St. Louis, MO (My Sportsbook) - Kurt Warner threw for 190 yards with one touchdown and one interception in place of the injured Matt Leinart, as the Arizona Cardinals held off the St. Louis Rams, 34-31, in a sloppy NFC West showdown at the Edward Jones Dome.

Warner finished 14-of-28 passing after Leinart was forced out of the game late in the second quarter with an injury to his collarbone. He ended 7-of-13 for 100 yards with one interception and spent the rest of the game on the sideline with his left arm in a sling.

Roderick Hood came up with a pair of interceptions -- including a huge 68-yard return for a touchdown -- while Larry Fitzgerald caught nine passes for 136 yards and score. Edgerrin James rushed for 88 yards on 26 carries and also had a controversial TD for the Cardinals (3-2).

Gus Frerotte, making his first start since the end of 2005 in place of the injured Marc Bulger, went 24-of-43 for 262 yards. He tossed three touchdown passes for the winless Rams (0-5), but also threw three interceptions.

Rookie running back Brian Leonard rushed for 102 yards on 18 carries, while Torry Holt had five catches for 89 yards and score in defeat.

With the game tied at the start of the fourth quarter, Hood stunned the near- capacity crowd when he intercepted a Frerotte pass for the second time, taking it 68 yards the other way and waltzing into the end zone untouched to give the Cardinals a 27-20 lead with 13:47 to play in the contest.

The Rams moved quickly on the ensuing possession, but an offensive pass interference penalty on Holt sent them back to the Arizona 19. Holt got six back on 3rd-and-19, before a 31-yard field goal by Jeff Wilkins cut it to 27-23 with 8:46 remaining.

Arizona was then held to three-and-out, but was given another chance when Adrian Wilson intercepted Frerotte -- the signal caller's third pick of the afternoon -- setting the Cardinals up at the Rams' 37. James found plenty of room to run after that, converting on 3rd-and-5 with a 13-yard burst to bring the ball all the way down to the nine.

Warner iced the game just three plays later when he found Fitzgerald wide open in the back right corner of the end zone, giving Arizona a two-score cushion, 34-23, with just 3:15 left.

Randy McMichael's 29-yard TD reception from Frerotte cut it to 34-29 with just 13 seconds remaining, but after a successful two-point conversion the onside kick was recovered by Fitzgerald to close out the contest.

"We just have to keep working and keep our mind and wits about us, and that includes me," said Rams head coach Scott Linehan. "I'm not satisfied where we are as a team, and we have a tough stretch of games upcoming for this franchise."

St. Louis used an interception to put up the game's first points as Fahkir Brown -- five plays into his return from a four-game suspension - picked off a Leinart pass intended for Leonard Pope.

The Rams took over and quickly moved into Arizona territory, but the drive stalled and St. Louis used a 46-yard field goal by Wilkins to take a 3-0 lead with 8:31 left in the opening quarter.

The Cardinals tied it on a 50-yard field goal from Neil Rackers, capping a nine-play, 48-yard march with 3:57 to go in the first quarter.

Frerotte finally got his offense moving, using a drive that bridged into the second quarter to grab the lead. A 29-yard kick return by Dante Hall ignited things, and two plays later Leonard sprinted 31 yards before he was pushed out of bounds. A 12-yard pass to Holt moved the chains again, and six plays later Frerotte hooked up with Drew Bennett for a 16-yard touchdown reception five seconds into the second stanza.

Arizona then tied it at 10-10 on a controversial ruling that saw James fumble the ball just outside the goal line. His elbow appeared to be down, and the ball rolled into the end zone, where it was recovered by teammate Reggie Wells. After a lengthy review, the ruling on the field stood that James' elbow was not down when the ball came loose, resulting in the score.

A 35-yard field goal by Wilkins gave the Rams a 13-10 lead with 1:17 remaining in the half, but things got more bizarre after that, as the Cardinals moved deep into Rams' territory with the clock winding down.

With the ball sitting on the one yard line, James was pushed back at the line of scrimmage. Warner, whose team had no timeouts remaining, scrambled to spike the football before the clock ran out -- and appeared to be unsuccessful. But the referees awarded the Cardinals a free play after it was ruled that a Rams player kicked the ball, and Warner plowed over the line for a TD to give the Cardinals a 17-13 lead at the break.

An 11-yard TD pass from Frerotte to Holt gave the Rams a 20-17 lead early in the third quarter, while a 32-yard field goal from Rackers helped the Cardinals tie the game with just 1:40 remaining in the stanza.

Game Notes

Fakhir's suspension was for violating the NFL's substance-abuse policy...The Rams have placed tackle Adam Goldberg on injured reserve, ending his season. They also released defensive tackle Louis Leonard and signed center Nick Leckey...This was Arizona's third game against an NFC West opponent this season. The club lost to San Francisco in Week 1 before besting Seattle the following Sunday...Holt has 126 straight games with at least one reception...Rams cornerback Todd Johnson suffered a neck sprain and Hall a left ankle sprain. The status for both is day-to-day...This was only the second game not sold out since the Rams moved to St. Louis.