Patrick Peterson Can't Be Trusted Against the Highest Competition

There are words we don’t commonly associate with Arizona Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson. Mostly, any adjective describing poor play or a body of work that’s below the highest standard. Two previously unimaginable words now tied to Peterson are “inconsistent” and “touchdowns.”

Peterson is consistently giving up touchdowns.

Against the highest competition this season he’s often been left flailing—not jumping routes and showing the excellent timing, anticipation and technique that earned him the league’s richest contract at his position (Peterson signed a five-year extension worth $70.5 million in late July).

At best, he’s been wildly inconsistent, shutting down Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson one week and getting thoroughly embarrassed by the likes of Atlanta Falcons wideout Julio Jones or the Philadelphia Eagles’ Jeremy Maclin. At his worst, he’s looked plain and painfully pedestrian while chasing instead of defending.

Peterson has too often been a weak link on a defense that so desperately needs him to be the opposite. The Cardinals are still decimated by injuries and will now have to go about the business of salvaging a once-promising season without safety Tyrann Mathieu for likely up to three weeks, per ESPN's Ed Werder.

Part of Peterson’s spare time in the offseason was spent doing the cornerback keyboard-warrior thing and cyber-jousting with Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman. Both Peterson and Sherman can be confident to the point of being boastful and vocal to the point of being irritating.

That’s all standard behavior for those at the very top tier of the cornerback position. It’s a job that demands winning one-one-one battles against the best receivers in football repeatedly, and any losses are magnified because they often result in chunk gains or, worse, points.

In Week 13 Peterson lost many battles against Jones. Or pretty much every battle.

Jones established a new single-game receiving yards career high, and it came after Peterson told Michael Cunningham of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the best cornerback in the game always wants to be matched up against the opposition's top receiver. Peterson believes he owns that title, and he's paid like it too.

But for much of this season Peterson hasn’t performed like he’s worthy of lining up against the league’s best receivers. His position peers he often compares himself to—like Sherman and New England Patriots cornerback Darrelle Revis—have done just fine, thanks.

Player	Comp % allowed	QB rating allowed	Yards	TDs
Patrick Peterson	61.1	113.7	609	8
Richard Sherman	45.1	48.6	329	1
Darrelle Revis	47.8	67.4	451	2

When looking at those numbers and the chasm separating Peterson from Sherman and Revis, I’m reminded of an all-time classic episode of The Simpsons which is now nearly 25 years old. You know, the one when beloved, bumbling Homer unintentionally tries to jump the Springfield Gorge. Much like most of Peterson’s season, that ended in a fall to jagged rocks below.

Peterson hasn’t just given up more touchdowns than Sherman and Revis by a wide margin. No, it gets worse because giving up eight touchdowns over a 12-game period generally comes with a uniquely awful stink.

He’s allowed the most touchdowns in the entire league, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

You might be thinking touchdowns allowed is a metric based on happenstance to some degree for cornerbacks. Though red-zone defense is certainly an area where Peterson should excel, an opposing offense can advance into scoring position through no fault of his own.

Alright then; let’s use the same three names (again, all names we associate with the top tier of cornerbacks and closing down half the field) and compare them once more using a simple but fundamental metric they all directly influence.

This number is the first line in a cornerback’s job description. It reads: “You must stop receptions from happening,” though I may be paraphrasing. I haven’t applied for a cornerback job in quite some time.

Player	Receptions allowed	Rank (among CBs playing at least 50% of snaps)
Patrick Peterson	44	51st
Richard Sherman	23	7th
Darrelle Revis	32	19th

So we’ve firmly established that Peterson doesn’t belong alongside the likes of Revis and Sherman this season or on any list denoting the best cornerbacks in football.

He’s allowing 50.8 yards in coverage per game, setting a pace for 812 yards over the entire season. That average and pace aren’t just the product of one outlier game or a particularly nightmarish Sunday against Jones.

Peterson was assigned to Jones and responsible for 174 of his 189 total yards, per PFF. In Week 8 Peterson left a win over the Philadelphia Eagles early due to a concussion, but not before allowing a reception all six times he was targeted. That’s when Maclin towed him around the field for 71 yards, even though Peterson left at the 5:50 mark of the second quarter.

Then there was Week 6, when Washington Redskins wide receiver DeSean Jackson put Peterson on a leash. He allowed 122 yards with a season-high passer rating of 158.6 in coverage.

Even one of Peterson’s quality outings against a premier opponent comes with a bit of an asterisk because life is always a little easier when Brandon Weeden is throwing passes to Dez Bryant instead of Tony Romo.

What’s wrong then, and why is Peterson being fitted for a snug clown suit so often? Well, we can safely scratch athleticism off the list. He’s quite coordinated...  

Size shouldn’t be a problem, because at 6’0” and weighing 219 pounds Peterson can usually match the physical jabbing and grappling of the modern bulked-up wide receiver. But oddly, that’s where he lost often against Jones.

Jones is only two inches taller than Peterson and a pound heavier. With the proper positioning and anticipation, Peterson should have been able to at least impede Jones often enough at the line of scrimmage to disrupt his timing with Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan. Altering the rhythm of intricate downfield routes is the foundation of press coverage, which Peterson finds himself in often due to his size.

Peterson was playing tight on Jones’ first lengthy grab of Week 13. In the opening quarter Atlanta was on the Cardinals 32-yard line after a long punt return by Devin Hester, which was pushed back after penalties. From shotgun on second down Ryan lined up with a tight bunch set to his right, and Jones isolated all alone across from Peterson to his left.

Playing press coverage while trying to prevent the Falcons from moving into easier field-goal position, Peterson advanced toward Jones aggressively before the snap. He lined up only a yard off the line of scrimmage, indicating Peterson trusted his speed to close the gap if Jones escaped his initial jab.

But then he whiffed with both his speed and his physical intentions.

At the snap Jones gave Peterson a quick stutter step and shoulder fake before planting his right foot and accelerating to the outside. At this point Peterson’s technique was fine, as he stayed square to the receiver. Now he needed to slow Jones’ forward progress enough, making sure the distance between receiver and cornerback stayed manageable as they sprinted downfield.

That didn’t happen, and instead Peterson was still nearly stationary as Jones lowered his shoulders to push forward.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

Jones then ran a post route that broke off about 11 yards downfield. By the time he reached the 20-yard line he had put about a yard between himself and Peterson.

Trailing and without an angle to make a play on the ball, Peterson was beaten. And with safety Rashad Johnson shaded deep to the left side, Peterson had given Jones access to the middle of the field.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

The reception resulted in a gain of 25 yards. The Falcons offense sputtered in the red zone and couldn’t convert for its second touchdown in two possessions. But a chip-shot field goal still put Atlanta up 10-0 only midway through the first quarter.

We saw a similar flaw and result on Jones’ 32-yard touchdown. While playing tight again Peterson didn’t even lay a hand on him. That gave Jones ample space to make a twisting catch and Ryan plenty of room to work with while lofting the ball into a confined area.

With the ball in the air Peterson had already left about a one-yard gap.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

By the time he worked his way closer to Jones it was too late to locate the ball and make a play.

Later with 24 seconds left in the half Jones was targeted on a quick screen, and Peterson was in position to stop him for a likely loss. Instead he executed a quality form tackle on the surrounding air, diving at nothing as Jones went by for a 17-yard gain.

Jones had then eclipsed 100 receiving yards in just the first half.

“Now that I am the highest-paid cornerback, I pretty much have to play like the highest-paid cornerback each and every down," Peterson told Yahoo Sports' Frank Schwab in August shortly after signing his contract extension. He has the shutdown, confident attitude. He’s just missing the execution, and a physical receiver is losing physical battles.

In what is perhaps finally a blessing from the football powers above, Peterson’s play that hasn’t been very Peterson-like may not be much of a factor as the Cardinals cling to their spot atop the NFC West and a playoff berth. All of their final four opponents (Kansas City Chiefs, St. Louis Rams, Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers) have passing offenses currently ranked 25th or lower.

But any remote chance the Cardinals have of winning a playoff game with a backup quarterback rests with removing the game from Drew Stanton's hands as much as possible. The defense will need to provide quality field position, generate turnovers and keep the score close.

None of that will happen with the mediocre version of Patrick Peterson we’ve watched for much of this season.