Someone Teach Larry Fitzgerald How to Tackle

I wanted the Arizona Cardinals to win because the Pittsburgh Steelers had beaten my San Diego Chargers in the playoffs. The Cardinals had two explosive weapons in Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald. With Kurt Warner at the helm, I figured they would get 500 yards and 5TDs. But it was a great game anyway.

Check this out. During the live game, I thought Larry Fitzgerald held up a bit on the 100 yard touchdown return (which was really the key play of the entire game). The Arizona Cardinals were going to score either 3 or 7 right before the half (and then get the ball from the 2nd half kickoff), but with 18 seconds remaining James Harrison intercepted it on the goal line and returned it 100 yards with no time remaining. In a game that ended 27-23, that play meant everything.

I found the video clip on YouTube and analyzed the play. I'm not putting all the blame on Larry Fitzgerald, but he does have some very peculiar ideas in this situation. First, he runs out of bounds around the 50 yard line, then he runs into his own player and slows up a bit around the 25 yard line, then around the 5 yard line he slows down a bit to try to strip the ball! The strip would have been unnecessary because there was no time left. In fact, I saw the replay and watched the clip over and over and Harrison was almost down at the 1 inch line. If a fast player (perhaps Larry Fitzgerald?) would have taken a better route down the field, Harrison would have been tackled. Just my 2 cents.

Hats off to the Pittsburgh Steelers! In a different year, I probably would have been cheering for you guys!