Arizona Cardinals: 5 Best Moments from 2011

Despite missing the playoffs for the second straight year, the Arizona Cardinals certainly made it interesting in the second half of the season.

The team finished 8-8, but with the amount of close games they were involved in, they had the potential to be anywhere from 5-11 and 12-4.

There were many “wow” moments throughout the year for Arizona. Featured over the next few slides are the top five moments of the year for the Arizona Cardinals.   

5. Defense Stops 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers have been a tough team to beat for Arizona over the past few years and looked almost unstoppable after destroying the Cards in their first meeting.

That was until Week 14 when Arizona fought hard and outplayed San Francisco to pick up the win.

After taking a 20-19 lead, the pressure was on the Cardinals defense. The 49ers were on the Cardinals' side of the field, but after forcing a fourth down, Arizona was able to get to Alex Smith and get the ball back.

The Cardinals were a pretty big underdog in that game and desperately needed a win against their division rival. This is what made that fourth down play special.

4. Beanie Wells

If anyone was still watching at this point in the game, then they were able to witness who the real beast in the NFC West is.

Despite losing to the Minnesota Vikings, Beanie Wells gave the players, the fans and the staff something to remember.

With just over seven minutes to go in the second quarter, Wells took a handoff and with a full head of steam absolutely destroyed defensive back Cedric Griffin before falling just short of the first-down marker.

3. Larry Fitzgerald

With both Seattle and Arizona no longer in playoff contention, this was considered a “meaningless” game. Apparently someone forgot to tell Larry Fitzgerald that.

After allegedly spitting up blood on sidelines due to a lung injury, Fitzgerald came back into the game for Arizona, leading them to yet another overtime victory.

The Cardinals faced a second and long from just outside of field goal range. That was until Fitzgerald laid out to catch his seventh pass of the game to set up a field goal try that was made by kicker Jay Feely. 

2. LaRod Stephens-Howling

Most Arizona Cardinals fans are very happy whenever the Dallas Cowboys lose, so being able to beat them for the second year in a row in such dramatic fashion likely put a smile on every fan’s face.

Following a Jason Garrett error to end the fourth quarter, the Cardinals took the ball in overtime and did not mess around.

Kevin Kolb escaped pressure before lobbing it to running back LaRod-Stephens Howling for a 52-yard touchdown. This kept the Cardinals' slim playoff hopes alive.

1. Patrick Peterson

Putting this play over some of the others mentioned was a tough decision. I mean, does a touchdown against a 2-14 team really mean anything?

Now normally the answer to that question in no; however, this play was the start of what would end up being a great second half of the season.

A punt return touchdown is always exciting, and to add on to that, not only did it go for 99 yards, but it was also in overtime! Most people would be lying if they said they were expecting that.