Cardinals leftovers: On Peterson’s quad, blown lead vs. Buccaneers
Oct 15, 2017, 7:37 PM | Updated: 7:54 pm
Arizona Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson (21) looks at the replay board during the second half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams , Sunday, Oct. 2, 2016, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Tampa Bay receiver Mike Evans put together his best game of the year against the Cardinals, making three catches for 95 yards and a score in the 38-33 Arizona victory on Sunday.
Just don’t put those stats on Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson’s tab.
Peterson recorded a pass breakup and had a shutout on Evans with four targets against him before leaving the game in the second half due to a quad injury. That might have been lost among the Cardinals’ jubilation following their win over the Buccaneers and Adrian Peterson’s debut.
The All-Pro cornerback and coach Bruce Arians said it was a matter of a prior injury stiffening up, and Peterson is expected to play next week against the Los Angeles Rams in London.
“I just re-aggravated it from last week,” Peterson told the media at University of Phoenix Stadium. “I didn’t want to put my team in harms way, and would rather put someone in whose 100 percent. But, if I had to go in again, I would’ve toughened it out.”
The Cardinals found out just how much they missed Peterson — Pro Football Focus graded him highest among Arizona players on Sunday — once he left the game for good.
Arizona led 31-0 early in the second quarter before the Buccaneers scored 20 straight points, capping that spurt with a fumble recovery of Larry Fitzgerald’s turnover for a touchdown. And just as the Cardinals’ offense punted the ball with 7:38 in the fourth, seemingly giving Tampa Bay the ball with more than enough time to stage what looked earlier to be an unthinkable comeback, Peterson’s replacement, Tramon Williams, made a momentum-swinging play.
With the Buccaneers backed up to their own 1-yard line thanks to Andy Lee’s punt, Williams jumped in front of a pass intended for Evans to record an interception on the first play of the drive.
That set up Adrian Peterson’s second touchdown of the game, giving Arizona a 38-20 lead that it certainly needed.
“You have a team backed up with an empty formation, with the quarterback not looking to hold the ball at all,” Williams said. “So, once I read the quarterback’s eyes, I knew it was going to be something quick, and I got the ball. It was a routine play.”
Arians didn’t appear overly frustrated by a blown 31-point lead after the game — at least not based on his comments.
But he did say the Cardinals didn’t perform up to the standards that had gotten them into what appeared to be a blowout.
“I thought they played really well for two and a half quarters,” Arians said. “Then, we gave up some big plays. Thank God Tramon Williams jumped that play. That’s what he does. He’s a smart, smart player. We have to get him on the field more.”
HUMPHRIES IMPRESSES
By Pro Football Focus’ grading system, left tackle D.J. Humphries played his best game of his young career.
Humprhies allowed two hurries and was a force in the run game creating vertical movement on the left side for Peterson to exploit on his explosive debut. In combination with improved displays from A.Q. Shipley (74.9 overall grade) and Jared Veldheer (75.6 overall grade) this was a performance to give hope that this Cardinals’ offensive line could start to come together in the coming weeks.
Humphries started at left tackle in Week 1 against the Detroit Lions but hadn’t played after suffering a knee sprain early in the season opener.
QUOTABLE
“I don’t think he could have played any better. Me telling him to throw that damn pick, me telling him to throw that slant to Larry, but Larry’s got to hold on to that one.” — Arians on Carson Palmer’s 18-for-22 performance for 283 yards, three touchdowns and one pick
STUDYING ALL DAY
Palmer couldn’t put a finger on what stood out most about Peterson’s big day.
The 32-year-old running back looked youthful, and that gave the offensive line a boost.
The line itself returned Humphries, left guard Alex Boone and moved Earl Watford over to right guard before performing the best it has all year.
The passing game took advantage of the play-action.
But after thinking about the question regarding Peterson, Palmer said this:
“I’m in the huddle trying to remind him of things and he’s just like, ‘I got it.’
“The first thing that jumped out to me is how much he gets it and how sharp he is. I can’t think of a mistake he made in all the walkthroughs and the practices all week. He was on top of it. He was studying and there was no indecision in his eyes in the huddle. I kept trying to remind him of stuff that was a little bit different, but he just seemed like he absorbed it all week and came out and it was awesome.”
