The gutsy play that explains the Cardinals’ season

“I told you John Brown could play.” - Steve Keim

Oct 29, 2014, 4:00 PM UTC

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Cardinals just keep finding ways to win. Thanks to a 75-yard bomb from Carson Palmer to rookie receiver John Brown on Sunday, Arizona orchestrated their third fourth quarter comeback this season, this time knocking off the Eagles, a 5-1 team up to that point. The way they did it is a microcosm for the identity the Cardinals have adopted on both sides of the ball, marked by aggressiveness and confidence. It starts at the top with their coaching staff, and as Bruce Arians said after the game, "Don't play scared; play smart."

------

The play

Time: 1:33, 4th Quarter, Cardinals with possession
Down/Distance: Third-and-5 from the Arizona 25-yard line
Score: Eagles 20, Cardinals 17

The Cardinals had gotten themselves into a little bit of a predicament, down three points, deep in their own territory, and facing a third-and-5. This is four-down territory for Arizona -- they’re not going to punt this late and hope to get the ball back -- but obviously the Cardinals don’t particularly want the game to come down to one play. So, this third down is crucial. Bruce Arians knows this. The Eagles’ defense knows this. Bruce Arians knows that the Eagles’ defense knows Bruce Arians knows this.

“We thought they’d be sitting on the sticks,” explained Arians after the game, meaning he knew the Eagles would anticipating routes that would get Arizona a first down so they could pick one up and work from there. Third-and-5, at least in theory, isn’t probably the best scenario to chuck up a low-percentage bomb downfield. Nonetheless, as Arians explained, “They had been bracketing back there in and out a number of times. We had that play called twice before, but didn’t have time to throw it. It’s a play we love to call in that situation.”

You can see the coverage below -- Philly is in a two-deep look and their safeties are relatively close to the line of scrimmage here. They have two-on-two on the outside to the offensive left (safety Nate Allen and corner Cary Williams), with three defensive backs aligned to the left (the two deep, and then one threatening at the line of scrimmage -- he would back out into coverage at the snap). With no help over the top to his left, Palmer signals a route adjustment to his slot receiver, the rookie out of Pittsburg State, John Brown.

“We had three (receivers) at eight yards for the first down,” playcaller Arians said later, “but when there’s a touchdown involved in the play, never pass it up. Don’t play scared; play smart.”

"They had two safeties outside and no guy over me and Carson gave me a signal," Brown explained after the game. "Carson is always looking for the big play, so I knew I had to turn it on."

Now, quarterbacks often use dummy calls and signals in these situations, but in this case, Palmer’s raised hand signaled:

It’s on.

“It’s a great feeling,” Brown related, “That is the play we’re looking for, when it’s time to step up, that’s what you have to do. They had a safety on me (Allen), and when they put him on me, all I have to do is run past him.”

And, that’s what Brown did. It was a beautiful route, too, particularly for a raw, inexperienced rookie. Five steps into his route, Brown jabs to the middle. Defensive backs know that many routes are stemmed at five steps, and when it’s a third-and-5 situation, it’s hard to blame Allen for believing Brown is running a five-step slant route that would put him in position to get the first down.

Brown’s jab toward the middle of the field has its desired effect. Allen “opens the gate” (turns his hips), which allows Brown to explode into his sixth step, straight up field. At that exact instant, Allen is toast.

Even a safety with elite speed and fluidity would have trouble flipping his hips in this situation to keep up with Brown, who is already at full speed, but Allen compounds the mistake by peeking into the backfield. I assume, that he assumed, that there would be an underneath pass for the yard-to-go marker (“sitting on the sticks,” in football jargon, as Arians put it after the game). There was not. Palmer was going for the gusto.

Brown’s pure speed cannot be overlooked here -- the dude ran a 4.34 at the Combine this year and frankly the fact that he could run away from two NFL defenders, stumble, then still make it into the endzone is impressive. The route is impressive too. The protection is impressive, the call is impressive. and the execution is impressive, but to me, the thing that is most impressive to me was the catch.

I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to run full speed while looking back for a football, but it’s not as easy as you’d think (just try running full speed while looking straight up is hard enough). Your vision and facemask are jiggling violently as you run down field, your helmet cuts down on your peripheral vision and field of view, and through all that, you have to keep focused, find the football, and try to gauge whether or not you need to speed up or slow down to get to where it’s going to land.

It's that Willie Mays' centerfielder's sixth sense. Incidentally, as an aside, this is why a guy like DeSean Jackson is so damn good at what he does -- he's one of the best in the world at tracking a football downfield, a skill and talent that is underrated in difficulty. I don't know if Brown can be as good as Jackson -- few are -- but on this play, his ability to track the ball and reel it in is huge.

“I was kind of thinking that he overthrew me a little bit,” Brown said after the fact, “but it ended up being a great pass by Palmer. “It was right over the head, right in the basket.”