The Arizona Cardinals expect to have wide receiver Anquan Boldin and tight end Leonard Pope in the lineup for Saturday’s NFC wild-card round playoff game against the Atlanta Falcons.

Edgerrin James figures the end of his tenure with the Arizona Cardinals is rapidly approaching.

The NFL has granted a second, final 24-hour extension of its television blackout deadline for the Arizona Cardinals’ wild card playoff game against Atlanta on Saturday. The team has until 2:30 p.m. on Friday to sell its remaining tickets. A sellout crowd is necessary for the NFL to lift its blackout of the home television market.

The NFL has given the Minnesota Vikings and the Arizona Cardinals extensions to sell more tickets and avoid local TV blackouts of their playoff games this weekend. Arizona hosts the Atlanta Falcons on Saturday, and the Philadelphia Eagles play at Minnesota on Sunday. The Cardinals have until 4:30 p.m.

Edgerrin James won’t easily forget the 2008 season, as much as he would like to.

So far, the season has been marked by three different events for him. He gained 100 yards in the opener, 100 yards in the finale and was benched after the seventh game.

The middle of the season was miserable for James, who lost his starting job to rookie Tim Hightower and didn’t even play in three games.

Coach Ken Whisenhunt brought James off the bench last Sunday against the Seahawks. James responded with a productive day that included a 35-yard run, his longest since 2004.

James didn’t handle his demotion quietly. He was bitterly disappointed at the demotion and didn’t think it was fair.

Ken Whisenhunt has so many ties with the Atlanta Falcons. He grew up in nearby Augusta, went to Georgia Tech and was drafted — in the 12th round — by the Falcons. Whisenhunt interviewed for the Atlanta coaching vacancy two seasons ago, before he was hired by Arizona. And when Atlanta offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey was putting together his Falcons playbook, he called Whisenhunt for some…

Kurt Warner found his rhythm, Larry Fitzgerald was a glue-fingered marvel, and Edgerrin James was back. The Arizona Cardinals’ offense, even the running game, kicked into gear Sunday in a 34-21 victory over Seattle that spoiled the final game of Mike Holmgren’s decade as Seahawks coach. “Somewhere in the second quarter we woke up and we played like the Cardinals,” Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt said,…

The lawyer for Danny Villa says the former New England Patriots player and high school football coach will plead not guilty to child rape charges. Villa, who had been working as the football coach at Walpole High School, was arrested in Tucson on Saturday. He is expected to be returned to Massachusetts within a week to face three counts of rape of a child over 14 and three counts of enticing a…

In a perfect world, playoff-bound Arizona would rest its starters in the meaningless regular-season finale against Seattle on Sunday. In the Cardinals’ world, the starters will play as the NFC West champions try to pull out of a late-season tailspin. Arizona is groping for answers after dropping four of its last five games, including blowouts against Minnesota and New England in the two weeks after…

Although I guess if you’re Junior Seau, the difference doesn’t matter when you’re lying on your back on the…