The Eagles cruised to an easy victory over the Cardinals on Thursday night, on the wings of Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook. McNabb went 27-for-39 with 260 yards and four touchdowns, with two of the scores coming on receptions by Westbrook. Westbrook, who rushed twenty-two times for 110 yards, also scored a pair of touchdowns on the ground. The Eagles made headlines all week after the very public benching of McNabb by coach Andy Reid at halftime against the Ravens just four days ago. Kurt Warner, who looked like a lock to win the NFL MVP before facing off against back-to-back NFC East opponents, went 21-for-39 with 235 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. Philadelphia shut Arizona down on the ground, holding the Cardinals to just 25 yards on ten carries. Larry Fitzgerald had a strong game, catching five passes for 65 yards and two touchdowns. Westbrook's four touchdowns tied a franchise record.

The Giants lost wide receiver Plaxico Burress to a hamstring injury in the first quarter against the Cardinals on Sunday, and he did not return. Burress had been a game-time decision and aggravated the injury early on. New York was without Brandon Jacobs from the start because of a knee injury.

Drew Rosenhaus, agent for Arizona Cardinals running back Edgerrin James, confirmed an Internet report that his client has asked to be released, but the request was rejected. "We spoke with [general manager] Rod Graves because Edgerrin still believes he is a 1,000-yard back and he is healthy and he is still capable of being a 1,000-yard back for a team," Rosenhaus said. "He is not playing now, and there are teams that are banged up at the running back position that he could help. We didn't get the answer we were hoping for. "Edgerrin isn't trying to cause any problems," Rosenhaus said. "He has had a Hall of Fame career and he has enjoyed his stay in Arizona. But it's apparent that he's probably not going to be back with the Cardinals next season. If that's the case, he can move and help another team and get a start now."

Kurt Warner's agent Mark Bartelstein has called General Manager Rod Graves in recent weeks about negotiating a new contract, but the conversations haven't gone beyond pleasantries. "There's nothing new," Bartelstein said Tuesday. "I wish I could tell you something different." Warner, 37, is in the last season of a three-year deal worth $15 million, not including incentives. The Cardinals and Bartelstein tried to reach an agreement before the season, but Matt Leinart was the starter then and Bartelstein wanted his client compensated fairly should Warner become the starter, and the Cardinals didn't want to overpay for a backup. The cost will be significantly higher for the Cardinals now and Warner could command $8M-$12M annually. RealGM Note: Warner is currently the top ranked season FIC player in the NFL and 'deserves' Peyton Manning's cap hit of $18.7M, giving him a Reina Value of +212%. Click here to see the current FIC rankings and Reina Value for other top players of the NFL.

Using my custom position-by-position Field Impact Counter (FIC), we can safely and accurately rank quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, and tight ends by an objective statistical measurement. The importance placed on specific positions is far different in football than it is in basketball, baseball, and hockey. Because of this, we have separated salaries by position instead of having a single common pool. Quarterbacks are compared to quarterbacks. Running backs are compared to running backs. Wide receivers are compared to wide receivers. There are only four positions on the football field where we can truly use statistics to rank a player?s performance in the same ways we can for the other three major sports. Intangibles such as how a running back picks up the blitz or how well a wide receiver blocks for his downfield runners do not appear on stat sheets, and in order to get a truly objective statistical ranking, these elements are unfortunately overlooked. Players are ranked from highest to lowest by the total FIC for the season, not per game because players only give contribute to a team when they are playing. * More information about the FIC at the bottom of this article. Beside each player?s actual salary, we slide in raw cap value figures of the position, ranked top to bottom, which determines their ?deserved? salary. The player who has the highest FIC receives the highest ?deserved? salary. The player with the second highest FIC receives the second highest salary. The player with the hundredth highest FIC receives the hundredth highest salary. We then calculate the percentage increase or decrease from the actual and deserved and that figure becomes their Reina Value. The Reina Value is a valuation system that quickly determines how players perform in relation to their contracts or in the case of the NFL, their cap value. - Kurt Warner has a narrow lead in the overall season FIC lead over Drew Brees, but the MVP race isn't close at all anymore. The Cardinals are 7-3 with a four game lead over the second place 49ers, which means their magic number is one. Their remaining schedule is far from easy, however, with the Giants, Eagles (in Philadelphia), Vikings, and Patriots (in New England) remaining, but Ken Whisenhunt expects to let Warner play out the entire regular season even if their playoff seeding is determined, allowing him to continue to accumulate yards and TD's. - Peyton Manning was 14th when we last checked in here, and he has moved up to 5th, and with his current climb of production, he should be a firm fourth by the end of this week. Those moribund claims early in the season have been swiftly silented after he has thrown for seven touchdowns, no interceptions, and 271 yards per game over their current three-game winning streak. - There has been a lot talk about Matt Cassel getting $9M per year in free agency from a team like Minnesota, Detroit, or San Francisco, and he is, in fact, currently playing to a contract of $9.5M. He is 10th in yards, 15th in passer rating, 8th in completion percentage, and has shown some decent mobility, rushing for 185 yards in 51 attempts. Unlike the Cowboys who proved they could not win without Tony Romo, the Patriots have managed to stay in the playoff picture without Tom Brady, and although he is far from being interchangeable, it's still a reliable measure of his value. - I had a problem with the 'Vince Young just wins football games' crowd that populated many corners of the NFL last season, and the same mistake is being made with Kerry Collins, who is having a fine season but is being judged through the prism of an undefeated season. He is 20th in passer rating (82.0) and 23d in completion percentage (59.0). Young's passer rating was lower in 2007, but it was just 2.8 points behind Eli Manning, and he had a higher completion percentage, not to mention his 395 yards on the ground. The main difference is in the turnover department; Young's interception percentage was a troublesome 4.5%, while Collins has thrown a pick in just 1.5% of his attempts. This has allowed the Titans to lead the NFL in turnover differential with a +10 margin while last season they were dead even. - Reggie Bush was the top back after Week 5, trailed by Frank Gore, and while Bush has been hurt and faded down to 18th, Gore has taken hold of the top slot just ahead of Clinton Portis. Gore is averaging 4.7 yards per carry for 834 yards on the ground and another 325 yards receiving. - Matt Forte leads all running backs in completions with 43 for 322 yards, but unlike Bush, he has gained 777 yards for a 3.8 average on the ground. - Brandon Jacobs leads the NFL in yards per carry with 5.4 among backs with at least 500 yards and also leads all runners in TD's with 11, but he hasn't caught a single ball out of the backfield. - Greg Jennings is still the leader among receivers, but he has done very little since Week 5, catching just under four passes per game and two touchdowns. He hasn't had a 100-yard day since Week 4. - Roddy White leads the NFL with 1st down receptions on 3rd down with 21. - With 111 passes thrown at him, Brandon Marshall has been targeted the most. - Anquan Boldin missed two weeks, but he has 10 TD's and a three TD lead over Calvin Johnson in the category. Boldin also leads the NFL in yards after the catch with 451. - I was fully expecting Jason Witten to lead wire-to-wire among tight ends, but a surge from Tony Gonzalez in which he has caught three touchdowns in the past four week, along with 78 yards per game over his last five, has coincided with Witten's injury and also the injury to Romo. - Gonzalez is the only tight end to catch more first downs than Houston's Owen Daniels (32). - Kellen Winslow followed up his two touchdown, 111 yard night against Denver with just three catches for 40 yards in Cleveland's win at Buffalo. - Tony Scheffler is leading tight ends with average yards per reception with 17.6.

The Cardinals employ a version of the 'Wildcat' formation, and it was in their playbook long before the Dolphins brought the formation into vogue this year. The Cardinals called their formation "Pahokee", and it put Anquan Boldin at quarterback. The formation is named after receiver Boldin's hometown and high school in Florida. In the Pahokee, Boldin takes the shotgun snap from center and runs. "There's a variety of things we can do," Boldin said. "Lining up at quarterback, lining up at running back, motioning out of the backfield." The Cardinals used it a few times during the 2007 season.

The way the 49ers lost to the Cardinals on Monday had some scratching their heads. Offensive coordinator Mike Martz said on Tuesday that the officiating, not the play calling, is to blame, according to an ESPN.com report. The Cardinals stopped Michael Robinson on a run up the middle from the 2?-yard line as time expired, preserving Arizona's 29-24 victory. Martz said the spot of the ball doomed the play.

Cardinals' head coach Ken Whisenhunt claims that running back Edgerrin James is still a valuable part the team's roster. James, who failed to carry the ball even once in Week Nine, is still "a valuable part of this team," Whisenhunt said. Whisenhunt wouldn't specify whether or not James would play in future games. "He?s a good running back. When the opportunity presents itself, he?ll get chances to carry the ball. We?re going to need Edge," he added.

St. Louis running back Steven Jackson plans to play on Sunday against Arizona on despite a thigh injury. Jackson used his website, which launched this week, to declare that he intends to play. "I want to let you all know that the leg is feeling good enough for me to go on Sunday," Jackson said in a post Saturday. "This is a big game for us against Arizona, and I'm going to give everything I've got to get us a win." "So to be clear: I am playing. Be ready."