Faith has been restored. The Cardinals have regained the public trust. Fans appreciate the head coach all over again.

Do not apologize for your wild mood swings. In Arizona, we’re all dealing with post-traumatic pigskin syndrome.

“I think this shows everyone that we take this thing very seriously,” quarterback Kevin Kolb said. “We came to work every day. We were trying to solve the problems. We were meeting longer, tightening up the details. You don’t always find that desire in the NFL. The whole group wanted to do this.”

From the ashes, that group is now glowing. The Cardinals have four consecutive victories and an outside chance to make the playoffs. If they beat the Bengals on Saturday, Christmas literally will come early for Valley fans.

Back when the Cardinals were 1-6, it was easy to think the worst. Some wondered about the locker-room culture, and if there was enough fear in the air. Others said Ken Whisenhunt had done nothing without Todd Haley on the staff or Kurt Warner on the field.

Some of the criticism was warranted. Some of it was the hot, white noise that accompanies a six-game losing streak in a hostile new world.

Today, Whisenhunt has his own streak going. He’s earned consecutive game balls. He kept his players believing. And though it’s nothing you’d put on a tombstone, he became the most successful coach ever employed by Bill Bidwill.

In the NFL, validation can be tricky and temporary. In our search to reduce complex matters into things we easily can understand, we spend far too much time obsessing, assessing, elevating and deconstructing coaches. As Kolb pointed out, this is mostly about the players, and their collective will to win.

Yet lately, it seems like Whisenhunt is making all the right decisions, getting all the right bounces, throwing all the right challenge flags. And think about this:

During training camp, John Skelton suffered a high-ankle sprain. Rich Bartel enjoyed a personal breakthrough, playing well enough to earn the No. 2 job. But after quietly progressing in practice — deftly imitating Ben Roethlisberger while the running the scout team — Skelton suddenly was reinstated as backup Oct. 23, before the game against the Steelers, even though Bartel had done nothing to lose the job.

What if Whisenhunt never makes that move?

“I think Ben and myself are similar in a lot of ways,” Skelton said at the time.

With one more victory, things would get even more interesting. Defensive coordinator Ray Horton said he might reward his players by unbraiding his hair and letting his afro fly for the final game against Seattle (“you’ll see some real 1970s throwback hair”). And with a loss by either Detroit or Atlanta, the Cardinals could be alive entering the last week of the regular season. That’s remarkable.

“We want to be as good as anyone in the league,” Kolb said. “We want to win the Super Bowl. That’s our goal, and no other goal is good enough.”

Back when the Cardinals were 1-6, it all appeared so bleak. Disgruntled fans feared the organization was feeling the gravitational pull of its history, a franchise retreating to the dark ages.

This is what happens to a region of BFF’s (battered football fans), where losing had once been a way of life. We become angry birds, overly sensitive to prolonged losing streaks. That’s why this resurgence is so meaningful. It gives fans hope that the glory years weren’t a fluke, or just about the brilliance of Warner.

When they were 1-6, it seemed certain that a Week 15 game against the lowly Browns would snap the sellout streak in Glendale. To the contrary, it drew a massive television rating, watched by 41 percent of the households in the Valley.

Somehow, the Cardinals have clung to relevancy.

And with one more victory, Whisenhunt can guarantee his fourth non-losing season in five years at the helm.

In Arizona, that’s saying something.

Reach Bickley at dan.bickley@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8253. Follow him at twitter.com/danbickley. Listen to “Bickley and MJ” weekdays from 2-6 p.m. on KGME-AM (910).

Faith has been restored. The Cardinals have regained the public trust. Fans appreciate the head coach all over again.

Do not apologize for your wild mood swings. In Arizona, we’re all dealing with post-traumatic pigskin syndrome.

“I think this shows everyone that we take this thing very seriously,” quarterback Kevin Kolb said. “We came to work every day. We were trying to solve the problems. We were meeting longer, tightening up the details. You don’t always find that desire in the NFL. The whole group wanted to do this.”

From the ashes, that group is now glowing. The Cardinals have four consecutive victories and an outside chance to make the playoffs. If they beat the Bengals on Saturday, Christmas literally will come early for Valley fans.

Back when the Cardinals were 1-6, it was easy to think the worst. Some wondered about the locker-room culture, and if there was enough fear in the air. Others said Ken Whisenhunt had done nothing without Todd Haley on the staff or Kurt Warner on the field.

Some of the criticism was warranted. Some of it was the hot, white noise that accompanies a six-game losing streak in a hostile new world.

Today, Whisenhunt has his own streak going. He’s earned consecutive game balls. He kept his players believing. And though it’s nothing you’d put on a tombstone, he became the most successful coach ever employed by Bill Bidwill.

In the NFL, validation can be tricky and temporary. In our search to reduce complex matters into things we easily can understand, we spend far too much time obsessing, assessing, elevating and deconstructing coaches. As Kolb pointed out, this is mostly about the players, and their collective will to win.

Yet lately, it seems like Whisenhunt is making all the right decisions, getting all the right bounces, throwing all the right challenge flags. And think about this:

During training camp, John Skelton suffered a high-ankle sprain. Rich Bartel enjoyed a personal breakthrough, playing well enough to earn the No. 2 job. But after quietly progressing in practice — deftly imitating Ben Roethlisberger while the running the scout team — Skelton suddenly was reinstated as backup Oct. 23, before the game against the Steelers, even though Bartel had done nothing to lose the job.

What if Whisenhunt never makes that move?

“I think Ben and myself are similar in a lot of ways,” Skelton said at the time.

With one more victory, things would get even more interesting. Defensive coordinator Ray Horton said he might reward his players by unbraiding his hair and letting his afro fly for the final game against Seattle (“you’ll see some real 1970s throwback hair”). And with a loss by either Detroit or Atlanta, the Cardinals could be alive entering the last week of the regular season. That’s remarkable.

“We want to be as good as anyone in the league,” Kolb said. “We want to win the Super Bowl. That’s our goal, and no other goal is good enough.”

Back when the Cardinals were 1-6, it all appeared so bleak. Disgruntled fans feared the organization was feeling the gravitational pull of its history, a franchise retreating to the dark ages.

This is what happens to a region of BFF’s (battered football fans), where losing had once been a way of life. We become angry birds, overly sensitive to prolonged losing streaks. That’s why this resurgence is so meaningful. It gives fans hope that the glory years weren’t a fluke, or just about the brilliance of Warner.

When they were 1-6, it seemed certain that a Week 15 game against the lowly Browns would snap the sellout streak in Glendale. To the contrary, it drew a massive television rating, watched by 41 percent of the households in the Valley.

Somehow, the Cardinals have clung to relevancy.

And with one more victory, Whisenhunt can guarantee his fourth non-losing season in five years at the helm.

In Arizona, that’s saying something.

Reach Bickley at dan.bickley@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8253. Follow him at twitter.com/danbickley. Listen to “Bickley and MJ” weekdays from 2-6 p.m. on KGME-AM (910).

The Arizona Cardinals have won in spite of John Skelton and because of him, often in the same game. The overtime victory they pulled out Sunday provided another case study — and the basis for a comparison unlikely to catch on outside the desert.

Dan Bickley of the Arizona Republic draws parallels between Skelton and the Denver Broncos’ Tim Tebow. Both are second-year quarterbacks with winning records as starters and experience leading their teams from behind in fourth quarters. Bickley: “Both quarterbacks have an uncanny ability to frustrate their coaches, deflate their fans, underwhelm their receivers and somehow play their best in the final 15 minutes. Except Skelton isn’t running a gimmick offense. And with a 4-1 record in games he’s started this season, the Cardinals quarterback actually has a better winning percentage than Tebow.” Noted: Skelton also gets credit for playing all but the first few plays of a 21-19 victory against the San Francisco 49ers last week, another game featuring a double-digit comeback by Arizona. The team has trailed in the second halves of all its games this season, winning half of them. Dramatic improvements on defense have played a leading role. Kevin Kolb could be cleared to return from injury for the Cardinals’ next game. Might the team stick with Skelton?

Kent Somers and Jim Gintonio of the Arizona Republic note that the Cardinals’ Patrick Peterson stayed patient Sunday before coming through with a 32-yard punt return in overtime. Noted: Browns coach Pat Shurmur said one of his players mistakenly thought Peterson had signaled for a fair catch. Peterson has shown a willingness to return punts even from his own 1-yard line, so the Browns should have assumed he’d be returning this one as well.

Also from Somers: a Cardinals game recap naming second-year outside linebacker O’Brien Schofield the player of the game.

More from Somers: postgame thoughts on a range of Cardinals-related issues. On the quarterback situation: “We won’t know until Wednesday, at the earliest, if Kolb will be ready to play against the Bengals on Christmas Eve. I think if Kolb is healthy, the Cardinals will start him. Yes, John Skelton is 4-1 as a starter this season, but the defense’s improvement has more to do with that than anything. Skelton, however, has made progress this season. You have to like the way he hangs in the pocket, and the way he creates something positive when a play breaks down.”

Bob McManman of the Arizona Republic says the Cardinals are getting good things from Schofield. Daryl Washington: “O’Brien really stepped up and it was great to see him make those two sacks, back to back. It can’t get no better than that. I wish we would have scored a touchdown right there, but the defense, man, we’re always going to be there for you.”

Darren Urban of azcardinals.com checks in with Larry Fitzgerald for thoughts on how the Pro Bowl receiver got so open on the reception that moved the Cardinals into range for the winning field goal. Fitzgerald: “We had been in that bunch (formation) three times throughout the day and every single time we ran it before, we ran the ‘Toss Crack’ out of it for Beanie (Wells). As soon as I lined up in the formation they were yelling ‘Crack, crack, crack!’ The cornerback kind of settled, and I saw that and went vertical and broke it to the corner.”

Also from Urban: “To be a top offense, the Cardinals need to improve on some things themselves. Skelton was 28-for-46 for 313 yards, a touchdown and an interception. But Fitzgerald was held to three catches, and after Schofield’s huge sack to force the fumble — originally, Wallace was declared down but Whisenhunt challenged the play and it was overturned — the Cards lost 10 yards after getting the ball on the Cleveland 5-yard line.”

Arizona Cardinals update:

One of the great things about my neighborhood is the Ace Hardware store just round the corner. It’s a small place, but it always seems to have everything I need, although my handyman skills are as limited as my athletic ones.

Screws, paint, Wiffle Balls, inflatable Christmas displays, this place has everything. That store popped in my head this morning as I thought of possible topics for the blog. So after a long two-paragraph introduction, here are some notes items, some of which you didn’t even know you needed.

*Sports Illustrated’s Peter King reported this morning via a source that an unidentified team has offered the Eagles a first-round pick for quarterback Kevin Kolb. Coach Andy Reid, however, is holding out for a higher pick in that first round. That seems to rule out the Cardinals (fifth pick) and the 49ers (seventh pick) as teams making the offer.

It’s also possible the Eagles are letting that news leak just to bring out potential suitors.

*King listed the Cardinals and 49ers are potential employers for Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer, who wants to be traded to a team in the West. The 49ers and Cardinals, it seems, have a rivalry that extends into the off-season. Two years ago, the 49ers tried to woo Kurt Warner away from the Cardinals. Maybe the Cardinals will reciprocate this year by bringing Alex Smith in for a visit, if and when free agency begins. The 49ers would like Smith back.

*King mentioned the Cardinals have not given up on quarterback Max Hall. True enough, but John Skelton is ahead of him. And Ken Whisenhunt and his staff like what they saw of Rich Bartel late in the year. Currently, Bartel is ahead of Hall for the No. 3 job .  If a rookie and/or a free agent is added, Hall should hope Whisenhunt is open to keeping a QB on the practice squad.

*I’m not at the league meetings in New Orleans, but early indications are that coaches are not in favor of the proposed changes to kickoff rules. The competition committee is proposing that kickoffs be moved up to the 35 and that touchbacks on kickoffs be brought out to the 25. I don’t know how the Cardinals feel about, but I don’t see why they would be in favor. Kick returner LaRod Stephens-Howling was one of their few consistent threats last season. I would not vote in favor of anything that gives him fewer opportunities for big plays.

*I received Mel Kiper Jr.’s Free Agency Date Sheet last week. His top quarterbacks among those who have not been given the franchise tag are Seattle’s Matt Hasselbeck, Baltimore’s Marc Bulger and Smith of the 49ers. Among wide receivers, the Cardinals Steve Breaston is fifth. At tight end, Ben Patrick is sixth and Stephen Spach is 11th. Among guards, Deuce Lutui is fifth and Alan Faneca is eighth. Center Lyle Sendlein is fourth.

*One intriguing potential free agent, at least to me, is Tampa  Bay linebacker Barrett Ruud. Add him to a rotation of Paris Lenon and Daryl Washington and you have a solid trio.

*Thanks to all of you (well, two) who inquired about my health after a recent skiing vacation. Other than discovering a leg muscle I never knew existed, I emerged unscathed. I did provide some comic entertainment for the family, however, especially when one fall resulted in a ski landing up the hill from me.

As I walked up to retrieve it, a little kid, maybe 5, flew by me and stopped near a parent, who happened to be near my wife. “Why is that man hiking?” the kid asked.

 

NFL Live Scores and Week 17 Picks: San Francisco 49ers vs Arizona Cardinals Game Highlights - A former No. 1 overall pick will make a return — albeit not necessarily a triumphant one — to the starting quarterback’s role when the San Francisco 49ers host the Arizona Cardinals in the 2010 season finale for both teams this Sunday.

Live from the Candlestick Park (San Francisco, California), the Arizona Cardinals vs San Francisco 49ers matchup will have a kick off time of 4:15 pm ET, Sunday, January 2, 2011.

Apparently, Alex Smith’s contract runs out at the end of the season, making it possible that Sunday’s game will be his last with the Niners, for whom he’s completed 57.2 percent of his passes for 9,123 yards, 49 touchdowns and 53 interceptions since his much-heralded debut.

San Francisco (5-10) was the preseason favorite to win the West after Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner retired, but the division title will be determined when St. Louis visits Seattle on Sunday night.

On the other hand, the Cardinals will go with rookie quarterback John Skelton, who’s become the latest candidate to fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Kurt Warner after last season’s playoff run.

Skelton is 2-1 as a starter, including a dramatic 27-26 defeat of the Dallas Cowboys last week in which he engineered a last-minute drive capped off by Jay Feely’s 48-yard field goal with five seconds to play.

The Cardinals, meanwhile, at least seem to be making a few small strides. They’re 2-1 with Skelton starting after a 27-26 win over Dallas on Christmas night that featured the rookie’s first TD pass — a 74-yard strike to fellow rookie Andre Roberts.

“We’re finding out a lot about our young players, not so much by design as it is by necessity,” coach Ken Whisenhunt said, referring to injuries to more experienced players. “But it’s been a positive when you think back to the game and you see how many young guys made big plays in that game.”

Catch the players live via FOX on the said date and time and don’t miss this chance to witness your favourite team Arizona Cardinals vs San Francisco 49ers as they battle for the win at NFL Season 2010. Enjoy watching the game now.

Get the latest sports news from SportsNewscaster.com straight to your e-mail inbox by subscribing to our RSS feeds via e-mail for free. Enter your e-mail address below and confirm your subscription by clicking the link that will be sent to your e-mail.

NFL Live Scores and Week 17 Picks: San Francisco 49ers vs Arizona Cardinals Game Highlights - A former No. 1 overall pick will make a return — albeit not necessarily a triumphant one — to the starting quarterback’s role when the San Francisco 49ers host the Arizona Cardinals in the 2010 season finale for both teams this Sunday.

Live from the Candlestick Park (San Francisco, California), the Arizona Cardinals vs San Francisco 49ers matchup will have a kick off time of 4:15 pm ET, Sunday, January 2, 2011.

Apparently, Alex Smith’s contract runs out at the end of the season, making it possible that Sunday’s game will be his last with the Niners, for whom he’s completed 57.2 percent of his passes for 9,123 yards, 49 touchdowns and 53 interceptions since his much-heralded debut.

San Francisco (5-10) was the preseason favorite to win the West after Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner retired, but the division title will be determined when St. Louis visits Seattle on Sunday night.

On the other hand, the Cardinals will go with rookie quarterback John Skelton, who’s become the latest candidate to fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Kurt Warner after last season’s playoff run.

Skelton is 2-1 as a starter, including a dramatic 27-26 defeat of the Dallas Cowboys last week in which he engineered a last-minute drive capped off by Jay Feely’s 48-yard field goal with five seconds to play.

The Cardinals, meanwhile, at least seem to be making a few small strides. They’re 2-1 with Skelton starting after a 27-26 win over Dallas on Christmas night that featured the rookie’s first TD pass — a 74-yard strike to fellow rookie Andre Roberts.

“We’re finding out a lot about our young players, not so much by design as it is by necessity,” coach Ken Whisenhunt said, referring to injuries to more experienced players. “But it’s been a positive when you think back to the game and you see how many young guys made big plays in that game.”

Catch the players live via FOX on the said date and time and don’t miss this chance to witness your favourite team Arizona Cardinals vs San Francisco 49ers as they battle for the win at NFL Season 2010. Enjoy watching the game now.

Get the latest sports news from SportsNewscaster.com straight to your e-mail inbox by subscribing to our RSS feeds via e-mail for free. Enter your e-mail address below and confirm your subscription by clicking the link that will be sent to your e-mail.

There was a time this season when Cardinals players wouldn’t trust handing so much as even a sandwich to rookie wide receiver Andre Roberts.

He’d drop it.

Roberts musters a smile as he looks back on those days, starting in training camp when passes and punt returns slipped through his fingers far too frequently.

It became such a concern as the season unfolded, however, that coaches had to go back and look at his college tapes from The Citadel, where he scored 41 career touchdowns, to see if they had missed something.

They didn’t. They saw the same sure-handed playmaker they drafted in the third round.

“It just got in my head,” Roberts said of all the drops he had. “With every receiver, once you have one or two drops, you’re thinking about it way too much. You can’t do that. You have to learn to trust yourself and your hands.”

But Roberts was admittedly overwhelmed. The speed of the game at the NFL level was faster than he thought. The passes come quicker, just like the defensive backs.

“I just had to get used to it and once I did, it was just like college, where I hardly ever dropped the ball,” Roberts said. “It’s only been four months, really, but it’s been a long time and I feel like I’ve improved week by week and it’s finally starting to show.”

It certainly did last week against the Dallas Cowboys. In a Christmas night victory, Roberts caught five passes for a career-high 110 yards. The biggest was a 74-yard touchdown pass from John Skelton in which Roberts stretched the field and ran away from the defender.

It was Roberts’ second touchdown of the season, but Skelton’s first in the NFL, so he gave the quarterback the ball as a keepsake.

“It was in my locker on Monday morning,” Skelton said. “That was nice of Andre. I couldn’t be happier for him. He’s really come along.”

Roberts has become a viable weapon in recent weeks with Early Doucet going on injured reserve and Steve Breaston’s role having been reduced. He’s even added kickoff returns to his punt-return duty with LaRod Stephens-Howling nursing a hamstring injury.

In the Dallas game, Roberts accumulated 244 all-purpose yards and he will be looking for more Sunday when the Cardinals close out the season at the San Francisco 49ers.

“He had a rough start and that’s been well noted,” teammate Larry Fitzgerald said, “but you really have to tip your hat for the way he’s bounced back. It really makes you proud to see a guy so resilient and dealing with controversy and things not going his way.

“I told him after the (Cowboys) game how happy I was for him. . . . He’s getting better every single week. He can get a lot better and he is getting better.”

Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt went back to his roots when it came to waiting for Roberts to blossom.

“I learned from Coach (Bill) Cowher than you have to be patient with young guys, that everybody is different,” he said. “I knew he was frustrated. I think any time you’re a draft pick, especially one of the higher ones, there is always pressure and expectations and he didn’t feel like he was living up to those.

“Other players are looking at you. It’s a tough deal. But part of the reason he’s having success now is he was mentally tough enough to deal with it.”

Now that he’s finally coming into his own, Roberts is sad to see the season come to an end.

“The learning curve in the NFL is ridiculous,” he said. “But I’ve kept learning and working and with a strong camp next year, the sky’s the limit.”

While the NFC West winner will be decided Sunday night, the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers will play a few hours earlier to decide which team will finish in the basement of the NFL’s weakest division.

The 49ers have already got a head start on putting their disastrous season behind them.

Mike Singletary was fired hours after San Francisco was officially eliminated from playoff contention last week, leaving interim coach Jim Tomsula to lead the 49ers as two of the NFC’s biggest disappointments wrap up their seasons at Candlestick Park.

San Francisco (5-10) was the preseason favorite to win the West after Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner(notes) retired, but the division title will be determined when St. Louis visits Seattle on Sunday night.

A Seahawks win would give the NFL its first division winner with a losing record, an indictment of the struggles Arizona (5-10) and San Francisco have experienced. The 49ers wasted no time cleaning house, though, canning Singletary after last Sunday’s 25-17 loss at St. Louis.

Singletary finished his two-plus seasons in San Francisco with an 18-22 record, but he’ll be remembered more for what occurred off the field.

He dropped his pants in the locker room at halftime of a game two years ago, infamously dressed down tight end Vernon Davis(notes) in a press conference and spent much of his tenure waffling between quarterbacks – three times switching from Alex Smith to Troy Smith(notes) recently.

“Obviously we had expectations of being a playoff-caliber team this year. Whether we were a 7-9 division winner or not didn’t matter to me,” team president and CEO Jed York said. “… I’m not sure when our players are going to be back next season, so I wanted to make sure we didn’t have a coaching turnover, coaching change going into (a potential lockout).”

Tomsula, the team’s defensive line coach since 2007, will get a one-game shot, but the deck may already be stacked against him. Four-time Pro Bowl linebacker Patrick Willis(notes) will miss the first game of his NFL career due to a broken right hand.

Rookie Navorro Bowman(notes) will start in place of Willis, who had four solo tackles, an assist and a sack in a 27-6 victory at Arizona on Nov. 29.

“He’s a great player. I saw what he did last time he played us,” Cardinals rookie quarterback John Skelton(notes) said of Willis. “He’s a talented guy, so that’s a big advantage for us.”

Alex Smith, meanwhile, will be back under center for San Francisco a week after Singletary trotted out Troy Smith in the team’s must-win game at St. Louis.

Tomsula expects Alex Smith – and the rest of his team – to perform, even in an essentially meaningless game.

“We’re going to win. Let me make that clear,” Tomsula said Monday. “That was something we talked about this morning. Jed’s made that very clear. (Vice president of player personnel) Trent Baalke’s made it very clear – very, very crystal clear.”

The Cardinals, meanwhile, at least seem to be making a few small strides. They’re 2-1 with Skelton starting after a 27-26 win over Dallas on Christmas night that featured the rookie’s first TD pass – a 74-yard strike to fellow rookie Andre Roberts(notes).

“We’re finding out a lot about our young players, not so much by design as it is by necessity,” coach Ken Whisenhunt said, referring to injuries to more experienced players. “But it’s been a positive when you think back to the game and you see how many young guys made big plays in that game.”

Skelton still appears to have work to do if he’s going to be Arizona’s quarterback next season. He’s completed just 45.3 percent of his passes in three starts.

“We’re trying to finish this season strong, learn a lot about our football players, and then we’re going to have a lot of things that we have to consider in the offseason because we don’t want to have this type of season again,” Whisenhunt said.

One thing Whisenhunt has going for him is his team’s knack for making big plays. Arizona has 12 return touchdowns this season, one shy of the NFL record set by Seattle in 1998. Its seven fumble returns are already a record.

It could use a non-offensive touchdown against the 49ers. The Cardinals have committed seven turnovers and averaged 10.3 points and 249.0 yards in losing their last three meetings in the series.

The Cardinals needed to make a statement.

With more silver and blue in their sold-out stadium than they’d care to admit Saturday night, they knew they had to grab the momentum early against the Dallas Cowboys.

After a quick three-and-out by the Arizona offense to start the game, it didn’t look promising.

But moments later, on a glorious Christmas night with the roof open at University of Phoenix Stadium, the stars shined down upon the Cardinals.

On the Cowboys’ second snap of the game, Jon Kitna looked left and threw to Miles Austin. But Austin lost his footing and slipped. Cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie was there to pick it off.

He spun, swung one leg over Austin’s head, and scooted into the end zone for a 32-yard interception return for a touchdown.

“The ball was just right there,” Rodgers-Cromartie said. “When I turned around, I saw everybody just guiding me to the end zone.”

It was the second such score for Rodgers-Cromartie this season and the fourth of his career, two behind Aeneas Williams’ franchise record.

But the Cardinals are making touchdown returns look about as commonplace as a game of beer pong in a frat house. And on the Cowboys’ ensuing possession, Arizona scored again.

This time, Kitna looked over the middle for Roy Williams. But the ball went through his hands and right into the grasp of cornerback Greg Toler, who took it 66 yards for another interception return for a touchdown.

If you’re counting at home, that’s 12 returns of one form of another for touchdowns and that’s one shy of the all-time NFL record. Seattle had 13 in 2003.

“Thank goodness we’ve done something good this year,” coach Ken Whisenhunt said. “If we can keep that, the ability to do that as a football team, play better offensively, continue to play the way we’ve played defensively, we’re not that far from being a really good football team.

“Our guys seem to have a nose for the football when they play with the energy that they played with (Saturday) and that’s how you win football games.”

It took a dramatic, two-minute drive and a 48-yard field goal by Jay Feely to ultimately undo the Cowboys 27-26. But without the two big interception returns early, none of it would have been possible.

The defense, which knocked Kitna out of the game with a hip injury, now has accounted for eight of the 12returns for touchdowns. At least one player said he’d like to see the Cardinals tie the NFL record next week at San Francisco with one more.

“I say we do it, get the record,” defensive end Calais Campbell said. “One of us can do it. I wouldn’t mind if it was me.”

It’s become a mind-set for the defense. If they force a turnover, they immediately think about trying to score.

“We have so many athletes on this side of the ball, we feel we can score anytime we get the ball,” said free safety Kerry Rhodes, who has returned two fumbles for touchdowns this year. “That’s our main goal when we get it, to score. We want to get into the end zone.”

Arizona’s seven total fumble recoveries for scores have set an NFL record. The last team to register at least five of those in one season was the 1978 Oakland Raiders.

“Guys on the defense, when they get that ball in their hands, everybody is trying to make plays,” Rodgers-Cromartie said. “When we’re in practice and somebody gets a pick or picks up a fumble, we always escort the man into the end zone and that’s really paid off.”

It might not be remembered as much as John Skelton’sclutch, 26-yard pass to Larry Fitzgerald on fourth and 15 during the final scoring drive. It might be overshadowed by Feely’s game-winning kick, which barely cleared the crossbar.

But the two early interception returns set the tone.

“If on your first two possessions on defense you come out and get scores, you’re fired up and now it’s like, ‘Who wants to make a play? Who wants to make the next play?’ ” Rodgers-Cromartie said.

“It’s not just getting too hyped up or getting too confident. It’s just now, everybody is really into it.”

It tells Rhodes the Cardinals might not be as far away from being contenders again as some others may think.

“I’ve said it a lot. Get a couple more pieces in here, we’ll be fine,” Rhodes said. “We know we can be better, but we’ve got playmakers and game-changers on this team. Give us one or two more pieces, and we’re there, man.”

Many happy returns

A breakdown of the Cardinals’ 12 touchdown returns this season, one shy of the NFL record:

- Kick returner LaRod Stephens-Howling returned kickoffs of 102 yards against the Raiders in Week 3 and 96 yards against the Vikings in Week 9.

- Free safety Kerry Rhodes returned a Chargers’ fumble 42 yards for a score in Week 4 and a Saints’ fumble 27 yards for a score in Week 5.

- Left tackle Levi Brown collected a Max Hall fumble and returned it 2 yards for a touchdown against the Saints.

- Cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie intercepted Drew Brees and returned it 28 yards for a score in Week 5 and picked off Jon Kitna and returned it 32 yards for a score against Dallas on Saturday.

- Linebacker Gerald Hayes returned a fumble by the Buccaneers 21 yards for a score in Week 8.

- Cornerback Michael Adams picked up a fumble during a kickoff return by the Vikings and returned it 30 yards for a score in Week 9.

- Defensive tackle Darnell Dockett jumped on a fumble by teammate Daryl Washington in the end zone following an interception against the Broncos in Week 14.

- Receiver Steve Breaston recovered a fumble by teammate Tim Hightower in the end zone against Carolina in Week 15.

- Cornerback Greg Toler intercepted a Kitna pass Saturday and returned it 66 yards for a touchdown.

BC-FBN–Cowboys-Cardinals, 6th Ld-Writethru,1111Feely’s FG thwarts Dallas rally, Arizona wins2021Eds: Cardinals 27, Cowboys 26. New approach.AP Photo PNP124, PNP110, PNP115, PNP122sptd/bwilner fasst4921By BOB BAUMAP Sports Writer

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Arizona once soared on the arm of Kurt Warner. Dallas rests its hopes on Tony Romo.

Now, Warner is retired, Romo is hurt and the teams are down to third-stringers John Skelton and Stephen McGee — the unlikely stars of a Christmas night drama staged by a pair of NFL teams headed nowhere.

Jay Feely’s 48-yard field goal inched over the crossbar with 5 seconds to play, giving the Cardinals a 27-26 victory over the Cowboys.

“Really, nothing’s bigger than beating the Dallas Cowboys on Christmas Day right now,” Cardinals rookie QB Skelton said. “Whiz (coach Ken Whisenhunt) was shaking my hand before the game and I said, ‘We have one last gift to unwrap.’ Sure enough, it took the last minute, but we got it.”

Dallas (5-10) rallied from 18 points down to take a 26-24 lead when Stephen McGee, in his first NFL game, threw 37 yards to Miles Austin for a touchdown with 1:46 to play. But David Buehler’s extra point went wide left.

“I’m not feeling too good,” Buehler said. “I feel bad for Stephen. He drove the team down there and got the touchdown. PATs are something that is something automatic. You have to put them through the uprights. I think I just rushed it a little bit.”

Arizona (5-10) was in deep trouble after the kickoff, but Skelton, on fourth-and-15 from the Cardinals 19, threw 26 yards to Larry Fitzgerald, his only catch of the game. Then Skelton threw 19 yards to fellow rookie Max Komar.

An illegal formation penalty moved the ball back 5 yards but still well within Feely’s range. Feely, who had a 49-yarder earlier, has missed three kicks all season, including a 49-yard attempt Saturday night.

Many thought the Cowboys had won it when the penalty was called because they expected a 10-second runoff. But referee Jeff Triplette said that the runoff does not apply to an illegal formation call.

“I promise you, I almost threw my helmet,” Feely said. “I thought it was a 10-second runoff. We all did on the sideline.”

Fitzgerald’s string of games with at least two catches ended at 97, fourth longest in NFL history.

“About four years ago I might have been pouting on the sidelines at that time,” he said, “but I really wasn’t too frustrated, honestly. I saw the calls and they were trying to get stuff all day.

“John Skelton made a terrific play down the stretch.”

The missed extra point haunted the Cowboys after the game.

“He (Bueller) has been a fairly consistent kicker at times,” interim Dallas coach Jason Garrett said, “and at other times he has missed some kicks that he is capable of making.”

Dallas fell behind 14-0 when Kitna had interceptions returned for touchdowns on the Cowboys’ first two possessions. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie returned the first 32 yards, and Greg Toler the second 66.

Under clear skies with the stadium roof open and at least half the capacity crowd cheering for Dallas, the Cardinals took a 21-3 lead. Skelton, in his third NFL start, connected with wide-open rookie Andre Roberts on a 74-yard play for the young quarterback’s first NFL touchdown pass.

Kitna, the starter since Romo went down with a broken collarbone, got Dallas in the end zone before halftime. The 38-year-old quarterback scrambled 7 yards up the middle to the Arizona 2-yard line, and on fourth down threw to Jason Witten for the score. He left the field and immediately went to the locker room with a hip injury and didn’t play again, watching from the sideline wearing a baseball cap.

McGee, a fourth-round draft pick out of Texas A&M in 2009, smoothly stepped in, repeatedly connecting on third-down passes. He finished 11 of 17 for 111 yards with no interceptions.

The Cowboys dominated the third quarter, holding Arizona to 23 yards and no first downs, outscoring the Cardinals 10-0 to cut the lead to 21-20.

Feely’s 49-yarder boosted the lead to 24-20, forcing the Cowboys to go for a touchdown.

They got it on a perfect pass by McGee onto Austin’s fingertips. The best Arizona could hope for was overtime, everyone thought. Then Buehler missed a conversion kick for the second time in 40 tries.

Austin slipped on Dallas’ first possession, allowing Rodgers-Cromartie to pick off the pass and run to the end zone.

On the next possession, the Cowboys drove to the Arizona 39, then Kitna’s pass bounced off the hands of Roy Williams into the arms of Toler, who escaped tacklers and outran the competition for the TD.

It was the first time since 1999 a team had returned two interceptions for scores in the first quarter.

The Cowboys dropped to 4-3 since Wade Phillips was fired and replaced by Garrett. Arizona has won two of three after losing seven in a row.

Kitna said after the game he had a “strained left oblique.”

“We tried to do what we could to block the pain,” he added. “We were hoping it was a hip pointer but it’s more than that.”

He was uncertain if he would be able to play in Dallas’ season finale at Philadelphia.

Notes: Arizona has 12 returns for TDs this season, one shy of the NFL record set by Seattle in 2003. … Arizona was without OLB Joey Porter (triceps) and kick returner LaRod Stephens-Howling (hamstring). … The Cowboys lost LB Leon Williams to a hamstring injury. … The last time the teams met, on the same field, Sean Morey blocked a punt in overtime and Monty Beisel returned it 3 yards to give Arizona the win.

See the empty tin of Christmas cookies in the kitchen sink, the one weighing down your conscience?

That’s the story of the Cardinals’ 27-26 victory over the Cowboys on Saturday night. The outcome was sweet. The game was crunchy and delicious. Too bad it’s going to end up on their hips, slowing them down in the long term.

Alas, it may have cost them a chance to draft Auburn’s Cameron Newton, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner.

“Nothing bigger than beating the Dallas Cowboys on Christmas Day,” Cardinals quarterback John Skelton said.

It’s easy to get lost in the immediate gratification. In the first half, the Cardinals looked competent. The Cowboys looked pathetic. In these parts, you can’t underestimate the emotional value of that combination, or what it means to hold bragging rights over a ring-studded team from Dallas and their mouthy fans.

The particulars weren’t bad, either. The Cardinals’ defense knocked quarterback Jon Kitna out of the game. The team scored 21 points in the first 30 minutes, their most productive half of the season. Enigmatic Beanie Wells actually blocked a blitzing defender, allowing Skelton the time to throw his very first touchdown pass.

And when Skelton engineered the first-game winning drive of his career, bedlam naturally ensued.

“You wouldn’t believe the amount of people arrested or ejected from this game,” a stadium employee said on the elevator.

Stunning, huh?

“Whiz (coach Ken Whisenhunt) was shaking my hand before the game,” Skelton said. “And I said we have one last gift to unwrap.”

Still, this generous present from the Cowboys means the Cardinals no longer have the No. 4 pick in the upcoming draft, a premium draft status that could have expedited a return to the playoffs.

Whisenhunt has said that playing for anything less than victory violates his beliefs. Surely, it eases the pain to say his Cardinals have never posted a losing record at home. And if they deny the 49ers a playoff berth next weekend in San Francisco, the season will have ended with two highly satisfying victories.

Whisenhunt will then point to the 2007 season, when the 6-8 Cardinals ended the season with a two-game winning streak, setting the foundation for a Super Bowl run the following year.

Yet an impotent second half against the Cowboys should’ve cleared up all misconceptions. The offense couldn’t move the chains until the final drive. The defense collapsed at the end, even though the Cowboys were reduced to playing Stephen McGee, an untested quarterback. The fatal flaws in the program were once again evident on a national platform.

Of course, nobody wants to hear this now, not after a jolt of ecstasy in an otherwise dreary season.

While the home crowd turned on the Birds earlier in the season, the mood improved dramatically Saturday. Maybe it was holiday cheer. Maybe it was an open roof on a beautiful night. Or maybe it was Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Greg Toler scoring on interception returns in the first quarter, giving the defense eight touchdowns in 15 games.

For reference, the Cardinals’ offense entered the game with only eight touchdown passes among three different quarterbacks, a big reason why their NFC West reign has come to an end. Both interceptions were the result of unforced errors by Dallas, tormenting Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

Before the game started, Jones told the NFL Network that no Super Bowl-winning coach ever won a second championship with a different NFL team.

The inference was that Jones was leaning toward keeping interim coach Jason Garrett and shying away from a big-name hire like Bill Cowher or Jon Gruden. It’s not surprising to those who think the Dallas owner is reluctant to cede autonomy to a coaching heavyweight.

To his credit, Jones said such criticism was fair.

“If you’ve spent most of your life literally working for yourself, then the mirror is the thing you’ve got to get straight,” Jones said.

Still, Cowboys fans believe they should never lose to the Cardinals, which means Jones’ lofty opinion of his head coach may have changed overnight.

Unfortunately, so did the Cardinals’ premium draft position, the real silver lining in a season of woe.

Reach Bickley at dan.bickley@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8253. Read his online column at bickley.azcentral.com.