Rams, Cardinals search for first victory

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Don't expect Kurt Warner to get too emotional about his first game against the St. Louis Rams. Warner is on a reclamation mission with the Arizona Cardinals, and there is no time to linger in the past in the NFL.

"It will be fun before the game, smile and shake some hands," he said, "but the bottom line is we need to go in and execute and play a good football game and come out with a win."

Still, Warner did bolt from Arena Football League quarterback to NFL and Super Bowl MVP in St. Louis. Those memories are hard to suppress, as are the ones associated with his uncomfortable departure from the Rams two years ago.

"I just know that Kurt's a great competitor," Arizona coach Dennis Green said. "He did very well when he was playing for the Rams. He still wants a stage. He'd be like any other performer that lost the stage. He wants another stage."

Both teams lost their openers a week ago. The prospect of an 0-2 record, along with a loss to an NFC West opponent, overshadows the Warner story line for the coaches and players involved in Sunday's contest.

"We're already down one in our division," Rams wide receiver Torry Holt said, referring to St. Louis' 28-25 loss at San Francisco last weekend. "And now we have another division opponent. We have to go in there and fight. To go down two in the division is tough."

The Cardinals, 42-19 losers to the New York Giants in their opener, were 5-3 at home last season, Arizona's first under Green. That included a victory over St. Louis, but the Cardinals will have to develop at least a semblance of a running game to give Warner a chance against the team he once led to a Super Bowl title.

Running game bottled up

Arizona's running backs gained 20 yards in 18 carries against the Giants. Rookie J.J. Arrington gained 5 yards in eight carries. Take away an early 12-yard run, and he had minus-7 yards in seven attempts.

Alex Stepanovich, the starter at center in all 16 games as a rookie last season, returns Sunday after being sidelined for six weeks with a broken right hand.

The Rams have their own troubles.

They were inside the 49ers' 20-yard line four times, and managed only four field goals.

"You're frustrated because you know the talent that we have on offense," running back Steven Jackson said, "and it's kind of mind-boggling wondering why we couldn't get it in the end zone that many times down there in the red zone."

Arizona and St. Louis shared a big problem last weekend: both had not-so-special teams.

The Cardinals gave up an 85-yard kickoff return for one touchdown and a 52-yard punt return for another. The Rams had a punt returned 75 yards for a score for the most obvious breakdown. St. Louis' Chris Johnson stepped out of bounds at his 1-yard line on the opening kickoff return, and San Francisco successfully converted an onside kick.

Rams coach Mike Martz planned to make some changes. He said there were rookie mistakes on the punt coverage.

"We had some issues there," he said. "We're going to have to shake some of the personnel up and get a little more experience in there at some positions. Hopefully, we've been able to resolve that."