Larry Fitzgerald is unquestionably one of the best big-game postseason players in NFL history. It’s a damn shame he’s had so few opportunities to prove it.
Fitz has played in a total of eight playoff games in his 12-year career. That’s it, just eight. In those eight games he’s caught 53 passes for 912 yards and 10 touchdowns, an average of 114 yards per game, 17.21 yards per catch and 1.25 touchdowns per game that’s counting the Bruce Arians’ stupidity led 2014 playoff game where the head coach decided that Ryan Lindley was worth a playoff start. Lindley completed just 16 passes for 82 yards in that game and that’s it.
It took a player of Fitzgerald’s caliber to deny Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers from willing his team to the NFC Championship. Fitzgerald put his team on his back, played with a quarterback trying to throw passes with both hands wrapped around his neck, and literally carried them to the NFC title game. Pretty much all on his own.
Who's with us for a business trip to Carolina??? ✈️🏈💪
— Larry Fitzgerald (@LarryFitzgerald) January 17, 2016
It was one of the most spectacular playoff performances in NFL history, but you can just pile it on the storybook heap of Fitzgerald playoff games.
Fitz has been a forgotten man pretty much since Kurt Warner retired after the 2009 season. He could have, at any point, demanded a trade to a better team and held out until that trade happened. His own current quarterback, Carson Palmer, did just that, “retiring” in 2011 in order to force the Cincinnati Bengals to cut him loose. You see, to Palmer it was the team holding him back even though he’d never won a playoff game. The Bengals went on to make five straight postseasons. Palmer didn’t make it back until this season and did pretty much everything in his power to make sure he was one-and-done.
This summer, before his remarkable season, @LarryFitzgerald told me, "I’m capable of anything and I’m ready for whatever." #BirdGang
— Ed Werder (@WerderEdESPN) January 18, 2016
But Fitzgerald would not let that happen. To put what Fitzgerald has done in just eight playoff games in perspective, look no further than the wideout that could have been Palmer’s teammate in Cincy, A.J. Green. Green is a superstar NFL receiver by any standards and has had the benefit of playing with a legitimate NFL quarterback his entire career in Dalton. It took him until this season, his fourth playoff appearance, to catch his first postseason touchdown. He has, to this very day, never caught more than five passes in a playoff game.
You @LarryFitzgerald are truly special. Just single-handedly won a great playoff game and thinking of someone else. https://t.co/pQnvePaPNC
— Ed Werder (@WerderEdESPN) January 17, 2016
Fitzgerald was an afterthought in this latter stage of his NFL career. He’s never rocked the boat and even when there were murmurs that the Cardinals were going to cut him last offseason, he remained silent. The moved him to the slot position, where all aging, but still productive wideouts should go, and because of his production became the most potent offense in the league. Fitzgerald made the Pro Bowl and had his first 1,000 yard season (1,215 yards to be exact) since 2011. His performance helped Carson Palmer have the best year of his life. His production helped the Cardinals get into the playoffs. What he did Saturday night is the only reason they get to stay.
Arians on @LarryFitzgerald's long overtime run: He was hell bent on getting in the endzone. #BeRedSeeRed pic.twitter.com/8N24RCTczC
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) January 18, 2016
And the thing is, we should have all known this was going to happen. The only reason it didn’t happen last season was because Lindley should have been mopping the floor of a Denny’s men’s room, not playing quarterback in the NFL. Even with a guy actively trying to throw the ball to the other team, Fitzgerald was able to work his magic.
Fitz’s career is winding down now. I haven’t made a firm pick yet in the NFC Championship, but it’ll take a lot of convincing to not go with the Carolina Panthers in spite of what Fitz can do. Palmer is just too much of a liability when the game is on the line. But here’s the thing. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Cardinals were able to pull it off. And it’s not because of Palmer, or Arians or Patrick Peterson or any other player. Larry Fitzgerald just might make it happen all on his own. It won’t be the first time.
You think @LarryFitzgerald wanted to play in another NFC Championship? Yep.#BeRedSeeRed #GBvsAZ pic.twitter.com/Mri93EkxNr
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) January 17, 2016
