PRO FOOTBALL: PHOENIX CARDINALS 38, RAMS 10 : Lowly Phoenix Finds Hope Amid Ashes of Losing Season

Phoenix wide receiver Gary Clark took a victory lap around the field after his 22-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter. Cardinal Coach Joe Bugel jogged off the field to loud cheers and signs of support from fans.

Not exactly the way you would expect a 4-8 team and its fans to behave.

But the Cardinals certainly had reason to rejoice during Sunday’s 38-10 victory over the Rams. They took what they think is their first step toward saving Bugel’s job.

Bugel was given a preseason ultimatum by owner Bill Bidwill--finish with a winning record or the coaching staff is gone. A last-second field goal by the New York Giants ruined the Cardinals’ shot at a winning record, but Bidwill announced earlier this week that Bugel’s staff would stay at least through the end of the season.

“We’re out here to win because we’re sick of losing,” said Phoenix quarterback Steve Beuerlein, a former Servite High standout. “We’re not trying to win one for anybody in particular.

“It was great that the fans supported Bugel. We’ll all just go on, and hopefully he will be here next year if we win our last four games.”

So your coach’s job is in jeopardy? A losing streak got you down? Heck, just bring the Rams to town.

“The Rams are struggling right now,” Beuerlein said. “There’s no doubt about it. We know, we’ve been there. Their wheels are spinning and they’re trying to figure out all the answers.”

But the Cardinals found a few Sunday when they got Clark involved in the offense and played one of their best games this season.

They had won one of their past five games and averaged only 16 points in that span. But Sunday, they rolled up 382 yards total offense and scored a season-high 38 points.

“We had lost some close games,” Clark said. “But today, when we had the chances, we drove the knife on through the heart. This is one time you have to pull the trigger and blow their brains out.”

Clark caught 16 passes in the Cardinals’ first three games but had played sparingly after pulling a groin muscle. Ricky Proehl emerged as the Cardinals’ leading receiver with 48 catches for 590 yards and seven touchdowns.

Proehl, who caught nine passes for 126 yards against the Rams last season, drew most of the interest from their secondary. Clark was usually left to go one-on-one with Ram cornerback Wymon Henderson.

“Ricky took a lot of pressure off me because he drew a lot of double coverage,” Clark said. “But make no mistake about it, this is Ricky’s offense as far as the passing game is concerned.”

Rookie tailback Ron Moore scored four touchdowns for the Cardinals, but it was Clark’s 22-yard touchdown catch with 6:42 left in the second quarter that got them going. Clark lined up on the right side against Henderson, but Beuerlein first looked to Proehl, who had lined up on the left.

But when Clark froze Henderson with a nifty move inside the 10, Beuerlein had a wide-open target near the goal line. Clark caught the ball, ran into the end zone and then circled around the field, holding the ball over his head.

He ran back to the Cardinal 20-yard line, cut over to the Phoenix sideline and spiked the ball. What kind of victory lap was that?

“That’s the longest lap of my career,” said Clark, a nine-year pro who left Washington and signed with the Cardinals as an unrestricted free agent last spring. “I needed a lot of water after that. I was cramping up.”

The toss to Clark was Beuerlein’s only touchdown pass of the game. He completed 14 of 25 passes for 250 yards, statistics that pale in comparison to Steve Young’s 462 yards and four touchdown passes in San Francisco’s 35-10 victory over the Rams last week.

“This is in the Rams’ defense,” Beuerlein said. “If you get burned for 462 yards last week going up and trying to challenge people, you might try something different the next week. In the back of their minds, they were thinking that they didn’t want to give up the big play.”

So Clark punished them with shorter routes.

“We felt we could get some good matchups on the outside with our talent against their talent,” Beuerlein said.

Translation: Clark owned the Ram cornerbacks.

The Cardinals didn’t waste any time exposing it, either. On the first play of the game, Clark took a Beuerlein pass on the left side for a 15-yard gain. Then Clark beat Henderson for a 12-yard catch. Then a scrambling Beuerlein found Proehl open for 38 yards. Three plays later, Moore scored on a one-yard run.

“Joe said he wanted to come out and get me more involved in the offense today,” Clark said. “I didn’t expect the first play of the game to come to me. That surprised me.”

He turned to Bugel.

“Thanks, coach,” he said.