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Warner, Boldin help Cardinals crush Dolphins

Sep 15, 2008 - 1:06 AM GLENDALE, Arizona (Ticker) -- Kurt Warner threw three touchdown passes to Anquan Boldin on Sunday as the Arizona Cardinals cruised to a 31-10 rout of the Miami Dolphins.

Warner completed 19-of-25 passes for 361 yards and Boldin hauled in six catches for 140 yards. Larry Fitzgerald added six receptions for 153 yards for the Cardinals (2-0), who held the Dolphins to 236 yards from scrimmage.

"I knew it was going to be a good day. I had that feeling coming out," Warner said. "I liked our plan, I liked how we attacked them, I like the fact that we had great matchups against them. Once we got going, you felt like we couldn't be stopped."

Arizona jumped out to an early lead as Warner connected with Boldin on a 79-yard touchdown pass just 3:40 into the game. Warner found Boldin again for a 3-yard score with 5:40 remaining in the first quarter to give the Cardinals a 14-0 advantage.

"You got to come in and win games like this convincingly," Boldin said. "These are the games we are suppose to win and it is not a crime to go in and put teams out of the game right away.

"We got that quick start. We saw on film that we could take advantage of some things and spread the field out. The first play was one of the things we talked about specifically all week and it played out the way we thought it would."

The Warner-Boldin combination struck again with 1:27 left in the third period, hooking up on an 8-yard TD to extend Arizona's advantage to 31-3.

After taking a 17-0 lead into the break, the Cardinals marched right down the field to open the second half. Tim Hightower plunged in from 1 yard out to cap a 10-play, 71-yard drive.

The Dolphins (0-2), who were ineffective on offense for much of the contest, got on the scoreboard midway through the third quarter on Dan Carpenter's 32-yard field goal.

Ronnie Brown had a 1-yard rushing score on a fourth down late in the game. Rookie Chad Henne, who passed for 67 yards in place of starter Chad Pennington, orchestrated the drive.

Pennington finished with 112 passing yards for Miami, which converted just 3-of-12 chances on third down.

"You could look at a number of plays that you could call back-breakers. We didn't help ourselves today in any facet of the game," Pennington said. "It was a loose game. A game where they were ahead the whole game which changes both mind-sets for the offense and defense."

The Dolphins' running game had little success against a swarming Cardinals defense. Brown rushed for 25 yards and Ricky Williams added 28.

"After two games, when you are getting beat the way we're getting beat, the running game is not a concern. I'm not worried about how we run the ball when we are down 17 to nothing right away," Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said. "Nobody in this locker room is happy but it's not going to be like this all the time. You are always going to have some adversity and there is no question about it, we've hit some adversity right now."

Warner completed the game with a perfect passer rating of 158.3. It was his third perfect rating of his career, which ties Peyton Manning for the most in NFL history.

His first two perfect ratings were with St. Louis. He becomes the first Cardinals quarterback to accomplish the feat since Jim Hart in 1975.

"When you have those days when everything is clicking and you feel like you can't be stopped, it brings back a lot of memories of those great years we had in St. Louis," Warner said. "I still think it was the greatest offense that I have seen ever in the NFL.

"We have had a few of those games over the last two years and it is exciting to think that is what our potential is."

Edgerrin James had 55 yards on 18 carries for Arizona, which defeated Miami for just the second time in 10 all-time meetings.

"We did what we were suppose to do today, win at home and get to 2-0," Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said. "We got up early on this team and we finished this team off. The focus was good the whole game."