Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner is still pondering about his retirement.

After his team suffered a 45 – 14 blowout versus the Super Bowl XLIV bound New Orleans Saints, Kurt Warner talked to his head coach and said he needs some time to think about his future.

I case you missed it, the 38-year-old Kurt Warner took a vicious hit in their divisional playoff game with the Saints and left the game briefly after throwing an interception. That probably convinced him to reevaluate his future with the Arizona Cardinals.

”I have some ideas in my head, but you want to get away from the season for a minute and make sure what you’re feeling stays that way. But I don’t think it will be a long process,” Kurt Warner said.

Warner has missed only one regular season game in the last two seasons. He threw 26 touchdowns and 14 interceptions this year, and played a nearly-flawless wild-card game against the Packers, completing 29 of 33 passes with five touchdowns.

”It’s really going to come down to what I want to do moving forward, what’s the best thing for me,” he said.

It is easy to find reasons he would step away, even with one year and as much as $11 million left on his contract. Many athletes ”Favre it” and unretire because they fail to find comparable means to fill the void. Little can match the rush of an NFL stage. Warner is a…

Can the Saints get back to form in time for the visiting Cardinals?

The New Orleans Saints missed out on perfection when they lost to the then struggling Dallas Cowboys. Then shockingly, they lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers too in a game the Saints could’ve won if it wasn’t for Saints kicker Garrett Hartley missing a very makeable 37-yard field goal attempt.

But after they lost for the third straight time, this time losing to the Carolina Panthers big, 23-10, it’s clear that the Saints have a lot of fixing to do coming to their first game in the 2010 NFL playoffs against the red-hot Arizona Cardinals.

Heck, after watching the Arizona Cardinals put up 51 points to beat the Green Bay Packers last week, it’s clear that the Cardinals are clicking at just the right time.

Thanks to their ageless leader Kurt Warner who have put up a whopping five touchdowns in their 51-45 win over the Packers in overtime, the Cardinals qualified for this NFC divisional playoff game against New Orleans. And with the way the Saints have been playing lately, it seems everything has been set to motion for Arizona to defend that NFC title in the NFC championship game.

The Saints need to have a great game from Drew Brees if they want to deny the Cardinals a return trip to the NFC title game. He led the NFC in completion this year with 70.6 markers, 292.5 passing yards per game and a 109.6 passer rating. However, in their three-game losing streak to finish the season, Brees only had a couple of touchdowns and an interception, a far cry from the numbers he has been putting up early in the season.

If the Saints want to advance to the NFC championship game…

The defending NFC champions are hoping that they can put up more than just seven points this time around.

In the final wild card game of the 2010 NFL playoffs, the Arizona Cardinals play the Green Bay Packers for the second straight week after the Pack’ blew them away last Sunday following a 33-7 loss at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

Yup, defending NFC champions Arizona Cardinals and their high flying offense were neutralized as the Green Bay Packers held them scoreless for three quarters. Arizona’s only score was in the final three minutes of what was already a lost ball game as Green Bay was already in command, 33-0.

Thanks to yet another efficient day from quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Rod Woodson’s career-high ninth interception of the season, one of three picks on the day by the Green Bay Packers last Sunday against Arizona, Green Bay rolled to a 33-7 victory.

Rodgers quietly put together an impressive season despite early season sack woes. He finished with a passer rating of over 100 percent and averaged 8.2 yards per attempt. Running back Ryan Grant also rebounded with a decent season, though Green Bay averaged just 4.3 yards per carry.

The Packers will have to maintain that balance against…

Another chance.

That’s exactly what the Arizona Cardinals have been having lately this 2009 NFL football season after coming out of the gate stumbling.

And since the Arizona Cardinals started their campaign this year with a loss to the San Francisco 49ers back in Week 1, they will probably make the most out of this second chance they have against the Niners this Monday night in San Francisco.

The last time the Arizona Cardinals and the San Francisco 49ers met, the Niners handed the NFC defending champions a 20-16 loss right in front of their fans at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona to kick off the season.

However, don’t expect the same thing to happen this Monday night. Because unlike the season opener, the Cardinals now have a healthy corps of receivers, they finally got the running game going and the offensive line is finally protecting Kurt Warner.

That’s a good thing too since we all know that Warner is the key in the Cardinals’ success. Warner has become one of the hottest quarterbacks in the league at this point of the season. He turned in a passer rating of more than 120.0 in each of their past four games and Arizona’s two receivers; Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, couldn’t be any happier.

The only other guy to do it is Johnny Unitas and on…

We have a good one for you this week.

Everybody knows that the intensity of the 2009 NFL football season picks up after Thanksgiving and the games we have for you this weekend proves why.

First, we have MVP candidate Brett Favre and the rest of the Minnesota Vikings playing hosts to the Chicago Bears. The Vikings are on a three-game winning streak and since the Bears virtually don’t have anything going for them at this point of the season, this game gives the Vikes the perfect opportunity to extend that streak to four straight wins.

Since the Minnesota Vikings welcomed Brett Favre in mid-August, the team has gone to great lengths. The Vikings are averaging more than 30 points per game, they have the consensus top running back in the league in Adrian Peterson and the future Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre, who is playing better at 40 than he ever has.

On the defensive end, the Vikings are no.3 against the run, allowing just 85.5 yards per game with defensive end Jared Allen ranking second in the NFL with 10.5 sacks.

As for the Chicago Bears, they are on a streak of their own, a losing one. While the Vikings have won three in a row, the Bears have lost three in a row. Jay Cutler and the rest of the Bears have also lost five of their last six games, definitely not something you want to be in the middle of at this point of the season.

In the past 30 days, the Chicago Bears have been lit up by…

This is the time of the year when we start getting more of the NFL.

That’s right, Thursday Night Football returns this 2009 NFL football season as we kick of Week 10 earlier than usual.

And for the first featured game of Thursday Night Football, we have a dandy, as the San Francisco 49ers take on the Chicago Bears. The 49ers are trying to regroup from a four-game losing streak and I expect them to go all out against Chicago. However, I’m not expecting the Bears to just roll over for these guys.

Coming from a blowout 35-0 victory over St. Louis last Oct. 4, the San Francisco 49ers improved to 3-1 and sat alone atop the NFC West. But things went down spiral since, as they went on to lose four consecutive games.

The 49ers, a team that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2002, lost 34-27 last Sunday against Tennessee, as they gave the Titans their first road victory and second win overall. Alex Smith, who was playing in his first game as a starter this season, threw two of his three interceptions in the final 6:24, fumbled twice and was sacked four times.

Can Mike Singletary coach the 49ers to a win over the Bears this Thursday night?

For Singletary, a win over the Bears will be huge considering that he was once playing for this team before landing a coaching job in San Francisco. He was drafted by the Bears in the second round of the 1981 draft and played 12 seasons at middle linebacker, spearheading one of the best defenses in NFL history while winning a Super Bowl following the 1985 season.

The Chicago Bears could sure use that throwback ‘85 defense…

The trading deadline is over. That means it’s all business from here all the way to the Super Bowl.

And on Week 7 of the 2009 NFL football season, that’s exactly what we’ll be having. Hopefully, it’ll be good business for the rest of you when you win some dough betting on this weekend’s games.

And speaking of this weekend’s games, the Dallas Cowboys are back from their bye week as they take on the Atlanta Falcons. This game will feature two of the most prolific tight ends in the NFL, Dallas’ Jason Witten and Atlanta’s Tony Gonzalez. Only thing is, Witten hasn’t been getting any passes from Tony Romo lately while Gonzalez is keeping the Falcons look brilliant for picking him up during the offseason.

Tony Gonzalez leads all tight ends with 471 receptions and 5,560 yards, helping the Atlanta Falcons to a 4-1 mark. He scored one in their 21-14 win over Chicago after connecting with quarterback Matt Ryan who has guided the team to wins in seven of the past eight games.

However, getting a win over a team coming off from a bye week is tough, especially against a Dallas Cowboys team looking to give their new Cowboy Stadium only its second win in three games. We’re going with the ‘Boys by three.

On Sunday Night Football, we have the Arizona Cardinals visiting the Big Apple to face the New York Giants. New York is 5-1 and leads the NFC East while the Cardinals are tied for first in the…

What happens when the two best running backs in football face-off in one field?

That’s exactly what we’ll find out when the 2009 NFL football season resumes at the Metrodome where the Minnesota Vikings play hosts to the San Francisco 49ers.

You read it, the season continues with the Minnesota Vikings hosting the San Francisco 49ers in a game of two undefeated teams. Both teams are looking for their 3rd straight win in as many games and in a face-off between the two best running backs in the league, something’s gotta give.

The San Francisco 49ers will bring their monster back Frank Gore to the Metrodome to do battle with Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson, currently the league’s leading rusher. In a game like this, the X-Factor may decide the outcome and as far as that is concerned, obviously, the X-Factor is Vikings quarterback Brett Favre.

Brett Favre currently is doing a solid job in his first two outings with the Vikings. The NFL’s all-time leader in touchdown passes and interceptions, Favre ranks first in the league in completion percentage (77.1) and second in passer rating (110.2) through Sunday. He has thrown three touchdown passes and no interceptions.

Shaun Hill better come up with his A-game for the San Francisco 49ers because once both teams’ running game cancel each other out, this game will be won in the air.

This is definitely THE game to watch this weekend. Our pick..?

Do not bet on it.

Now going into his fourth campaign in the NFL as a member of the Arizona Cardinals in the coming 2009 NFL football season, quarterback Matt Leinart has found himself no closer to the starting spot than he did on that fateful April 2006 day when the Cardinals took the best remaining player in the draft at number 10.

He had the starting spot for five games in 2007 before he got injured. The Arizona Cardinals eventually named Leinart the starter before the 2008 training camp got started, only to lose it to Kurt Warner halfway through camp.

The only way Matt Leinart could see himself starting is probably with another team, even if Warner gets hurt this season or next. That’s because Brian St. Pierre, the Cardinals’ third string quarterback, doesn’t expect to roll over and accept the third string job once again in 2009.

Brian St. Pierre knows the system. He played in coach Ken Whisenhunt’s system as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers a few seasons back. St. Pierre playing impressively during the 2008 preseason ain’t helping Leinart’s chances as well.

Leinart still playing backup to Kurt Warner and on the verge of losing it to St. Pierre certainly doesn’t mean Leinart isn’t trying to win the starting job. It just so happened that he has been a victim of circumstance.

After he was injured in St. Louis in 2007…

We all know the kind of Cinderella run the Cardinals had last year. But will 2009 be the same?

That is the question Arizona Cardinals fans are probably asking themselves with only a few months left before the new 2009 NFL football season kicks off. In a conference dominated by the best division in football, that being the NFC East, the Cardinals came out of the NFC West, arguably one of the worst divisions in pro sports, to come close to winning the biggest prize in pro sports. Go figure.

The Arizona Cardinals, thanks to a rejuvenated Kurt Warner, had probably the best passing game in the NFL last season. Despite that, they couldn’t go past the defense of the Steel Curtain as they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers, failing to win what would’ve been the Super Bowl title that could vindicate their franchise.

That’s why the Arizona Cardinals have decided to make some changes, hoping that they can improve where the left off last year.

For starters, the Cardinals now have a new one-two punch in the running game. RBs Beanie Wells and Jason Wright will make a much better running duo than Tim Hightower, who will handle goal line duty, and the departed Edgerin James.

Kurt Warner and backup Matt Leinart will return, giving them good depth at the quarterback position. LB Cody Brown and S Rashad Johnson are great draft picks that should help them establish a young, strong defense for many years.

The Cardinals are almost certain to be better than last year’s version that nearly won the Super Bowl. The only problem they might have this season is Kurt Warner who is 39 years old since the list of QBs who have been successful at that age are limited to no one. Thankfully, Warner has Larry Fitzgerald to keep the passing game interesting, and their opponents, guessing.

Another deep playoff run might require Matt Leinart to…