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From The Associated Press

Believe it or not, Cardinals genuine contenders in NFC West

TEMPE—The “p’’ word is rarely mentioned around Arizona Cardinals headquarters. This is, after all, a franchise with one playoff appearance in 32 years.

The Cardinals are 5-5 under first-year coach Ken Whisenhunt, and that’s good enough to be a contender in the weak NFC West.

After a three-game losing streak, the Cardinals have won two in a row, the latest a 35-27 victory at Cincinnati on Sunday. They haven’t been .500 this late in the season since 1998, the only year the franchise has made the playoffs since moving to Arizona in 1988.

Whisenhunt’s start is the best by a new Cardinals coach since Charley Winner went 7-2-1 in 1966.

Seattle leads the NFC West at 6-4, but the Cardinals already have beaten the Seahawks. The teams have a rematch Dec. 9 in Seattle. Before that, Arizona plays San Francisco and Cleveland at home, where the Cardinals are 3-1, with victories over Seattle, Pittsburgh and Detroit—all of whom have winning records.

Just two years ago, Arizona played before a few thousand fans at Sun Devil Stadium. The Cardinals’ new stadium in Glendale has been packed with loud crowds of 60,000-plus for every game.

The last two victories wouldn’t have happened had it not been for turnovers. Karlos Dansby intercepted two passes against Detroit and one against Cleveland. The big show on Sunday, though, came from defensive back Antrel Rolle, who returned two interceptions for touchdowns and had a third return for a score called back by a penalty.

After his second return, Rolle did an impromptu back flip, then sprawled face-up on the ground. The celebration drew a penalty, and Whisenhunt said he was on his way to rebuke Rolle when several players stopped him.

“A number of players said, ‘Coach, that’s his second touchdown, you can’t say anything,’ and I said, ‘You’re right,’” Whisenhunt said. “So for the record, I’ll make an exception for the second interception returned for a touchdown. I’ll forgive you for a celebration.”

Three TD returns would have been an NFL record.

Whisenhunt, offensive coordinator at Pittsburgh before coming to Arizona, acknowledged he has changed his approach to the game to better fit the players’ abilities. He and his staff also have worked to keep the players’ attention focused on preparing for the next game only.

That means no looking ahead to that Seattle game or a possible postseason run.

Priest Holmes ends short comeback, retires from NFL

KANSAS CITY, Mo.—Priest Holmes retired Wednesday, ending a short comeback hailed as one of the most improbable in NFL history.

The 34-year-old three-time Pro Bowl running back said he experienced “symptoms” during last Sunday’s game in Indianapolis similar to those he felt more than two years ago when head and neck injuries put him out of the game for 22 months.

He refused to be specific. Holmes did mention during an often rambling series of answers that paralysis had been a possibility if he kept playing.

Holmes was out of football for 22 months, but showed up in the Chiefs’ training camp in July saying he had seen himself in a dream playing football.

Working hard to get back in shape, he started the last two games in place of Larry Johnson, who will be out again this week with a foot injury. Kolby Smith, a rookie who has only a few carries this year, will likely start for the Chiefs (4-6) against Oakland.

Holmes is the Chiefs’ all-time rushing leader with 6,070 yards and accumulated 8,172 yards rushing in 11 seasons with Baltimore and Kansas City.

Holmes was the 2002 Offensive Player of the Year after rushing for 1,615 yards in just 14 games in 2002. In one season, he set a then-NFL record with 27 touchdowns. The mark has since been broken twice.

BCS could expand pool of at-large eligibles

NEW YORK—The Bowl Championship Series will expand the pool of teams eligible for at-large bids if it’s faced with a shortage of qualified contenders when the season is over.

BCS rules state a team must have at least nine victories and finish in the top 14 of the final standings to qualify for an at-large bid to one of the five marquee bowl games. But because no conference can have more than two teams, including its champion, in the BCS, officials were facing the possibility of not having enough eligible teams to fill the 10 spots this season.

The BCS announced that if fewer than 10 of the top 14 teams in the standings are eligible for an at-large bid, the qualifying standard will extend to the top 18. If enough teams are still not available, the standard would be pushed back four spots until the pool is big enough to fill all the bowls.

Southeastern Conference commissioner and BCS coordinator Mike Slive said conference leaders realized several weeks ago that the possibility of not having enough at-large eligible teams at the end of the season existed and started working on a plan to fix it.

Slive said BCS officials were determined to make as few alterations to the qualification criteria as possible. They never considered allowing a conference to have three teams receive BCS bids.

The top two teams in the final BCS standings play in the national championship game, leaving the Rose, Sugar, Orange and Fiesta bowls to match conference champions or at-large teams.

The champions of the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten, Big East, Big 12, Pac-10 and SEC earn automatic bids. One conference champion from the Mid-American Conference, Mountain West, Western Athletic Conference, Sun Belt and Conference USA can earn an automatic bid by finishing the season 12th or better in the BCS standings.

Brewers trade Estrada to Mets for Mota

NEW YORK—The New York Mets acquired Johnny Estrada from Milwaukee for reliever Guillermo Mota on Tuesday, moving quickly to plug their hole at catcher after talks with Yorvit Torrealba collapsed.

Estrada batted .278 with 10 homers and 54 RBIs for the Brewers this year. He is eligible for arbitration this winter and can become a free agent after the 2008 season.

“Johnny adds depth to our catching situation,” Mets general manager Omar Minaya said. “He’s a former All-Star who switch-hits and has hit over .300 three times in his career.”

Mota served a 50-game steroids suspension at the beginning of the season and finished 2-2 with a 5.76 ERA in 52 appearances. Often booed at home, the 34-year-old right-hander struck out 47 and walked 18 in 59 1-3 innings.

“We are getting a quality relief pitcher who can pitch out of the back of the pen,” Milwaukee general manager Doug Melvin said. “We have been looking for a pitcher who can give us multiple innings, and last season Mota showed he could do that, pitching 2.0 innings 13 times.”

The trade leaves Paul Lo Duca, New York’s starting backstop the past two seasons, looking for a job elsewhere. Last week, the Mets re-signed Ramon Castro to be their backup catcher again, though he could get more playing time now than he did behind Lo Duca.