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Fitzgerald Turns It On, But Just A Bit Too Late

Tribune photo by SCOTT ISKOWITZ

Larry Fitzgerald runs to the endzone for a touchdown against Pittsburgh Steelers in the fourth quarter.

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By MARC LANCASTER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 2, 2009

TAMPA - To anyone who didn't get a chance to watch the Super Bowl and had to rely upon a quick glance at the postgame statistics to see what had happened, it might appear Larry Fitzgerald had another one of those dominant games he has churned out since the playoffs began.

Seven catches for 127 yards, including his mad dash down the middle of the Pittsburgh defense for a 64-yard score that gave Arizona the lead shortly before the two-minute warning. Not a bad evening's work.

If only Fitzgerald had been able to do what he did in the game's latter stages before halftime, the story might have been different for the Cardinals.

It seemed to Fitzgerald that just about every time he walked to the line of scrimmage in the first half, he saw something different from the Steelers' defense.

Sometimes they played him straight up, with help nearby. Sometimes they used physical safety Troy Polamalu to pressure him at the line while dropping cover corner Ike Taylor deep. And no matter what combination the Steelers deployed, there were two defenders watching Fitzgerald closely on each and every play.

The bottom line was Kurt Warner had basically no chance to get the ball to the man who had dominated the playoffs and was forced to resort to a series of mostly short passes to his running backs and receivers in the flats throughout the first two quarters.

"That's what great defenses do," Warner said. "They try to take away your go-to guy."

Warner didn't even attempt to hit Fitzgerald until Arizona's final drive of the first half, and he and the wideout didn't connect until less than a minute remained before halftime, on a 12-yard catch across the middle for a first down. To say Fitzgerald was frustrated would be an understatement.

"When I was younger I would have probably lost my cool and gotten a little upset," Fitzgerald admitted. "But in a game of this magnitude I knew my team was going to call my number and eventually there were going to be some balls thrown my way. I just wanted to make sure I was in the right mind frame so when I had my opportunity I was going to try to take advantage of it."

As the Cardinals headed into the locker room for an extended halftime, offensive coordinator Todd Haley knew he had to try something different. In the second half, Fitzgerald began to move around a bit in formations and Warner waited longer at the line of scrimmage to snap the ball, trying to get a better read on what defense the Steelers were in.

"We knew we had to have him making plays for us to have a chance to win," Haley said.

It took a while, but in the fourth quarter, Fitzgerald finally started to shake free. He caught four passes on the Cardinals' touchdown drive that cut their deficit to 20-14, snaring a fade from Warner with Taylor in his face to finish it off.

Fitzgerald was responsible for the Cardinals' next score, too, but that was the last chance he would get to take the game in his hands. He was just too late.

"It hurts," he said. "It hurts so bad. To be so close and just to have it snatched away, it hurts."

Reporter Marc Lancaster can be reached at (813) 259-7227.

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