Cards notebook: Two QB system to continue

The two-quarterback system is here to stay. For this week, at least. Kurt Warner and the hurry-up offense got the Cardinals the lead, and Matt Leinart drove the team to a time-consuming, gameclinching touchdown in their huge 21-14 win over the Steelers.

Coach Ken Whisenhunt pronounced the system a success on Sunday, saying, “Kurt gave us a lift. He moved the ball. We scored a touchdown.”

Once the Cardinals had a lead in the fourth quarter, “We need to control the clock and move the ball down the field. I felt Matt was our guy.”

Whisenhunt, asked point blank to name his quarterback, replied, “Number seven: Matt Leinart.”

Leinart, while saying his current situation “is making me a better football player” and that it’s “only going to help me through out my career,” didn’t sound overjoyed, either.

“I’d be lying if I said it is easy to handle,” he said. “In the middle of the game (when he was on the bench) I wasn’t sure what was going on. We didn’t put points on the board, but we weren’t doing terribly. It’s just the way the game goes.

“For me, I can’t really worry about that stuff on the sidelines. I just have to be mentally prepared when my number is called.”

Warner, asked if the two-QB system can work all season, at first hesitated, then said yes.

“We’ll see. I think so. Why not? If you have two guys who can handle the situation, you got two guys who can perform in the roles they’re given, why can’t it work?

“We’re 2-for-2 as far as having it work. I see no reason why it can’t work.”

BIG PLAY BREASTON

Steve Breaston fielded the punt and saw the hole.

He thought to himself, “You better get to the end zone… We got a play.”

He did just that in a gamebreaking 73-yard punt return for a touchdown early in the final quarter that gave the Cardinals a 14-7 lead.

The Cardinals got a break when a 59-yard punt by the Steelers’ Daniel Sepulveda was called back because an ineligible player was downfield too early.

So Sepulveda booted another 59-yarder, only to see it returned all the way.

Lamented Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, “I probably should have thought about putting fresh gunners in the game because when you punt back-to-back, you put your coverage in harm’s way.”

INJURY UPDATE

The Steelers had injury problems as star safety Troy Polamalu missed the second half with an abdominal strain and nose tackle Casey Hampton missed the second half with a hamstring injury.

Also, cornerback Bryant McFadden left in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury.

The Cardinals suffered what appeared to be minor injuries to Marcel Shipp (ribs), Antrel Rolle (finger) and Karlos Dansby (shoulder). Shipp did not re-enter the game.

12TH MAN

Whisenhunt saluted the Cardinal fans who helped cause four false start penalties for the Steelers.

“I was most proud of our fans and the way they energized our team,” he said.

The Steelers were well represented, too. Maybe onequarter of the fans were rooting for the visitors, a “tradition” at Cardinal games that has been waning the past two seasons.