Awards for Patrick Peterson and a recap from Sunday

It’s been two days since Patrick Peterson returned a Rams punt for a 99 yard touchdown in overtime for the win.  And the city still is ablaze with excitement.  Along with the the game winner, Peterson had three tackles and a interception.  Quite a day for the rookie out of LSU.  Peterson now has three touchdowns off returns on the year, tying him for the franchise career record with Vai Sikahema and Ollie Matson.  It was announced today that Peterson had been voted as NFC special teams player of the week.  His first of many as a player in the NFL.

The dust of a possible mid-season quarterback controversy has settled and in its clearing Kevin Kolb remains the clear starter at the quarterback position.  John Skelton performed admirably in his start against the Rams.  He passed for 222 yards and connected with Larry Fitzgerald for his only touchdown of the day.  Shockingly, Skelton also led the team in rushing yards with 38 yards on four carries.

Hiding in the shadows of the victory are two safeties and non existent running game.  The blame can go a lot of ways when breaking down the plays that led to the safeties.  The absence of Beanie Wells in the running game forced the offense to throw the in short yardage situations and when backed up deep in their own end zone.  Beanie finished the day with just 20 rushing yards on 10 carries, a measly two yard per carry average.  Quite puzzling, when just a week before he rushed for 80 plus yards and a score. The depth at running back is a big concern at the moment. Beanie needs to get himself right and quick.  The pass protection along the offensive line was not the greatest and has been horrendous all year long.  It’s hard to find an open receiver when the opposing defensive front seven can’t be held for a mere three seconds. Skelton is a young, inexperienced quarterback who will eventually learn to smartly deal with those types of situations.

The true heroes in all of this are the defensive and special teams units.  Rams running back Steven Jackson may have rushed for 130 yards, but its the yards he did not get on third and fourth downs late in the fourth quarter that made all the difference.  It led to a game winning field goal attempt by the Rams with just seconds remaining on the clock.  The kick was blocked by the outstretched body of defensive end Calais Campbell.  This sent the game into overtime. And the rest is history.