Peterson suffered a strained Achilles tendon last week in a loss to Cincinnati and was slowed for much of the week in practice.

Not only did Peterson play, but he nearly made history by taking his fifth punt return back for a touchdown, which would have broken the league record.

In the 2nd quarter of the Cardinals' 23-20 overtime win, Peterson fielded a punt from Seattle's John Ryan at his own 27-yard line, made a couple of defenders miss, and broke into the clear, with only Ryan standing between him and his place in football immortality.

A mismatch, right? Not on this day. Ryan stepped up and made the tackle, holding P-Twice to a 31-yard return, which gave the Cardinals great field position at the Seattle 31-yard line. Seven plays later, Jay Feely kicked a 41-yard field goal to extend the Cardinals' lead to 10-3.

Getting dragged down by the punter is not exactly a badge of honor, so did Peterson get any ribbing from his teammates after the play?

"Nah, because they know that normally doesn't happen," Peterson said with a smile. "They gave me a little leeway."

And the rookie from LSU has certainly earned that leeway. Peterson finished with 699 punt return yards this season -- a new NFL record for rookies. His yardage total is the 2nd-highest single-season mark in history, behind only Desmond Howard, who had 875 punt return yards for the Green Bay Packers in 1996.

Peterson's punt returning wasn't his only contribution on special teams. In the third quarter, Peterson came off the right edge and blocked a 24- yard field goal attempt by Seattle's Steven Hauschka. That kept the Cardinals up 17-10, and considering the way the game shook out, saved the win for Arizona.

"That felt great. Actually I told Adrian [Wilson], because I had an opportunity to get the first one, but I lagged off a little," he said. "I said 'Adrian, I'm gonna get this one.' I came around the curve untouched, and that's when I got my hands on it.

It was the 5th blocked field goal by the Cardinals in 2011, and the second by Peterson. Calais Campbell had the other three for Arizona, who led the league in that category, and have blocked more field goals (12) than any other team in the league since 2008.