Cards edge Cowboys

az1965 · August 13th, 2005, 11:35 PM

Cards edge Cowboys

Mel Reisner
AP Sports Writer
Aug. 13, 2005 10:45 PM

TEMPE, Ariz. - Kurt Warner showed coach Dennis Green what he wanted to see out of Arizona's rebuilt offense. The Cardinals' defense showed up as well Saturday night - as long as the regulars were in.

It added up to a 13-11 victory over the Dallas Cowboys, who are 0-3 against the Cardinals in exhibition games but 53-27-1 in the regular season.

Arizona played without four first-team offensive players - wide receiver Anquan Boldin (broken nose), tight end Eric Edwards (pectoral) and linemen Oliver Ross (knee) and Alex Stepanovich (hand).

But Warner fired up a unit that was 27th last year behind quarterbacks Josh McCown, Shaun King and John Navarre. He completed 14 of 19 passes for 151 yards and a 31-yard touchdown to Larry Fitzgerald during a quarter-and-a-half, leading the Cardinals to a 10-0 lead before leaving the game after a punt with 6:17 left in the second quarter.

Warner, a two-time NFL MVP and the MVP of the 2000 Super Bowl, wasn't Arizona's only important addition through free agency.

The offense had continual good field position on his watch because of a defense bolstered by three newcomers - defensive end Chike Okeafor, linebacker Orlando Huff and safety Robert Griffith.

Okeafor and Bertrand Berry each sacked Drew Bledsoe in the second quarter, preventing the Cowboys' regulars from scoring a touchdown.

Dallas had to be content with Billy Cundiff's field goals of 47 and 34 yards and a 33-yarder by Jose Cortez, partly because of penalties. The Cowboys committed 12 for 91 yards - the most costly a false start that negated a 48-yard, potential winning field goal by Cundiff.

The ball was moved back 5 yards, and Cundiff missed wide left with 1:03 remaining.

Drew Henson rallied the Cowboys to eight points in the fourth quarter.

Tyson Thompson, who had 64 yards in 10 carries, started Dallas' last scoring drive with an 18-yard run. Nine plays later, Cundiff made it 13-9 with 4:10 to go.

Then the Cardinals stalled behind Navarre, and Scott Player came in to punt from his own 24. But Tom Crowder broke through and blocked the punt, and Player kicked the ball out the back of the end zone with 3:02 remaining.

That led to Dallas' wild final drive that ended in frustration.

Navarre directed a short drive in the fourth quarter, and Matt Fordyce sent Arizona to a 13-6 lead with a 33-yard field goal with 8:07 remaining.

J.R. Redmond, a free-agency pickup from Oakland and a local favorite because he played at Arizona State, set up the late scoring drive with a 48-yard kickoff return after Cortez made his only field-goal attempt with 11:24 left in the game.

Redmond, one of three candidates to replace 2004 returner Karl Williams, also set up Arizona's first score when he broke two tackles on his way to a 22-yard punt return to near midfield with 8:36 left in the first quarter.

Three plays later, the Cardinals made the game's first first down - a 20-yard pass from Warner to Bryant Johnson - and Neil Rackers kicked a 41-yard field goal with 5:52 left after the offense sputtered again against Dallas' new 3-4 defense.

Green left the first unit to start the second quarter, and Warner began to find his rhythm.

In a seven-play drive, he completed passes of 20 yards to Fitzgerald, 18 yards to rookie Adam Bergen, 12 yards to Johnson and the TD to Fitzgerald, a gem which the second-year receiver sprawled full-length to catch off the grass, got up and lunged into the end zone.