Arizona Cardinals week 14 MVP
By Reese Furlow
Haason Reddick decided he wanted to have a career day against the New York Giants, as his five sacks earned him the week 14 game ball.
Arizona Cardinals linebacker Haason Reddick, the four-year linebacker, also added three forced fumbles to his franchise record in sacks, as the Giants offensive line did not seem to want to block him on his way to Daniel Jones.
Jones was sacked eight times throughout the game, with two coming from Dennis Gardeck, and one coming from former Giant Markus Golden. Golden had a forced fumble on Jones as well.
In the first half alone, the defense had three sacks, two forced fumbles, one takeaway and no points allowed.
Coming into Sunday’s 26-7 win, Reddick led the Cardinals with five sacks. With today’s performance, Reddick went from 34th in the league to fifth, right behind Cleveland Browns linebacker Myles Garrett.
Reddick looks to continue his performance against Jalen Hurts next week, where the Philadelphia Eagles have allowed the most quarterback sacks this season with 53.
On the offensive side, wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins had another career day as he hauled in nine receptions for 136 yards. Sunday’s win makes it three games with a 100-yard performance against a New York team this season.
Hopkins needed this performance more than anything, as he did not have a 100-yard game since the 32-30 win against the Buffalo Bills, where he caught the game-winning hail mary pass from Kyler Murray. He finished with seven receptions for 127 and a touchdown in that game.
For the next three weeks, Hopkins did not have more than 55 receiving yards. His best game in that stretch was against the New England Patriots, where he finished with five receptions for 55 yards in a 20-17 loss.
Special teams also played an important role in Sunday’s win. With Zane Gonzalez out with an injury, veteran kicker Mike Nugent filled in and was perfect. He finished 4-of-4 with his longest being 37 yards.
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Christian Kirk also had a good day returning punts, as he finished with 77 yards on six returns.