While the Arizona Cardinals are preparing for the NFC Championship Game against the Carolina Panthers, they were given a bit of bad news. More specifically, star receiver Larry Fitzgerald was given some bad news, and his wallet is now a little lighter.
#AZCardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald fined $23,152 for an illegal crackback vs the #Packers
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 22, 2016
Fitzgerald definitely got his money’s worth, clocking an unsuspecting Morgan Burnett.
https://twitter.com/TheCauldron/status/688561670218633218
Without the penalty, which had very little to do with the success of the play, the Cardinals would have been facing a second-and-goal from the five. Instead, they ended up looking at a first-and-goal from the 20.
It also effectively ended their chances of scoring a touchdown, though Arizona did end up with three points from a Chandler Catanzaro field goal that cut the Green Bay lead to 13-10.
Of course, the penalty did not end up costing the Cardinals the game, and Fitzgerald was a big reason for that. Arizona ended up winning in overtime with Fitzgerald not only scoring the winning points, but accounting for all 80 of his team’s yards on the winning possession.