CARDINALS MIFFED AT CALL ON WARNER’S FUMBLE

NFL officials were adamant, according to NBC Sports’ Tom Curran, that Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner clearly fumbled in the closing seconds of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ dramatic victory in Super Bowl XLIII, a stance that Warner and coach Ken Whisenhunt disagreed with vehemently. Warner thought his arm was coming forward when the football was punched out by Pittsburgh linebacker LaMarr Woodley with five seconds left in the game and wanted an instant replay review from the booth. “I was really surprised on that one because I was definitely moving my arm forward to throw the ball,” Warner said. “I thought I’d almost gotten the ball off, so yeah, it does surprise you that in that kind of situation — five seconds to go to decide the Super Bowl — you would think it was something they’d do. “But maybe somebody saw it clearly. I don’t know what they see, and what makes then decide that, but I was actually on the sidelines expecting a review.” However, NFL vice president of officiating Mike Pereira affirmed the replay official’s decision. “We confirmed it was a fumble,” Pereira said. “The replay assistant in the replay booth saw it was clearly a fumble. The ball got knocked loose and was rolling in his hand before it started forward. He has to have total control.” Whisenhunt was looking for a review, too, one that never came. “I was hoping it would be,” Whisenhunt said. “I knew it was inside two minutes and it was a booth review. Obviousl, I would have liked to seen it replayed because it looked to me that Kurt was throwing the ball.” For the game, the Cardinals were penalized 11 times for 106 yards. Of course, even if Warner’s fumble had been ruled an incompletion, the Cardinals were looking at a situation where Warner would have been heaving a Hail Mary pass.