Notable developments from Sunday’s 48-19 win over the Rams.
 The Cardinals finished 8-8, their best record since 1998, when they eked into the post-season at 9-7.
 This is one of their three best seasons in 20 years in Arizona (Buddy Ryan’s 1994 team also went 8-8)
 The 48 points were the most put up by a Cardinals team since 1977.
 Larry Fitzgerald had 11 catches to hit 100 for the season.
 Edgerrin James rushed for 102 yards on 24 carries. That brings his season total to 1,230.
Believe it or not, he’s only the second Cardinal back ever to run for 1,200 yards. The other was Otis Anderson in 1978, ’80, ’81 and ’83.
 Kurt Warner threw three touchdown passes to finish his season with 27. That’s one short of the franchise record set by Charley Johnson in 1963 and Neil Lomax in 1984.
 Anquan Boldin caught a touchdown pass to bring his season total to a career-high nine.
 Fitzgerald caught two touchdown passes to bring his season total to 10, which equals the career high he set in 2005.
 Antrel Rolle returned his third interception for a score this season. That ties Robert Massey’s franchise record and is one short of an NFL record. He would have tied it, too, if not for a bad call on what would have been his third touchdown in Cincinnati.
 In addition to Rolle’s three touchdowns by interceptions, the Cardinals finished with a franchise-record six scores this way. The other three were by Rod Hood (2) and the one by Gerald Hayes Sunday…

Kurt Warner came up a winner on Sunday. He made $1 million in incentives this season.
Warner had four chances to make good on three incentives worth $500,000 each (up to $1.5 million).
He made one by finishing in the NFL’s top 10 in touchdown passes with 27 (he was No. 9).
He made another by finishing in the top 10 in yards per pass (at 7.6). He was No. 8.
He narrowly missed out on two other chances to make the final $500,000.
By passing for 300 yards, he finished No. 11 in passing yards with 3,417, finishing behind No. 10 Jay Cutler’s 3,497.
His two late interceptions also cost him.
He had to reach a 90 quarterback rating, and that’s exactly what he had coming into the game. But the two interceptions gave him a game rating of 87.6, causing his season figure to dip just under 90…
The Cardinals’ list of opponents for next season is now set.
With Minnesota finishing second in the NFC North, the Vikings will visit Glendale. Other home games will be against St. Louis, San Francisco, Seattle, Dallas, the New York Giants, Buffalo and Miami.
With Carolina finishing second in the NFC South, the Cardinals will visit the Panthers.
Other road games will be against St. Louis, San Francisco, Seattle, Philadelphia, Washington, New England and the New York Jets.

Guard Deuce Lutui, who has a sprained knee, is inactive for today’s game vs. the St. Louis Rams. He will be replaced in the starting lineup by Keydrick Vincent.
 Others who are inactive include receiver Jamaica Rector, fullback Tim Castille, linebackers David Holloway and Brandon Johnson, tight end Tim Euhus, defensive end Chris Cooper and quarterback Tim Hasselbeck (the emergency quarterback).
 Inactive players for the Rams include starting linebacker Brandon Chillar. He will be replaced by Quinton Culbertson. Also inactive is center Nick Leckey, a former Cardinal.

You’ve got to hand it to Kurt Warner as the Cardinals’ season winds to a close.
He’s fought through injuries and presided over one of the NFL’s top offenses.
Sure, he’s made some turnovers, and he was at his worst in the Cardinals’ loss at Seattle in early December (their biggest game in years).
But they likely wouldn’t have won that game in almost any case, as well as the Seahawks played.
I have to confess I didn’t know what to think in Warner’s first few games, when both he and the Cardinals looked shaky.
But as the rust wore off, Warner proved he could still play.
Admit it, would you have thought he’d throw 24 TD passes in less than a full season (one of the highest totals in franchise history)? Or run up QB rating of 90?…
Right guard Deuce Lutui is doubtful for Sunday’s game with St. Louis with a sprained knee. Long snapper Nathan Hodel is questionable with an ankle sprain; he’s likely to play.
 The Rams are almost entirely healthy after suffering a staggering amount of injuries earlier.
 And now, mercifully, for the season’s final prediction: Three straight games have gone my way to raise the record to 9-6 (a record the Cardinals would love to have had at this point).
 This is a tough one. Just like last Sunday’s win over Atlanta hardly seemed automatic (and it wasn’t), this would seem to be more of the same.
 The Rams, now healthy, could have a big game left in them.
Still, the Cardinals talk like 8-8 is worthwhile to them. And they have figured out ways to win at home.
 So here’s a shaky vote in their favor: 20-18.

“Run first” was the Cardinals’ mantra heading into the season. But, as many people had suspected, the team ended up as a “pass-first” outfit.

 You could see it Sunday, when the Cardinals didn’t seem to trust their running game much in the third quarter (10 runs, five passes) even though they had a 10-point lead.

“Obviously as far as running the football, it’s not where we want to be,” coach Ken Whisenhunt said. “That’s one of the things that is going to improve for the next season.”

 At times, the team’s running game has been effective, quarterback Kurt Warner pointed out.

 Yet, Warner said, “We’ve evolved…It kind of seems to me…we’ve used the pass a little more to set up the run than the run to set up the pass, like we were doing early in the year.”

…Right guard Deuce Lutui is waiting on a brace to see if he can play with his sore knee. More on his status should be known as Sunday’s game approaches.

If he can’t go, either Elton Brown or Keydrick Vincent would start in his place.

Also, long-snapper Nathan Hodel’s sore ankle is improving to the point where coach Ken Whisenhunt said, “I’m optimistic…he’ll be able to go in the game.”

 If not, Troy Bienemann would handle the snapping….

 A statistical change has been made from Sunday’s game vs.
Atlanta. A play that was called a pass for a loss of eight yards to Edgerrin James has been changed to a run. That means James had 26 carries for 68 yards, not 25 for 76. Kurt Warner, in turn, had 369 yards passing instead of 361.

The Cardinals won a close game Sunday.
They can only hope it becomes a habit.
As the season winds down this week, the Cardinals can only think about what might have been.
And what might have been was the second playoff season in the Cardinals’ 20-season stay in Arizona.
A handful of plays could have made them 9-6, with a game left at home vs. lowly St. Louis, instead of 7-8 and out of contention.
Now, their best finish would be a break-even season.
“I feel like we’re a better team than that,” coach Ken Whisenhunt said. “We’re going to be a better team than that.
 “Our record is not where I feel and our team feels it should be, especially with the number of games we were in this year.
 “I hope Sunday was a step in learning how to handle those situations and to win.”…
 The only injury news is that right guard Deuce Lutui has a sprained knee and long snapper Nathan Hodel has a sprained ankle.
 The Cardinals will see if Lutui can play with a brace. If not, Elton Brown likely will take his place.
 If Hodel can’t snap, backup Troy Bienemann will take his place.

Notes from today’s 30-27 Cardinals’ win over the Falcons:
– The Cardinals, who have led the league in penalties most of this season, were flagged only four times for 57 yards.
 “Maybe we are starting to get it,” coach Ken Whisenhunt said.
Then he added, “I would like to see it two weeks in a row before I say that for sure.”
They also had zero turnovers.
– Right guard Deuce Lutui came out of the game with a knee injury. He was replaced by Elton Brown.
Lutui may have been able to re-enter the game, coach Ken Whisenhunt indicated, and Brown played well in his place. Long snapper Nathan Hodel suffered an ankle injury but he was able to make the final snaps on Neil Rackers’ two late field goals.
The two are expected to be examined further.
– The game has to reinforce the idea that Antrel Rolle’s future is at safety. His coverage on an easy 74-yard touchdown catch-and-run by the Falcons might encourage a conversion.
Laurent Robinson, filling in for the injured Joe Horn, breezed past Rolle in catching the pass from Chris Redman. Then Robinson easily ran in for the score even though it was one of the longest plays against the Cardinals this season.
– With this three touchdown passes Sunday, Kurt Warner now has 24 this season. That’s the third most in Cardinals’ history, behind only 28 by Neil Lomax in 1984 and Charley Johnson in ’63.
 – Anquan Boldin had a spectacular game with 13 catches for 162 yards and two touchdowns.
“Anquan is Anqan now…It makes us a whole different football team,” quarterback Kurt Warner said.
– Boldin had his 21st 100-yard receiving game. Only Jackie Smith, with 22, has more in Cardinals’ history.

 The Cardinals’ inactive list today mostly reflects players’ pecking order rather than injuries, as the Cards are healthy (at least so far as who’s survived the season in one piece and is on the active roster).
 They include Tim Hasselbeck (the third quarterback), receiver Jamaica Rector, safety Bhawoh Jue, fullback Tim Castille, linebacker Brandon Johnson, guard Keydrick Vincent and defensive linemen Bo Schobel and Ross Kolodziej (who has a quadriceps injury).
Injured and out for the Falcons are receiver Joe Horn (replaced by Laurent Robinson) and left guard D’Anthony Batiste (replaced by Justin Blaylock).

Larry Fitzgerald has had a terrific season. The Cardinals’ coaches and management say they’re happy for him.
But they can’t be as happy as Fitzgerald himself.
He’s done so well that he’s earned incentives that could put his salary at about $16 million or so for next season.
In effect, that will put the Cardinals back at the bargaining table to try to come-up with a long-term contract.
Fitzgerald is finishing the fourth year of a six-year deal he signed as a rookie.
But the Cardinals say they realized all along that if Fitzgerald reached enough incentives for a monster salary, that the deal would be effectively for four years and they would have to try to work out another long-term contract.
Fitzgerald says he wants to stay. We’ll see…
Nothing new on injuries. Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin are listed as questionable, but both are expected to play…
As for a prediction, you can’t go against the Cardinals in this one. Why, this is the surest outcome since the Cards hosted the 49ers a month ago.
Oh well, in spite of that debacle, I’m saying, Cardinals 30, Falcons 20.

Is Antrel Rolle really a cornerback or is there a safety locked up inside his uniform?
Rolle still is listed as the Cardinals’ starting right cornerback.
But the Cardinals, who often have gone with three cornerbacks recently to guard against sizzling passing attacks, have been moving him around, based on matchups.
Frequently, he’s been playing inside, as more of a corner/safety combo, with Ralph Brown outside on the corner “just because of the matchups on individual players…” said coach Ken Whisenhunt said.
“If everybody is healthy, Antrel would be inside all the time because that’s where, as you saw from Cincinnati (when he had three interceptions), he does a good job.”
All of this could lead to an interesting off-season discussion: Might the Cardinals simply make the move of Rolle to safety?

Darnell Dockett must have had his joke-writer working overtime this week.
He made the Pro Bowl alternate list, but felt he should have been the real deal. Pointing to his eight sacks, tops among NFL interior defensive linemen, he said, “You know the saying: ‘Men lie, women lie. Numbers don’t,’” Dockett said.
More seriously, he pointed out that fans, as well as coaches and players, have a part in the selection process and the Cardinals are a low-profile team.
 Also, Dockett had this to say about Bobby Petrino walking out as the Falcons’ coach.
While admitting every story has multiple sides and he doesn’t know Petrino’s, Dockett said, “That’s a crazy situation. To just get up and leave?…You don’t do that to players.
 What would Dockett do about it if he had the chance?
“I’d put a banana in his tailpipe.”
…The Cardinals, outside of all the players who are out for the season, were all able to practice Wednesday except backup defensive lineman Ross Kolodziej.