Arizona Cardinals: Larry Fitzgerald’s spike says it all
By Larry Brake
Larry Fitzgerald’s spike on Sunday speaks volumes about the Arizona Cardinals and how their 2018 season has gone thus far.
The Arizona Cardinals defeated the San Francisco 49ers for their first home victory. Josh Rosen led the Cardinals down the field for the winning touchdown. Larry Fitzgerald spiked the ball after catching the pass — the first time in his career — on the two-point conversion play and it speaks volumes.
This season has been frustrating for Arizona. There were high expectations following the 8-8 season in 2017. After all, David Johnson would be healthy and be a major contributor to the team’s success.
Rosen is undefeated against the Niners in his young NFL career. However, they are the only team that he has defeated. He is getting better each week, still.
The Cardinals named Byron Leftwich as the new offensive coordinator last week. Many people wondered how the offense would play under Leftwich’s game plan. They played tough to the very end.
Arizona’s offense gained 321 total yards in the 18-15 victory on Sunday. Fitzgerald was Rosen’s top target. He caught eight of his 12 targets for 102 yards with a touchdown and the two-point conversion reception.
Fitzgerald addressed the spike after the game. Again, he had never spiked a ball following a touchdown before Sunday. Vince Marotta of ArizonaSports.com reported the following:
"“I never spiked a football before in my life,” Fitzgerald explained after the Cardinals’ 18-15 win. “I was a little frustrated, I had a heavy heart today. My oldest son Devin didn’t want to come to the game today, so my feelings were a little hurt. I was carrying that around all day, so when I got in there, I let it all out.”"
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Sounds like Fitzgerald’s son didn’t want to see another loss. Winning changes things around for a little while. The Cardinals have a bye this weekend. Hopefully, Arizona builds off the good things that contributed to the victory.
Most of all, the Cardinals did not quit. The game winning drive should pay dividends for the offense.