PHOENIX -- Bruce Arians of the Arizona Cardinals was named the 2014 AP Coach of the Year on Saturday night at the 4th annual NFL Honors award show the night before the Super Bowl.
Arians, as we wrote back in December, was the only choice to win the award, considering the job he did taking the Cardinals to the playoffs despite a slew of injuries.
Carson Palmer and his backup Drew Stanton both went down with injury during the season, forcing Arians to play Ryan Lindley.
The Cards still won 11 games and finished as the 5th seed in the NFC. They lost to the Panthers in the Wild Card round. Arians refused to let the number of high-profile injuries they dealt with be used as an excuse.
The Cardinals coach received 39.5 votes to easily win the award. The remaining 11.5 votes were divided as follows: Jason Garrett (Cowboys) and Bill O'Brien (Texans) each got three votes, Pete Caroll earned 2.5 and Bill Belichick (Patriots) and Jim Caldwell (Lions) received one each.
