Cardinals’ Thompson Does Job : Interconference: Backup running back rushes for 136 yards in 34-14 victory over Patriots.

TEMPE, Ariz. —  Rookie Anthony Thompson, filling in for injured rookie Johnny Johnson, rushed for 136 yards and one touchdown to lead the Phoenix Cardinals to a 34-14 victory over the New England Patrtiots Sunday.

Johnson, a seventh-round draft pick from San Jose State who entered the game as the NFC’s leading rusher with 801 yards, was deactivated Sunday with a sprained right ankle suffered in last week’s loss to Green Bay.

Thompson, the 1989 Heisman Trophy runner-up from Indiana, was Phoenix’s second-round selection but missed all of training camp in a contract holdout. Before Sunday, he had 82 yards and two touchdowns in 33 carries.

“Waiting was frustrating. I just had to learn to keep it inside and wait my turn,” said Thompson, who carried 28 times in his first NFL start. “Johnny is having a Rookie of the Year kind of season. Johnny has so much guts, he could play on a broken leg.

“But now, I feel a lot better about myself. I know I can do it. I just needed to get my feet dirty.”

His 136 rushing yards was the most by a Cardinal since Stump Mitchell got 158 against New Orleans on Dec. 8, 1985.

“Anthony was a legitimate hero today,” Phoenix Coach Joe Bugel said. “Going into the season, we didn’t know what kind of running game we’d have. Now, we have two powerful backs and we’d like to play them both.”

The Cardinals (3-8) ended a five-game losing streak as quarterback Timm Rosenbach threw for 188 yards and scored the first two rushing touchdowns of his pro career. The 34 points was a season high for Phoenix.

The loss was the ninth in a row for the Patriots (1-10), who last lost nine straight in 1981 en route to a 2-14 finish. They entered the game with the league’s lowest-scoring offense with 130 points.

“I let the team down this week. It’s on my shoulders,” said first-year Patriot Coach Rod Rust. “The defense dearly let the offense down. But things have been going back and forth like that for us all season.”

Rosenbach, who had a two-yard scoring run in the second quarter, made it 24-14 on a six-yard quarterback draw with 6:51 remaining in the third quarter.

The Cardinals, who entered the game with only six rushing touchdowns, got four Sunday--the last on Terrence Flagler’s 29-yard run with 11:52 to play.

Patriot rookie quarterback Tom Hodson made his first NFL start and completed 17 of 29 passes for 182 yards and two first-half touchdowns--an 18-yard pass to John Stephens and a 22-yarder to Marv Cook. He was sacked five times.

The game was watched by only 30,110 at 72,608-seat Sun Devil Stadium--the smallest home crowd since the Cardinals moved from St. Louis in 1988.