Larry Fitzgerald is the best postseason wide receiver of all time
Few players in the modern game can match Larry Fitzgerald's canonical resume. After a surreal eight-catch, 176-yard performance against the Green Bay Packers, Fitzgerald may be the best postseason wide receiver of all time.
He's the only player with three postseason games of more than 150 receiving yards - a testament to his tyrannical explosiveness. Through his career, Fitzgerald is averaging 114 yards per game and over a touchdown per game in the playoffs. Universally respected by his peers, he ascends to rarefied heights when the stakes are at their highest.
In the 12th season of his brilliant career, Fitzgerald is finally paired with a core that can complement his refined arsenal, with the Cardinals ranking second in scoring offense with 30.6 points per game. Although he's swathed in luxury now, that wasn't the case for the vast majority of his career.
Seven years ago, Fitzgerald carried an otherwise anemic Cardinals team to Super Bowl XLIII, amassing 30 receptions for 546 yards and seven touchdowns in the best single-season playoff performance by a wide receiver. In a pass-heavy era in which quarterbacks are forced to implement upward of five receivers in a game, Fitzgerald is a throwback to another era, capable of taking over games by himself at 32.
Some may find it blasphemous to rank Fitzgerald ahead of Jerry Rice, with the former San Francisco 49ers legend capturing three Super Bowls and a Super Bowl MVP. While it may be unfair to criticize Rice for his opulent surroundings, the 13-time Pro Bowler spent the majority of his career catching passes from Joe Montana and Steve Young. Even at the apex of his career, Carson Palmer is no match.
With 13,336 receiving yards in the regular season, Fitzgerald is a lock for the Hall of Fame and is unarguably the dominant receiver of his generation. His preeminence is unlike anything we've seen before in the playoffs, and the Cardinals' hero is two victories away from capturing an elusive Super Bowl ring.