The 10 Most Impactful Plays of Week 16
3. No Receivers? No Problem!
Win Probability Added: +15.27
NEP: +6.60
The Arizona Cardinals appear here nearly every week, as they keep having to play from behind or leave their opponents in the game. This once-dominant team has seen injuries, age, and poor decisions take their toll on the roster on both sides of the ball.
After starting the year with a strong passing game, wide receivers John Brown and Jaron Brown have been injured, Michael Floyd has been released, and quarterback Carson Palmer's effectiveness has waned. That’s thrust diminutive wideout J.J. Nelson (somehow even smaller than John Brown) into a starting role.
Palmer’s old prowess has flashed this year, though, and it did this week when he and Brown connected for an enormous splash play midway through the second quarter.
Brown lined up out wide with two other receivers next to him, beat his cornerback off the snap with a speed move and then paced him forty yards downfield before catching a beautiful rainbow. One extra gear and he torched both cornerback and safety for an 80-yard touchdown to put Arizona up 14-0 late in the first half.
