Paola Boivin of the Arizona Republic says the Cardinals need more from Matt Leinart. Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo noticed the difference. Spagnuolo: "Kurt Warner was not playing, so we had a little bit of confidence, and that's nothing against their backup quarterback. But it might have been different if they had their starting quarterback in there." My take.

Also from Boivin: Despite Leinart's struggles, the quarterback did make the play of the game when he completed a 20-yard pass to Early Doucet.

Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic says the Cardinals aren't apologizing for their performance even though they almost let the Rams off the hook. Leinart: "Obviously, you want to score points, but it was just kind of grinding it out in the second half. I feel a little rusty, and quarterback play is about gaining experience and you get better as you play."

Also from Somers: thoughts on Leinart, including these: "I do think it's reasonable to see progress from him this year. And he hasn't shown it. He still tends to throw high when he's nervous, mostly because his footwork gets out of whack. That's been a problem for more than two seasons now. Leinart was set up to succeed Sunday and it didn't happen. You can't get around that fact and it has to concern Cardinals coaches and management."

Darren Urban of azcardinals.com says Leinart's performance wasn't as bad as some will make it out to be. Urban: "There will be plenty of people breaking down Leinart’s time in the game. It didn’t make you forget the starter was out with a possible concussion, but it wasn’t the disaster some will inevitably make it out to be. Under different circumstances, for instance, (coach Ken) Whisenhunt might have let Neil Rackers try a 51-yard field goal -- in a dome, remember -- on the first drive of the second half. Leinart took the Cards from their own 15 to the cusp of field-goal range before Whisenhunt stayed conservative and punted."

Also from Urban: Warner rejected the notion that his injury was part of a pattern.

More from Urban: Fullback Jason Wright calls Tim Hightower a complete back. Hightower has certainly been one against the Rams.

Scott Bordow of the East Valley Tribune says Leinart's play demonstrated Warner's value. Bordow: "The Cardinals had a 21-3 lead. They were playing against the league’s 27th-ranked defense, and their running game had accounted for 126 yards in the first half. For a backup quarterback, that’s as good as it gets. Yet Leinart couldn’t gorge on the catnip."