The Cardinals have ended their season with another Overtime win, this time over the Seahawks. Following that win, we can look at several players who stepped up in the win.
Last week, Larry Fitzgerald won the poll with 40% of the 80 votes that were cast (you guys are slacking off), Calais Campbell was close behind with 35%.
Larry Fitzgerald - Nine catches (18 targets), 149 yards
Do you know how good Fitz was in this game? After he capped off his day with a freakish catch the entire crowd started chanting his name as loud as they could (trust me, I was there, it was loud) while the refs were reviewing the play to make sure it was a catch. He didn't do much at all in the first half, but Fitz went off on the Seahawks in the second half, and he did it after an injury that caused him to spit up blood.
I have said before that I think this was the best Season Fitz ever had because he put up huge numbers with very inconsistent QB play and the lack of a guy like Anquan Boldin to help draw coverage away from him. Even with that the Meast finishes his season with 80 catches for 1,411 yards and eight scores. This man should be in Canton someday.
John Skelton - 22 of 40 for 271 yards, TD, Int
Just a typical Skelton day. He was inconsistent throughout the day missing too many open throws and throwing a horrible Interception that was almost returned for a Touchdown. But again, he stepped up when it mattered and saved his biggest throws for the end of the game. He finished the year with more Interceptions than Touchdowns and a QB rating of 68.9 (statistically, Kolb has a better year) but somehow he finds ways to win at the end of games and for that reason we have a Quarterback controversy right now going into the offseason.
And to make his late game heroics even more impressive, he was also injured. Skelly fainted after having his knee drained before the game, but he still went out there and led the Cards to a win. Good job.
LaRod Stephens-Howling - 21 carries for 94 yards
Subbing for Beanie Wells who sat the game out with his knee injury, LSH had a big game. He got more carries than I ever thought he would have in a game, and even though he seemed to fall down for no gain a lot, he still ripped off a couple of nice runs including a 39 yarder near the start of the game. He also made what could have been a game saving tackle after the Interception thrown by Skelton.
Patrick Peterson - Four tackles, four Punt returns for 63 yards, blocked Field Goal
We didn't know if Peterson would play until a short time before the game after his Achilles injury last week, but he felt good enough to get out there on Sunday and made some big plays. He had a 42 yard return that he almost broke free for his fifth Punt return Touchdown of the season which would have been an NFL record. The Punter was barely able to trip him up. He also blocked his second Field Goal of the year (and in what turned out to be a three point game, that is big), had a good day in coverage, and broke an NFL record for most Punt return yards by a Rookie with 699.
Richard Marshall - Seven tackles, pass deflection, Interception
Ray Horton's MVP had a good day. Made some good tackles, batted down a pass, and snared the teams first Interception in weeks (besides the one by Peterson last week that the Refs stole from him) that he brought back for 49 yards. Marshall has been a good signing for the Cards this year, hopefully they bring him back next year.
Honorable mention for Daryl Washington (catch the Interception and you would have been on here buddy) and Vonnie Holliday.
| CotW Winners | Wins |
| Beanie Wells | 4 |
|
Patrick Peterson |
3 |
| Larry Fitzgerald | 3 |
| Darnell Dockett | 1 |
|
A.J. Jefferson |
1 |
| Kevin Kolb | 1 |
| Calais Campbell | 1 |
| Richard Bartel | 1 |
| O'Brien Schofield |
1 |
| The Defense |
1 |