Week 14 begins on Thursday night on NFL Network (8:25 PM ET) with the ARIZONA CARDINALS (10-2) hosting the MINNESOTA VIKINGS (8-4) at University of Phoenix Stadium in Arizona.
Arizona aims for their seventh consecutive win following a 27-3 victory over St. Louis.
“We’re still looking to improve,” says Cardinals head coach BRUCE ARIANS. “We have to make sure we are improving each week. There is time to look back on the journey and enjoy it but this isn’t it, especially with a game coming on Thursday night.”
Arizona wide receiver LARRY FITZGERALD had eight catches for 55 yards in last week’s game. In 12 seasons, Fitzgerald has 1,000 career receptions, the 11th player in NFL history to accomplish the feat. He also became the youngest player all-time to reach the milestone (32 years, 97 days).
“The personal stuff is all good, but I’ve done all the personal stuff already, like the Pro Bowls,” says Fitzgerald. “That stuff is great but when your team is having success – the only thing I need, personally for me, to feel like my career is fulfilled is a championship. Each win gets us a step closer, and that’s what it’s about.”
Cardinals rookie running back DAVID JOHNSON (Round 3, No. 86 overall) rushed for 99 yards and added a touchdown reception in Arizona’s victory. Johnson joined Pro Football Hall of Famer GALE SAYERS as the only rookies in NFL history with at least four rushing touchdowns, four receiving touchdowns and a kick-return touchdown in a season.
Entering Thursday, Johnson has scored a touchdown in three straight games and his nine total touchdowns leads NFL rookies.
The rookies with the most touchdowns this season:
| PLAYER | TEAM | RECEIVING TOUCHDOWNS | RUSHINGTOUCHDOWNS | KICK-RETURNTOUCHDOWNS | TOTAL |
| David Johnson | Arizona | 4 | 4 | 1 | 9 |
| Jeremy Langford | Chicago | 6 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| Karlos Williams | Buffalo | 5 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| Todd Gurley | St. Louis | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
Minnesota aims to rebound following a 38-7 loss to Seattle.
Vikings wide receiver-kick returner CORDARRELLE PATTERSON had a 101-yard kick-return touchdown in the game, the fourth of his career. Patterson now has nine career kickoff returns of at least 50 yards, the most in franchise history. Patterson also has 12 career games with at least 100 kickoff return yards, tied with DAVID PALMER for the most such games in franchise history.
On defense, defensive end BRIAN ROBISON recorded three tackles and two sacks, while safety ANTONE EXUM, JR. had five tackles, a forced fumble and fumble recovery against the Seahawks.
“We have no choice but to move past it quickly,” says Vikings quarterback TEDDY BRIDGEWATER. “We have a game in four days and we can’t let this loss linger into the next week, so we want to put this game in the past and shift our focus to Arizona. We’re getting ready to face a pretty good Arizona team, so we just have to make adjustments, get guys healthy and come to play on Thursday.”
Entering Thursday’s game, the Vikings have won 11 of the past 14 matchups against the Cardinals.
Minnesota running back ADRIAN PETERSON, who leads the league with 1,182 rushing yards, has averaged 118.7 rushing yards per game in his past three games against Arizona. Peterson has also scored six touchdowns (five rushing, one receiving) against the Cardinals in those contests.
Peterson is also tied for second in the league with eight rushing touchdowns. With two rushing touchdowns on Thursday, Peterson would join Pro Football Hall of Famer EMMITT SMITH (eight) and LA DAINIAN TOMLINSON (nine) as the only players in NFL history to rush for 10 touchdowns in at least eight different seasons.
