Cardinals QB Warner paints a masterpiece

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Any doubt that Kurt Warner will go down as one of the greatest playoff quarterbacks of all time had to end with his wild card masterpiece.

Against the No. 2 defense in the NFL, without one of his best receivers in Anquan Boldin, old No. 13 was nearly flawless.

With widespread speculation he was about to retire, the 38-year-old quarterback threw more touchdown passes (five) than he did incomplete passes (four). He was 29 of 33 for 379 yards with no interceptions in Arizona’s 51-45 overtime victory over Green Bay on Sunday.

When the dust from this desert shootout had settled 24 hours later, Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said he was even more impressed by Warner’s performance than he had been when the game ended.

“I didn’t realize he had more touchdown passes than he had incompletions,” Whisenhunt said. “I knew he was on fire. I knew he was playing well, but just the way he managed the game, in looking at the tape now after seeing it, he was sharp.”

Warner joined Daryle Lamonica as the only quarterbacks to throw for five touchdowns in a playoff game twice.

Warner’s came a decade apart. The first was in his playoff debut with St. Louis against Minnesota on Jan. 16, 2000.

His 154.1 passer rating against the Packers is second all-time behind the perfect 158.3 Peyton Manning had in a wild card win over Denver in 2004.