Glory days. How many times did such scenes play out in St. Louis in days gone by? But this was Phoenix - 1,300 miles southwest of the Gateway City. And in terms of the towns' respective Football teams, the Rams are light-years away from where the Cardinals found themselves early Sunday evening.

Namely, NFC West champs, clinching the franchise's first division title in 33 years with a 34-10 thrashing of the Rams at University of Phoenix Stadium.

"I'm excited for Kurt," said Torry Holt, one of a dwindling number of current Rams who have experienced a division title in St. Louis. "And the reason I'm excited for Kurt is just to see the turn his career has taken.

"When he left us, some people thought he couldn't play anymore. ... He stayed persistent, stayed at it, and now his career's turned around. Obviously, he's the leader of that Football team. Now, they're NFC West division champions. So I'm excited to see him persevere and stay focused and stay strong."

At 8-5, the Cardinals have clinched the first home playoff game for the franchise since 1947.

Arizona scored touchdowns easily on its first two drives - facing only one third down in 16 plays. The Big Red piled up 144 yards on those two series; they had only 191 yards the rest of the way as the St. Louis defense regrouped.

But every time it looked as if the Rams were about to make a game of it, something bad happened. With the Rams trailing 17-7 late in the second quarter, Josh Brown pushed a 42-yard field-goal attempt wide right.

St. Louisan Neil Rackers gave Arizona a 20-7 halftime lead with a field goal on the Cardinals' next possession. Those would be the last points produced by the Arizona offense all day.

The Rams were marching into Arizona territory at the start of the third quarter when running back Steven Jackson fumbled at the Cardinals' 22. Karlos Dansby recovered for the Big Red.

Save for lost field position, nothing bad came of that turnover. But on the Rams' next possession, Jackson tried to spin away from a would-be tackler deep in St. Louis territory, only to have Cardinals linebacker Gerald Hayes poke out the Football in the backfield.

It bounced right to Arizona defensive tackle Darnell Dockett, who strolled in for an 11-yard TD and a 27-7 Cardinals lead.

The Rams kept at it. One Rams drive ended in a failed fourth-down conversion attempt at the Arizona 36. Another stalled at the Cardinals' 33, with Brown nailing a 51-yard field goal.

With 3? minutes left in the game, the Rams were knocking at the door again, when Marc Bulger's out pattern to Holt was intercepted near the goal line and returned 99 yards for a touchdown by Cardinals cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.

On the play, Rodgers-Cromartie was beaten on a double move by Holt, but he got away with a jersey grab that slowed Holt down and helped the Arizona rookie get in position to make the play.

"We were losing the game regardless, but it would be nice to get a call here and there," Bulger said. "It wasn't called, and there's nothing we can do about it now."

When you're 2-11, you generally don't get such calls. Even if you're a seven-time Pro Bowler such as Holt. Last week, what looked like an illegal contact penalty by Miami instead was called offensive pass interference on Holt, taking the Rams out of a rare red zone foray.

On Sunday, what looked like defensive holding instead became a play that tied for the longest interception return in Cardinals franchise history. (Adrian Wilson had a 99-yarder in 2006.)

"I told the ref (Walt Coleman) before the game: 'Look, they're going to be holding a little bit. They're going to be grabbing. So let me get a couple of those. The last couple weeks, I've gotten none,'" Holt said. "We joked around about it. But I guess it don't matter."

The only thing that matters is that the Rams have lost seven in a row. And over the last six losses in that skid, they have committed 21 turnovers (on 14 interceptions and seven lost fumbles) and are minus-15 in takeaway-giveaway differential.

"Things have got to get better at some point," Holt said.

But not Sunday. On this day, a fan waved a sign from the stands that read: "Best Christmas Present since 1947."

Right about this time, two ghosts of Christmas past - St. Louis Cardinals Football icons Jim Hart and Larry Wilson - walked by. It all made for a nice scene for Cardinals fans.