Can Larry Fitzgerald be stopped?

With 3 post season games under his belt and 1 to come, Larry Fitzerald has already broken Jerry Rice's single post season receiving yardage record with a whopping 419 yards. Fitzgerald also became only the 3rd receiver in NFL history to have 3 touchdown catches in an NFL Championship Game. Did I mention that he has 5 consecutive 100 yard receiving games dating back to week 16 of the regular season?


Can Fitzgerald be stopped?

The answer is yes.

In fact, Fitzgerald had 9 games during the season that he was held under 100 yards, and he had less than 80 yards in 8 of those games. So, what's the secret?

Seven of the nine games that Fitzgerald was held under 100 yards came from defenses that finished the season ranked in the top 14 in the NFL. Four of the games that Fitzgerald was held under 100 yards came from teams that finished the season ranked 3, 5, 6, and 8. See a trend?

The only head scratcher on the list was the St. Louis Rams. The Rams featured the NFL's 28th ranked defense and 19th ranked passing defense. The Rams held Fitzerald under 100 yards twice this season and only allowed him to score 1 touchdown. Tye Hill and Fakhir Brown found a way to contain him and only allow him to catch 12 balls for 154 yards in the two meetings combined.

In the seven games that Fitzgerald piled up over 100 yards, five of the games came against defenses ranked 16, 25, 29, and 32 twice.

Fitzgerald only had 100 yard games against two teams with defenses ranked in the top 11. (109 yards against #7, Washington, and 101 yards against #11, New England.