-7), whoreached the NFC title game last season. Those expectationswere quickly tempered, though, as New Orleans started the season0-4. It then won four straight before dropping three of four. But the Saints have now won two straight and moved within ahalf-game of the Minnesota Vikings (7-6) for the NFC's secondwild card spot. Brees took it upon himself to keep their playoff hopes alive.He was razor sharp, completing 26-of-30 passes for 315 yardswithout an interception. Stecker, subbing for an injured Reggie Bush, continued his solidplay with 95 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 22 carries. Meanwhile, Kurt Warner threw three touchdowns for Arizona (6-8),which has not made the playoffs since 1998 and was all buteliminated with the loss. While Brees and Stecker carried the offense, the Saints' defensealso made their share of plays. Not the least of which wasstopping the Cardinals after wide receiver David Pattencommitted a costly turnover with 7:06 left in the game. With the Saints leading, 31-24, Patten caught a pass from Breesand raced down the left sideline before being stripped frombehind by cornerback Ralph Brown. Defensive end Calvin Pacereturned the fumble 26 yards to the Arizona 43. However, the New Orleans defense forced the Cardinals to gothree-and-out. Brees and the offense then took over and ran the clock out. The Saints' defense seemed to play with a sense of urgency,scoring 14 points off two Arizona turnovers while pressuringWarner consistently. On the first possession of the secondhalf, Warner was sacked by linebacker Scott Fujita and fumbledon 3rd-and-11. Fellow linebacker Scott Shanle recovered and returned it 26yards to the Arizona 7-yard line, which set up a 6-yard TD runfrom Stecker to make it 28-14 with 12:02 to play in the third. Warner had a brief argument with offensive coordinator ToddHaley on the sideline after the turnover. However the formerSuper Bowl Most Valuable Player immediately made amends byleading a 10-play, 80 yard scoring drive which was capped by a3-yard strike to tight end Ben Patrick, cutting it to 28-21 with6:14 left in the third. Martin Gramatica stretched the lead to 31-21 with a 31-yardfield goal with 50 seconds left in the third quarter. Arizona answered when Neil Rackers kicked 26-yarder with 9:11left in the fourth but it could not get in position for thetying score the rest of the game. Warner was 19-of-30 for 233 yards and one interception forArizona, which has lost two straight.
NFL: ARIZONA at NEW ORLEANS <div class="pre">NFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL --- --- --- --- ----- ARIZONA 7 7 7 3 24 NEW ORLEANS 7 14 10 0 31 FINAL SCORING SUMMARY 1ST QUARTER: 3:00 ARI - TD, TROY BIENEMANN 1 YD PASS FROM KURT WARNER (NEIL RACKERS KICK). Drive: 4 plays, 8 yards in 2:11. Key plays: Blackstock 8-yard return of Stecker fumble to New Orleans 34. ARIZONA 7-0. 8:42 NOR - TD, MARQUES COLSTON 19 YD PASS FROM DREW BREES (MARTIN GRAMATICA KICK). Drive: 11 plays, 81 yards in 5:42. Key plays: Stecker 15-yard run to New Orleans 42; Brees 21-yard pass to Copper to Arizona 32; Stecker 3-yard run on 4th-and-1 to Arizona 20. ARIZONA 7-7. 2ND QUARTER: 1:13 NOR - TD, AARON STECKER 1 YD RUN (MARTIN GRAMATICA KICK). Drive: 13 plays, 74 yards in 6:11. Key plays: Brees 10-yard pass to Colston to New Orleans 40; Brees 15-yard pass to Colston to Arizona 38; Stecker 10-yard run to Arizona 28; Brees 8-yard pass to Cooper on 3rd-and-2 to Arizona 2. NEW ORLEANS 14-7. 4:59 ARI - TD, LARRY FITZGERALD 18 YD PASS FROM KURT WARNER (NEIL RACKERS KICK). Drive: 7 plays, 66 yards in 3:46. Key plays: Warner 16-yard pass to T Smith to midfield; James 21-yard run to New Orleans 14. ARIZONA 14-14. 13:04 NOR - TD, DAVID PATTEN 32 YD PASS FROM DREW BREES (MARTIN GRAMATICA KICK). Drive: 4 plays, 55 yards in 1:24. Key plays: Harper 31-yard interception return to New Orleans 45; Brees 19-yard pass to Colston on 3rd-and-6 to Arizona 32. NEW ORLEANS 21-14. 3RD QUARTER: 2:58 NOR - TD, AARON STECKER 6 YD RUN (MARTIN GRAMATICA KICK). Drive: 2 plays, 7 yards in 0:44. Key plays: Shanle 26-yard fumble return to Arizona 14 plus 7-yard chop block penalty on Cardinals' Arrington to Arizona 7. NEW ORLEANS 28-14. 8:46 ARI - TD, BEN PATRICK 3 YD PASS FROM KURT WARNER (NEIL RACKERS KICK). Drive: 10 plays, 80 yards in 5:48. Key plays: Warner 14-yard pass to T Smith to Arizona 41; Warner 10-yard pass to Boldin to New Orleans 49; Warner 14-yard pass to Patrick to New Orleans 35; Warner 13-yard pass to B Johnson to New Orleans 22; James 14-yard run to New Orleans 13. NEW ORLEANS 28-21. 14:10 NOR - FG, MARTIN GRAMATICA 31 YD. Drive: 9 plays, 67 yards in 5:24. Key plays: Brees 16-yard pass to Stecker to New Orleans 36; Brees 21-yard pass to Colston to Arizona 32; 11-yard unsportmanlike conduct on Cardinals' A Smith on 3rd-and-1 A Smith to Arizona 12. NEW ORLEANS 31-21. 4TH QUARTER: 5:49 ARI - FG, NEIL RACKERS 26 YD. Drive: 11 plays, 70 yards in 6:39. Key plays: Warner 11-yard pass to James to Arizona 25; Morey 13-yard run on 4th-and-7 to Arizona 38; Warner 22-yard pass to Boldin to New Orleans 38; Warner 25-yard pass to Boldin to New Orleans 13. NEW ORLEANS 31-24. ARIZONA - NEW ORLEANS Final Statistics TEAM STATISTICS ARIZONA NEW ORLEANS FIRST DOWNS 17 24 Rushing 4 8 Passing 13 15 Penalty 0 1 THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY 3-11-27% 4-9-44% FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY 2-2-100% 1-1-100% TOTAL NET YARDS 317 421 Total offensive plays 54 60 Average gain per play 5.9 7.0 NET YARDS RUSHING 103 114 Rushing attempts 22 29 Average gain per rush 4.7 3.9 Tackles for loss-yards 2-5 0-0 NET YARDS PASSING 214 307 Times sacked: Number-Yards 2-19 1-8 Gross passing yards 233 315 PASS ATTEMPTS-COMPLETIONS-HAD INTERCEPTED 30-19-1 30-26-0 Avg gain per pass play 6.7 9.9 KICKOFFS: Number-In End Zone-Touchbacks 5-4-0 6-1-1 PUNTS: Number and Average 3-46.3 2-48.5 Had blocked 0 0 Net punting average 37.7 48.5 TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE (Not including kickoffs) 26 31 Number-Yards: Punt Returns 2-26 1-0 Number-Yards: Kickoff Returns 4-92 5-103 Number-Yards: Interception Returns 0-0 1-31 PENALTIES: Number-Yards 10-78 3-15 FUMBLES: Number-Lost 3-1 4-2 TOUCHDOWNS 3 4 Rushing 0 2 Passing 3 2 Interceptions 0 0 Other (blocked kicks, etc.) 0 0 EXTRA POINTS: Made-Attempts 3-3 4-4 Kicking: Made-Attempts 3-3 4-4 Passing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0 Rushing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0 FIELD GOALS: Made-Attempts 1-2 1-1 FGs - PATs had blocked 0-0 0-0 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY 3-4-75% 3-4-75% GOAL TO GO EFFICIENCY 2-2-100% 2-2-100% SAFETIES 0 0 TIME OF POSSESSION 28:08 31:52 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS ARIZONA NEW ORLEANS RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- E JAMES 16 84 5.3 21 0 A STECKER 22 95 4.3 15 2 S MOREY 1 13 13.0 13 0 P THOMAS 2 20 10.0 11 0 J ARRINGTO 3 8 2.7 4 0 D PATTEN 1 1 1.0 1 0 K WARNER 1 0 0.0 0 0 D BREES 4 -2 -0.5 0 0 S BREASTON 1 -2 -2.0 0 0 PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- K WARNER 19-30-233 1 3 25 D BREES 26-30-315 0 2 32 Sacked-Yards Lost: K WARNER 2-19. Sacked-Yards Lost: D BREES 1-8. RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- A BOLDIN 6 83 13.8 25 0 M COLSTON 8 114 14.3 21 1 B JOHNSON 2 35 17.5 22 0 A STECKER 6 46 7.7 16 0 T SMITH 2 30 15.0 16 0 D PATTEN 4 71 17.8 32 1 L FITZGERA 2 27 13.5 18 1 B MILLER 3 39 13.0 22 0 B PATRICK 2 17 8.5 14 1 T COPPER 2 29 14.5 21 0 S BREASTON 2 16 8.0 13 0 M KARNEY 2 14 7.0 11 0 J ARRINGTO 1 13 13.0 13 0 P THOMAS 1 2 2.0 2 0 E JAMES 1 11 11.0 11 0 T BIENEMAN 1 1 1.0 1 1 INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- R HARPER 1 31 31.0 31 0 PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- M BERGER 3 139 46.3 0 2 56 S WEATHERF 2 97 48.5 0 0 53 T = Touchbacks, I = Inside 20 PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- S BREASTON 2 26 13.0 29 0 L MOORE 1 0 0.0 0 0 KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- S BREASTON 4 92 23.0 28 0 P THOMAS 5 103 20.6 24 0 KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA ---------------------------------- ---------------------------------- N RACKERS 3/3 1/2 M GRAMATIC 4/4 1/1 Dist.: (54) 26 Dist.: 31 O-D O-D FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------ K WARNER 2 1 0 1-0 D PATTEN 1 1 0 0-0 E JAMES 1 0 0 0-0 A STECKER 1 1 0 1-0 R BROWN 0 0 1 0-0 D BREES 1 0 0 0-0 K DANSBY 0 0 1 0-0 L MOORE 1 0 0 1-0 D BLACKSTOCK 0 0 0 0-1 J CRAFT 0 0 1 0-0 C PACE 0 0 0 0-1 S FUJITA 0 0 1 0-0 A JOHNSON 0 0 0 1-0 S SHANLE 0 0 0 0-1 DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------ G HAYES 10 9 1 1-8 S FUJITA 10 7 3 2-19 T HOLT 9 7 2 0-0 M SIMONEAU 8 6 2 0-0 K DANSBY 8 4 4 0-0 J DAVID 6 5 1 0-0 A FRANCISCO 6 5 1 0-0 W SMITH 5 4 1 0-0 A ROLLE 6 4 2 0-0 M MCKENZIE 4 3 1 0-0 C PACE 5 5 0 0-0 S SHANLE 4 3 1 0-0 J TAFOYA 3 3 0 0-0 C GRANT 3 2 1 0-0 R HOOD 3 3 0 0-0 R WYNN 2 2 0 0-0 D DOCKETT 3 3 0 0-0 R HARPER 2 2 0 0-0 A BRANCH 3 2 1 0-0 J CRAFT 2 2 0 0-0 R BROWN 1 1 0 0-0 K KAESVIHARN 2 1 1 0-0 G WATSON 1 1 0 0-0 H THOMAS 2 1 1 0-0 M ADAMS 1 1 0 0-0 J COOPER 1 1 0 0-0 D BLACKSTOCK 1 1 0 0-0 U YOUNG 1 1 0 0-0 R BAILEY 1 0 1 0-0 A LAKE 1 1 0 0-0 T EVANS 1 0 1 0-0 K CLANCY 1 0 1 0-0 Officials: Referee-Ed Hochuli, Umpire-Chad Brown, Head Linesman-Mark Hittner, Line Judge-Tom Symonette, Field Judge-Tom Sifferman, Side Judge-Don Carlsen, Back Judge-Scott Helverson. Att: 70,007 Time of Game: 2:55</div>
NEW ORLEANS (Ticker) -- Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saintsknow it's not how you start that matters - but how you finish. Brees threw a pair of touchdown passes and Aaron Steckerrecorded his first career two-score game as the Saints kepttheir playoff hopes alive with a 31-24 victory over the ArizonaCardinals on Sunday. There were high preseason expectations for the Saints (7-7), whoreached the NFC title game last season. Those expectationswere quickly tempered, though, as New Orleans started the season0-4. It then won four straight before dropping three of four. But the Saints have now won two straight and moved within ahalf-game of the Minnesota Vikings (7-6) for the NFC's secondwild card spot. "If we pull it out the next two weeks I think we will haveearned our right to be in the big show," Brees said. "We willhave been through what amounted to be four elimination games.That may even give us more of an edge that we had last year." Brees took it upon himself to keep their playoff hopes alive. Hewas razor sharp, completing 26-of-30 passes for 315 yardswithout an interception. Stecker, subbing for an injured Reggie Bush, continued his solidplay with 95 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 22 carries.Last week he ran for 100 yards on 20 carries in a 34-14 win overAtlanta. "I was motivated when they drafted a running back (Ohio State'sAntonio Pittman)," Stecker said. "I felt they were trying torun me off. I went home and trained harder than I had trainedin years. If they wanted to get rid of me, I was going to makeit hard for them." Meanwhile, Kurt Warner threw three touchdowns for Arizona (6-8),which has not made the playoffs since 1998 and was all buteliminated with the loss. While Brees and Stecker carried the offense, the Saints' defensealso made their share of plays. Not the least of which wasstopping the Cardinals after wide receiver David Pattencommitted a costly turnover with 7:06 left in the game. With the Saints leading, 31-24, Patten caught a pass from Breesand raced down the left sideline before being stripped frombehind by cornerback Ralph Brown. Defensive end Calvin Pacereturned the fumble 26 yards to the Arizona 43. However, the New Orleans defense forced the Cardinals to gothree-and-out. Brees and the offense then took over and ran the clock out. "I thought it was a great effort by the defense," Saints coachSean Payton said. "We came up with some big turnovers. We wereable to hang in there and come up with big plays when we neededthem." The Saints' defense seemed to play with a sense of urgency,scoring 14 points off two Arizona turnovers while pressuringWarner consistently. On the first possession of the secondhalf, Warner was sacked by linebacker Scott Fujita and fumbledon 3rd-and-11. Fellow linebacker Scott Shanle recovered and returned it 26yards to the Arizona 7-yard line, which set up a 6-yard TD runfrom Stecker to make it 28-14 with 12:02 to play in the third. Warner had a brief argument with offensive coordinator ToddHaley on the sideline after the turnover. However the former Super Bowl Most Valuable Player immediatelymade amends by leading a 10-play, 80 yard scoring drive whichwas capped by a 3-yard strike to tight end Ben Patrick, cuttingit to 28-21 with 6:14 left in the third. "Sometimes you disagree, sometimes you fight," Warner said. "Iwish I could say I've never fought with my wife, but we have. Ilove my teammates and I love my coaches. It's a passion, afire, a frustration all tied in with a bunch of guys trying tocompete. We don't look at it as anything personal." Arizona answered when Neil Rackers kicked 26-yarder with 9:11left in the fourth, but it could not get in position for thetying score the rest of the game. The Cardinals had a first down at the Saints' 13-yard line ontheir final scoring drive, but cornerback Mike McKenzie got pastthree blockers, including Warner in the lead, to tackle widereceiver Steve Breaston for a two-yard loss on a third-downreverse from the 6 yard-line. "I did the only thing I could do," McKenzie said. "I found away to get them down and hold them to three points." "I wasn't athletic enough to block (McKenzie)," Warner said."That was a really good athlete against a not-so-good athlete.I wish I could've done better." Warner was 19-of-30 for 233 yards and one interception forArizona, which has lost two straight and will be eliminated fromplayoff consideration if Minnesota wins Monday at home againstChicago. The Cardinals are 2-6 on the road, including five losses byseven or fewer points. "We've done a lot of great things this year," Warner said. "Butto be a playoff team we've got to win some tough games on theroad and that's what we haven't figured out."
