Another Sunday has come and gone, and with it another skin tight victory for the Arizona Cardinals over the Cleveland Browns. At the onset of the game, it appeared fans were going to be in for a long game as the Browns took the opening kickoff and marched down the field behind Peyton Hillis to put seven points on the board. After halftime adjustments, the defense tightened up, managing to hold Hillis to under one hundred yards rushing for the day. And while the big plays on defense were far and few today, the overall performance was still enough to keep the offense in the game.
Hit the jump to see what five plays made my top five list for last Sunday's game.
Without further ado, the top five defensive plays:
- 1st quarter, 8:30 minutes left: The Browns are at the Cards forty yard line, with a third down and four yards to go. Seneca Wallace tries to find Jordan Norwood down the sideline for a deep gain when freshly returned Kerry Rhodes does his best Spider Man, swinging in from center field to get a hand on the ball and deflect the pass out of bounds. This play forced a Browns punt.
- 2nd quarter, 2:30 minutes left: The Browns are on their twenty-four yard line, with a first and fifteen. At the snap, corner back Richard Marshall comes off the edge and makes a beautiful tackle on Peyton Hillis. The official stats say Hillis got a yard on that carry. I think Marshall stuffed him for no gain, but what do I know?
- 4th quarter, 7:42 minutes left: The Browns are backed up past their own twenty yard line and facing a second and eleven. OLB O'Brien Schofield motors past his blocker and sacks Wallace for a loss of four yards.
- 4th quarter, 7:00 minutes left: After last play's sack, the Browns find themselves facing a long third down and fifteen from their own fourteen yard line. Seneca Wallace once again drops back, and in a sweet case of deja' vu, O'Brien Schofield again introduces himself to Wallace for five yard sack and a forced fumble that Calais Campbell picked up to put the Cards in business.
- 4th quarter, 4:00 minutes left: Once again the Browns are driving, the game is tied at seventeen apiece. At the Cards forty-six yard line, facing a second and four, the Browns run the ball. Rookie David Carter steps up and clogs the middle, stuffing Hillis for a one yard loss on the play.
- My bonus selection: 2nd quarter, 4:30 minutes left: Peyton Hillis takes the hand off and Kerry Rhodes and Daryl Washington combine high and low to put a solid hit on a bruiser of a running back.
And that's my top five defensive list. What do you think, let me know in the poll below. And until next week when the Cards head back east to face the Cincinnati Bengals, live Cards large!