Every team that is preparing to play the Arizona Cardinals
devises a plan to contain Larry Fitzgerald.

Few accomplish this.

Pittsburgh Steelers’ head coach Mike Tomlin is quite aware
of No. 11 in red and white heading into Sunday’s game at
University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale.

After all, it was Fitzgerald who scored two touchdowns
against the vaunted Steelers’ defense back in Super Bowl
XLIII-the second of which gave the Cardinals a 23-20 lead
with 2:37 to play.

“This guy is big and he’s even bigger down the field.
When you get him in one-on-one situations down the field,
chances are he’s gonna catch the football,” Tomlin said
during his Tuesday press conference in Pittsburgh.
“Sometimes when you get him in two-on-one situations down
the field, he catches the football. He’s unquestionably
the best in the world at that.”

It will be interesting to see how much more emphasis the
Cardinals’ offense puts on Fitzgerald. Through five
games, the five-time Pro Bowl receiver has only 27
catches–and has only been targeted 43 times. There’s 23
players in the NFL who have had the ball thrown their way
more this season.

That fact doesn’t seem to affect Tomlin’s thinking though.
“We’re gonna have to do a lot of things to slow this man
down,” he said.

Follow @Vincemarotta