Patrick Peterson is one of the most physically gifted players in the NFL. The full-time cornerback is also a part-time offensive player and all-pro caliber special teams returner. Under Ray Horton in 2012, Peterson played good, not great football in a very tough role. Horton used Peterson against the opposition's best receiver consistently but didn't give him a huge amount of help. This season, new defensive coordinator Todd Bowels is still using Peterson to track specific wide receivers, but he is now giving him more help. With Andre Johnson entering Arizona in Week 10, Peterson was pushed into the spotlight.
Johnson had exploded against the Indianpolis Colts the week before. He reminded everyone that he was still one of the very best receivers in the NFL.
For Peterson, this is the kind of matchup he needs to excel in to reach the same level as Richard Sherman and Darrelle Revis. In a previous matchup with Calvin Johnson, Peterson played well, but he continued to be overpowered by Calvin's size like he had been the previous year. Calvin only beat six times on their 17 routes against each other, but Peterson gave up some big plays.
It was a similar story against Andre in Week 10.
Of the 23 times they faced off against each other with Peterson in man coverage, Andre only beat him five times. That's a phenomenal ratio, but again, the problem is that Andre came away with two touchdowns.
For the first touchdown, Peterson is lined up in off coverage against Johnson. Tyrann Mathieu is lined up just inside of Peterson and he will check Johnson as he releases into his route. This knocks Johnson towards Peterson and puts him in perfect position to follow him across the field.
Peterson is initially in perfect position to cover Johnson and he runs with him as Keenum looks for him under the goal posts. Keenum has plenty of time in the pocket because the Texans only have two receivers running routes. That time allows him to stay with the Johnson and Peterson matchup. However, once Keenum begins his throwing motion, Peterson should begin to be more aggressive and look to undercut any potential pass to Johnson. There isn't enough space behind the duo for Keenum to put the ball behind him, while the extra defenders inside will make any throw to the inside very difficult.
Because Peterson doesn't undercut the route, Keenum is able to get the ball to Johnson. It still requires an outstanding catch from Johnson to complete the play, but it's a play that Peterson should be preventing. He has all the physical talents that any player could want. He shouldn't be as tentative as he was in this situation. There is always a balance between aggression and caution, but here there was a definite need for Peterson to attack the space in front of the receiver.
For the first touchdown, Peterson failed to be aggressive enough in coverage, but for the second, he played his assignment perfectly in terms of covering the receiver.
At the goal line, Johnson runs a fade route in single-coverage against Peterson. Peterson immediately takes inside position and turns his head to look at the quarterback. He is aware of where Johnson is and can also see the ball coming directly to him. Peterson times his jump perfectly and has enough strength to fend off Johnson behind him. He extends and gets his hand to the ball first.
However, at that point Peterson makes a fatal mistake. Instead of knocking the ball away or catching it, he appeared to be trying to bring it down one-handed, the defensive back tips the ball into the air and Johnson is able to snatch it away from him. This play in many ways epitomises what Peterson does against elite receivers. He can cover them and will contain them regularly, but the threat of that big play is always there.
Not being able to prevent touchdowns against the best of the best is a problem for Peterson's case as a shutdown corner, but the rest of this game supports his case to be one of the best corners in the NFL. He isn't Richard Sherman or Darrelle Revis, but he is very good and an intimidating presence outside of the numbers for both receivers and quarterbacks.
Dez Bryant's Absence
While Andre Johnson was continuing his scoring form, Dez Bryant was basically shut out by the New Orleans Saints on Sunday night.
Bryant is dealing with a back issue and the Saints defense is much improved over last season, but that's not why he didn't produce more than one reception for 44 yards in Louisiana. Instead, the Cowboys neglected their best receiver because he was a focus of the opposition's gameplan. There was no aggression or creativity in the Dallas offense as Tony Romo only targeted him twice and there were no quick passes or screens directed towards him.
Of course, there were times when Bryant couldn't be involved because the Saints focused on him in ways that are usually reserved for Calvin Johnson.
Cornerback Keenan Lewis followed Bryant around the field and faced off against him in man coverage 12 times. More often than not, Lewis had safety help over the top, meaning that Bryant was often double-teamed. This made it tougher for Bryant to come free, but he still gained separation and was in position to make receptions often if the Cowboys had simply trusted him to win at the catch point.
Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo gets a lot of undue criticism, but it must be said that he didn't play well in this game. He is still compensating for a terrible offensive line and a seemingly clueless coaching staff, so we can't be too harsh on Romo, but he should have forced the ball to Bryant in favourable situations more often.
On this play, Bryant is lined up to the top of the screen in space against Lewis. The Cowboys come out in a formation that suggests a run to the right, with the fullback offset to that side and a tight end there too. They don't run to that side, but they do run a quick play-action that draws the defense even further away from Bryant.
After the play-fake, Romo focuses on Terrance Williams on the right side of the field while Bryant gets a step inside of Lewis. Williams is open underneath, but for very limited yardage. Bryant isn't wide open but he does have position on Lewis to make the reception by protecting the ball with his big frame. As the red area shows, Bryant would have had huge space to run into and potentially make a big play down the field.
This play reflects the lack of aggression in the Cowboys offense. If it were Calvin Johnson or Brandon Marshall in this situation, the ball would most likely have gone to the receiver running the slant.
Bryant's ability with the ball in his hands is maybe his strongest trait. When he is uncovered and has a free release in the slot such as on this play, it should be the Cowboys' priority to get the ball to him.
The Cowboys could have easily made Bryant the focal point of this play by having him run the curl route from the outside or even if they had simply pitched the ball to him quickly to allow him to beat a defender in space. Instead, they threw it to a lesser talent who was facing his own goal line. Again, that limited the potential for this play.
Approaching the game like this would make sense if Bryant showed signs of his injury, but his one reception during the game proved that he was fully effective.
Bryant's 44-yard reception came when he ran down the seam from the slot. He wasn't open when Romo let the ball go, but he trusted his receiver to beat Lewis before laying out for the ball in front of the incoming safety. Rafa Bush, the safety, could have made a play on Bryant, but it still took a huge amount of athleticism for him to get to the football and pull it in.
Trusting Bryant in these situations is the only way to really appreciate his talent and get the full value out of his presence on the team. The Cowboys need to be much more aggressive with him because they haven't proved capable of taking advantage of his impact elsewhere on the field.
Stephon Gilmore's Struggles
Stephon Gilmore was quietly an outstanding cornerback during his rookie season. Gilmore excelled as a man cover cornerback, playing with all the aggression and physicality of Richard Sherman. Entering this season, he was expected to be a key piece of Mike Pettine's revamped defense in the role formerly filled by Darrelle Revis.
Gilmore suffered an injury before the season even began and missed most of the season to this point. He returned a few weeks ago, but he hasn't looked like the same player. The young cornerback appears to be a step slow on the field and isn't playing with the same controlled aggression that he showed off last season.
Against the Pittsburgh Steelers this past weekend, he had 22 opportunities in man coverage and gave up eight routes to receivers. He didn't follow a specific receiver, as he split time between the slot and at right cornerback, and even though his ratio wasn't that bad, he did give up too many big plays. Early in the game he was penalised for defensive holding, something that wasn't unfamiliar from his first season, before he lost Jerricho Cotchery in space to escape down the sideline. He allowed Antonio Brown to get free down the field later in the game for a huge gain also, but that play came after he gave up a touchdown pass to Jerricho Cotchery.
Cotchery ran a beautiful route on that play, but Gilmore still allowed him to make his catch too easily.
The Steelers ran a play-fake, so Cotchery didn't explode out of his stance. Instead he sauntered towards Gilmore and made to block him. Cotchery put his arms out, but didn't aggressively block the cornerback in order to avoid any potential penalty. At that point, Gilmore looked into the backfield to see if the Steelers were running the ball, but while he did that Cotchery slipped outside of Gilmore to come free on a fade route.
Gilmore couldn't recover his position and stumbled as he attempted to. That gave Ben Roethlisberger a huge window to throw into and Cotchery was able to catch the ball uncontested.
Justin Hunter's Potential
When the Tennessee Titans selected Justin Hunter in the 2013 draft it was met with some level of curiousity. With Kendall Wright, Kenny Britt, Nate Washington, Delanie Walker and Damian Williams on the roster already, the Titans didn't appear to need another receiving option. Hunter was obviously a value move that the Titans felt they simply couldn't turn down, but to this point in the season he has been primarily a bit-part player.
Hunter has made a few plays in his limited snaps this season, but none were as impressive as the reception he made this weekend. This type of play is one that very few players in the league can make. It's a reflection of Hunter's incredible talent and how he is such a rare physical specimen. If he lives up to his potential, he and Kendall Wright could prove to be the best starting receiver tandem in the NFL in the near future.
Flashes of DeVier Posey
With Owen Daniels out, the Houston Texans have begun to rely on different receivers to catch passes from Case Keenum. Obviously Andre Johnson has exploded and DeAndre Hopkins is still there, but while watching Johnson and Peterson face off this weekend, another young receiver stood out. DeVier Posey didn't have big numbers, but he did make a few plays.
He faced Peterson four times in man coverage and beat him twice. On one of those plays, he ran right by Peterson down the sideline for what could easily have been a touchdown if Keenum wasn't under too much pressure in the pocket to find him. Posey may not have many opportunities in the Texans offense for the rest of the season, but if they make a regime change in the offseason a new coordinator could look to bring in a spread offense that he would be a big part of.
Lardarius Webb has been a dominant man cover cornerback this season for stretches. Darrelle Revis has been a dominant man cover cornerback for his career. Neither player is being used in man coverage enough, but at the very least the Buccaneers are beginning to give Revis more assignments in his natural style. The Ravens on the other hand have their hands tied because the rest of the secondary can't play man coverage, so Webb's impact should continue to be limited.
