NFL.com honors four Arizona Cardinals on quarter-season All-Pro team
Oct 7, 2015, 7:49 AM | Updated: 3:54 pm
(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Much like Pro Football Focus did Tuesday, NFL.com’s Chris Wesseling put out his quarter-season All-Pro team for the first four weeks of the NFL season.
The squad has a definite Arizona Cardinals influence.
Four Arizona players are mentioned: slot receiver Larry Fitzgerald, defensive end Calais Campbell, cornerback Patrick Peterson and slot corner Tyrann Mathieu.
On Fitzgerald, who is third in the league with 432 receiving yards and leads the NFL with five touchdown catches:
Fitzgerald is off to the best start of his Hall of Fame career. The last time he enjoyed a four-game stretch this dominant was during his epic 2009 playoff run.
On Campbell:
The Cardinals’ front seven remains one of the league’s most effective despite losing Pro Bowl talents such as Darnell Dockett, Karlos Dansby and Daryl Washington over the past two years. Campbell has been the linchpin, highlighted by a Week 4 performance deemed as dominating as you could ask for a defensive lineman.
On Peterson:
We judge the game, not the name. While Peterson had a nightmare 2014 season, he has shut down the opponent’s top receiver this year, allowing just 85 yards — total.
And Mathieu:
One of the no-brainer choices on this list, Mathieu is football’s most versatile and disruptive defensive back, generating game-changing plays via exceptional instincts, ball skills and blitz timing.
The Cardinals and the Denver Broncos were the only teams to each land four members on NFL.com’s squad. Denver’s contingent consisted of kicker Brandon McManus, edge rushers DeMarcus Ware and Von Miller and safety T.J. Ward.
Arizona quarterback Carson Palmer fell into the ‘noteworthy’ category along with New England’s Tom Brady, Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger, Cincinnati’s Andy Dalton and Carolina’s Cam Newton behind their choice at QB — Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers.