It's hard to fault with the job Ken Macha did while managing the Oakland A's. From 2003-2006, Macha won two A.L. West titles and posted a .568 winning percentage (368-280). However, he was fired after the A's were swept in the 2006 ALCS. Late last month, Macha was introduced as the Brewers' new manager, and he recently spoke with Sporting News' Matt Crossman about his new gig.

SN: You must be excited to be back managing.

Macha: Absolutely. My wife asked me when we were going through this two-year layoff, "What do you miss most?" I said, "September." You're in a pennant race, the intensity is high. It flies. Your desire to get to the ballpark and get the next game going -- if you haven't experienced that, it's something else. That's what I missed. Of course, the Brewers have been through this September thing the last two years. I'm sure the fans are looking forward to another good September.

SN: Does the club have a chance to get CC Sabathia or Ben Sheets back?

Macha: I think Sabathia will be courted by the high-money people. The amount of success he had in the National League -- he might be leaning toward staying in the National League. (G.M.) Doug (Melvin) told me they were going to make an offer to him, and it was going to be a substantial offer. We'll see how that plays out.

SN: You managed in the A.L. What do you see as the big differences managing in the N.L.?

Macha: One of the nice things is having a good bench. You're able to rest players and keep your bench players sharp, so they can come in and get you a nice pinch hit. ... The game in the National League is a lot more baseball-pure. The pitchers hit, and a lot of decisions have to be made in those middle innings -- 6, 7, 8 -- depending on how your pitcher's doing, where the lead is and things like that. It's much more involved. As a manager in the American league, we always had the nine games of interleague play in National League cities, so I've got some experience with that. Also, I was a coach six years in Montreal.

SN: Did you have any trepidation taking this job after Ned Yost was fired in mid-September?

Macha: No. I think Doug Melvin is a very straightforward person, very honest. Sometimes situations happen, and they have to be handled accordingly. Myself out there in Oakland, taking a look at it, you'd probably have some trepidation going there. You could see what happened as far as the success we had, and then what happened in the end. I view this more as an opportunity, a team that is on the cusp of becoming a really good team.

SN: This Brewers club has had a couple tough Septembers in a row. Are you familiar enough with it to put a finger on what might be behind that?

Macha: Just from the outside, I think it's the experience of having gone through it. From what I understand, they didn't hit very much. I remember one year in Montreal, we had the lead for 43 days, and we got into September and nobody could get a hit. The pressure was on the pitchers to go out there and throw shutouts. It didn't lend itself to a very productive experience. Now that these players have gone through it, I'm sure they've got it in the backs of their minds, "This is how we can approach it, we are good, we're going to go ahead and take charge of what we're doing," and being leaders instead of sitting back and waiting for someone to come in and help us get over the hump. That's the maturity of the young players.

SN: What will you share with these Brewers players from your playoff experience?

Macha: That's the fun time of the year. It's when the pressure's on, and the intensity's high. You don't have to get yourself pumped up to go play. If you have confidence in yourself and just let it rip, good things are going to happen. Relax, go play, let your ability come out. Talking to (Brewers catcher) Jason Kendall, he said these guys just don't know how good they are, how good they can be. To me, that's just a maturing process.

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1. Warner having MVP season

Kurt Warner's 2008 season is starting to measure up to his MVP years in St. Louis (1999 and 2001). He remains a superlative thrower with impeccable accuracy. On Sunday, he hit receivers in stride all day. Because he plays in Arizona and has had several middling seasons in recent years, it's easy to forget just how good he can be.

To watch a healthy Warner throw is to watch greatness. Few in sports do what they do as well as Warner throws a football.

He had superb numbers Sunday against the Rams -- 23-of-34 passing, 342 yards, two touchdowns -- and they could have been better. There were four dropped passes.

Strangely enough, the worst pass Warner threw Sunday went for a 56-yeard touchdown anyway as Rams cornerback Jonathan Wade botched an easy interception. The ball popped out of his hands into the waiting arms of the Cardinals' Jerheme Urban.

2. Edgerrin James era is over

Tim Hightower is the new starting running back in Arizona. He carried 13 times in the first half -- three more than he had in any previous game. The transition to him was slow, but the completion was swift.

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Hightower finished the day with 22 carries for 109 yards and a touchdown.

After averaging 18.4 carries through the first five games, Edgerrin James carried nine and seven times in Arizona's two most recent games. James spent the entirety of Sunday's game on the sideline, hands behind his back, one of them gripping his helmet.

James has professional pride like any player, and he wants to play; he said as much this week after seeing his playing time reduced. Yet, if he harbors hard feelings against Hightower, he hides them well.

James broke into a broad smile when Hightower had the best run of his young career on Sunday. Hightower took a handoff from Warner and headed left. He faked outside, freezing a defensive back, and then burst between two would-be tacklers who collapsed too late. From there, Hightower hit top speed in just a few steps and had a straight shot untouched into the end zone -- a 30-yard touchdown that signaled the rout was on.

3. Sad sack Rams return

The state of football in St. Louis is not good. Hopes of a resurgence died with consecutive losses to New England (in which at least the Rams played well) and Arizona (not so much). There are substantial problems with the passing game, passing defense, offensive line, running game, etc.

Speaking more broadly, as a football town, St. Louis is a great baseball town. Two weeks ago, when Dallas came to town, Cowboys fans filled approximately 40 percent of the seats and chants of "Romo" rang throughout the Edward Jones Dome.

And the most popular Ram plays for the Cardinals.

No data exists to back this up, but Warner has to be the athlete who enjoys the most popularity in a town in which he no longer plays. In the week leading up to every game he plays in St. Louis, he is all anybody wants to talk about. Judging by fans on the train on the way to the game, Warner's Rams jerseys enjoyed a strong plurality at the game.

4. Playoff-bound Cardinals?

The Cardinals will end their playoff drought. With Sunday's dismantling of St. Louis, they clearly established themselves as the best team in the NFC West. The competition is less than fierce, but the Cardinals very well could host a playoff game.

5. Arizona D shines, too

The Cardinals' offense gets most of the attention, but the defense looked good Sunday, too. Safety Antrel Rolle returned an interception for a touchdown, and safety Adrian Wilson forced a fumble.

The Rams' first touchdown came on an 80-yard pass -- a one-play drive. They needed nine more drives to pick up their next 80 yards. Marc Bulger led the Rams in rushing with 32 yards. The Rams' two running backs (Steven Jackson and Antonio Pittman) managed just 29 yards on 17 carries.

Matt Crossman is staff writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at mcrossman@sportingnews.com.

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1. A disastrous start

The Cowboys have bigger problems than Tony Romo's finger. They gave up three four-play touchdown drives. Brad Johnson threw an interception in Cowboys territory. Marion Barber fumbled there. And a bad punt after an errant snap in the shotgun gave the Rams great field position, which they capitalized on with a touchdown.

And all of that -- the three short TD drives, fumble, interception, errant snap and bad punt -- came in the first quarter.

The Cowboys played only marginally better the other three quarters.

2. All Brad Johnson's fault?

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Wide open is wide open, and it doesn't matter who's throwing it -- except when it does. On the Cowboys' first possession, wide receiver Terrell Owens broke across the middle, a hapless defensive back lost in his wake. Johnson's throw was slightly behind him, but Owens hauled it in for a 19-yard gain.

And thus ended the "Johnson played well in place of Romo" segment of the game.

Johnson missed multiple open receivers and threw several balls where it was hard to tell who the intended receiver was, if there was in fact an intended receiver. He threw three interceptions, and all were his fault. Johnson completed 17-of-34 passes for 234 yards and one late-game, meaningless touchdown.

But don't pin all of the Cowboys' problems on Johnson. Jason Witten dropped a big pass. Owens, too. And Barber fumbled at the end of a rare reception that gained more than a few yards.

And nobody made a play to help out Johnson. Wide receiver Roy Williams, acquired this week from the Lions, played sparingly; he had zero catches, and only one ball was thrown to him.

3. Ball bounces to Rams

The Cowboys will not have another game like this one all season -- and neither will the Rams. In the first quarter, Rams quarterback Marc Bulger dropped the ball while backpedaling -- and it bounced right back to him. In the second quarter, Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware swatted the ball out of Bulger's hand while sacking him -- and Bulger fell right on it.

On a Dallas punt in the first half, Deon Anderson raced to the 2-yard line and got himself in perfect position to down it. The ball bounced about 10 feet, straight up and stopped -- hovering right in front of Anderson, the kind of bounce cover guys dream of when they allow themselves to dream about special teams.

And after Anderson flubbed it, the ball landed directly on the goal line for a touchback.

4. Gotta protect Bulger

The Rams can't pass protect. Bulger was sacked five times Sunday, and though he's not particularly mobile, he avoided several others.

Ware extended his games with a sack streak to 10, tying an NFL record.

The lack of protection revealed a greater truth -- Bulger is still (or, perhaps, again) a good quarterback. Bulger lost his job early in the season but got it back when Jim Haslett took over as coach after Scott Linehan was fired.

Bulger's 42-yard touchdown pass to Donnie Avery could not have been prettier, and he was crisp and accurate all day, despite heavy and constant pressure from the Cowboys.

5. The Rams aren't for real -- yet

This is two weeks in a row that the Rams beat a team that appeared to be considerably more talented. I'm not sold that the Rams will be able to play at this level the rest of the season -- or that they'll run into opponents who so totally collapse, as Dallas did, or don't take them seriously enough, as Washington did.

But the Rams obviously will run through whatever wall Haslett points them toward. They certainly are playing better than NFC West rivals Seattle and San Francisco, and with Arizona's annual swoon looming, St. Louis could make a second-half push for the playoffs.

That's a stretch, but this was a resounding win.

Matt Crossman is staff writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at mcrossman@sportingnews.com.

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