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Warner and Cardinals deal Buffalo first loss of season

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10/05/2008 - Glendale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kurt Warner threw a pair of touchdown passes and Tim Hightower scored twice, as the Arizona Cardinals cruised past the previously unbeaten Buffalo Bills, 41-17.

Warner hit on 33-of-42 pass attempts for 250 yards and Larry Fitzgerald caught both touchdown passes among a seven-catch, 52-yard performance. Hightower gained 37 yards on seven carries while Edgerrin James also scored, rushing for 57 yards on 21 attempts for Arizona (3-2), which committed a whopping seven turnovers in last weekend's wild 56-35 setback to Brett Favre and the Jets. Six of those miscues were attributed to Warner, whose prolific 472-yard passing performance was neutralized by three interceptions and a trio of lost fumbles. The Cardinals snapped a two-game losing streak.

"We're a tough team to beat when we don't turn the ball over," Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said. We had a number of different players that made big plays today. I'm really excited about the way we played."

Trent Edwards was forced to leave the game with a concussion on the third play from scrimmage and J.P. Losman struggled in relief. Losman accounted for three turnovers in throwing for 220 yards on 15-of-21 passing with a touchdown and an interception. Lee Evans hauled in an 87-yard TD catch, highlighting a two- catch, 100-yard effort while Marshawn Lynch was limited to 55 yards on 13 carries for the Bills (4-1), who rallied from a 14-6 halftime deficit last Sunday to down the St. Louis Rams, 31-14.

The Bills were seeking their first 5-0 start since 1991.

"Our guys played hard, I think as hard in this loss as our first four victories," Bills coach Dick Jauron said. "I'll always feel good about that. We don't always play smart and we made some errors we need to correct. It was one of those days when we couldn't get anything generated almost anywhere."

Things got off to a bad start for Buffalo as Edwards was leveled by Arizona's Adrian Wilson on the third play of the game. With Edwards relegated to the sideline, Losman came on and lost a fumble on his second play, giving Arizona the ball at the Buffalo 38. A Warner to Fitzgerald hookup put Arizona on the two-yard-line and the Cardinals took a 7-0 lead after Warner found Fitzgerald wide open in the right corner of the end zone on the next play.

The Cardinals' next possession saw them take the ball 80 yards on 14 plays and Hightower capped it with a 17-yard TD run for a 14-0 advantage 45 seconds into the second quarter.

Buffalo answered, though, and in a big way as Losman escaped a collapsing pocket to find Evans for an 87-yard touchdown just over two minutes later.

Arizona was undeterred and drove 78 yards in 12 plays on its next turn with the ball and James made it count with a one-yard TD.

The Bills responded quickly with Losman settled in. The QB breached the goal line himself on 3rd-and-goal from the two-yard-line, cutting the lead to a 21-14 deficit with just 1:46 to go in the half. Warner worked quickly after getting the ball back, going 5-for-5 passing on a 44-yard drive to put Neil Rackers in position to nail a 47-yard field goal as the half expired.

Rian Lindell opened the second-half scoring with a 48-yard field goal for a 24-17 game, but the Cardinals continued to move the ball against Buffalo's defense. After driving to the Bills' 11, J.J. Arrington was stuffed on 3rd- and-2, bringing Rackers on for a 28-yard kick. The boot was true but a Bills' offsides call on the kick handed a new set of downs to Arizona. Two plays later, Warner hit Fitzgerald for a two-yard score and a 31-17 advantage.

A 38-yard field goal from Rackers to open the final quarter made it 34-17 and Losman lost a second fumble, this time on a sack from Gerald Hayes, who recovered at the Buffalo 19. The Cardinals got 11 on 3rd-and-12 after taking over but decided to go for the first down and Hightower moved the chains, then found the end zone for a two-yard score and a 41-17 game.

Buffalo's last three drives went for naught as Losman sandwiched a pick between a punt and a turnover on downs.

Game Notes

Buffalo has a 5-4 lead in the all-time series with Arizona and had won four consecutive games against the Cardinals dating back to 1986...Buffalo last visited Arizona in 1999, claiming a 31-21 decision in Sun Devil Stadium...The last win over Buffalo for the Cardinals franchise came in 1984, when the team resided in St. Louis...Arizona has won its last five home tests and is 8-3 as the host since the start of the 2007 season...Among the Bills' inactives were CB Terrence McGee, WR Roscoe Parrish, RB Xavier Omon, FB Corey McIntyre, OT Demetrius Bell, TE Derek Fine and DE Chris Ellis...Arizona was without FB Tim Castille, T Elliot Vallejo, T Brandon Keith, DT Alan Branch, TE Jerame Tuman, DE Bertrand Berry and WR Anquan Boldin, who is out indefinitely after having surgery on a fractured facial bone he suffered in a helmet-to-helmet hit last Sunday against the New York Jets...Fitzgerald passed the 5,000-yard receiving mark in the game and became the seventh quickest player in NFL history to reach that plateau...Hightower now has five touchdowns in five games this season.