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Leinart leads Cardinals past Chiefs

Aug 17, 2008 - 3:14 AM By Marc Bowman PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- Quarterback Matt Leinart and rookie running Tim Hightower came off the bench to lead the Arizona Cardinals to a 27-17 preseason win over the Kansas City Chiefs in front of 70,203 at Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday night.

After replacing Kurt Warner for the third series of the game, Leinart completed 7-of-11 passes for 62 yards, including a 14-yard scoring strike to Steve Breaston on the opening drive of the second half, giving the Cardinals a 13-6 lead. In two preseason games, Leinart is 14-of-19 passes for 153 yards.

Hightower took over for Edgerrin James, carrying the ball nine times for 28 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown run to give Arizona (1-1) a 6-3 lead early in the second quarter.

The Cardinals added a third-quarter touchdown pass from Brian St. Pierre to Tim Castille, then capped their scoring on an 84-yard interception return by Dennis Keyes with 1:14 left in the game.

Larry Johnson carried the ball 14 times for 61 yards for the Chiefs (1-1), who managed three field goals - two by Nick Novak - from 32 and 40 yards - and a 35-yarder by rookie Connor Barth.

Except for the opening drive of the game, in which Brodie Croyle completed 5-of-7 passes for 26 yards, Kansas City did little else on offense. Croyle completed 7-of-13 passes for 38 yards, giving him 13-of-23 for 120 yards in two preseason contests.