Cards forget James

The Arizona Cardinals trailed the Pittsburgh Steelers 10-0 in the second quarter of Super Bowl XLIII before their high-powered offense finally found a spark.

That spark came from Immokalee native Edgerrin James, and he helped provide momentum that allowed the Cardinals to stay close enough to the Steelers to provide a close finish among the greatest in Super Bowl history.

In the second quarter, the Cardinals produced their first scoring drive of the game. On the drive, James rushed once and caught three passes helping set up Kurt Warner’s touchdown pass to Ben Patrick. The TD cut the Pittsburgh lead to 10-7, and may have prevented the Steelers from running away with the game.

Earlier in the first quarter, James recovered a Kurt Warner that could have given the Steelers the ball deep in Arizona territory.

In the third quarter, James carried the ball five times - three plays in a row at one point - and caught another pass.

However the Cardinals didn’t call James’ number once in the fourth quarter, with rookie Tim Hightower getting the nod in James’ place. Hightower played the majority of plays when Arizona used a running back in the final quarter, targeted for two passes and catching one. Hightower had no rushes in the fourth quarter.

James started the game as the Cardinals running back. James finished Super Bowl XLIII with 9 rushes for 33 yards and 4 receptions for 28 yards.
By playing in the game, James became the first Collier County graduate ever to play in a Super Bowl. While James failed to earn a Super Bowl Championship of his own, he already possesses a Super Bowl ring. Despite leaving the Indianapolis Colts prior to their Super Bowl winning season in 2006, the Colts still sent James a championship ring as a gesture of thanks for his years of service to Indianapolis before he departed for Arizona.

(nbc-2.com)