Pittsburgh Steelers CB Patrick Peterson made noise earlier this week by saying the San Francisco 49ers had “tells” in their offense. While Peterson, who allowed two touchdowns in the Steelers’ 30-7 loss, didn’t have his best performance on Sunday, he still claims that the 49ers had tells.
“It was there. I had opportunity to get two picks, I just didn’t grab it in. But credit to those guys, those guys did a great job of sticking to their game plan and really get into their identity, which is run the football, misdirections, hit those bang-8s, hit those deep stops,” Peterson said via the Steelers’ YouTube channel. “That’s just what they do. We just wasn’t in good enough position to make those plays.”
Josh Rowntree of 93.7 The Fan passed along Peterson’s comments on Twitter.
Peterson was credited with two pass breakups, and he did have the opportunity to get two interceptions. But he didn’t make the plays, and he also allowed two touchdowns. So while the tells may have been there, Peterson obviously didn’t take advantage of them.
On the first touchdown, he slipped, leaving Brandon Aiyuk wide open in the end zone. He said he changed his cleats after that, but he still allowed another touchdown. While it was a good throw and catch, a touchdown is a touchdown.
The 49ers got the better of Peterson, but he wasn’t alone. As a whole, the Steelers struggled, with no one outside of T.J. Watt playing all that well on defense, and the offense not getting much going throughout the day. It was just an ass-kicking from San Francisco, and Peterson allowing two early touchdowns certainly contributed to that.
It never helps giving opponents fuel in the leadup to games, and that’s exactly what Peterson did. He’s confident in his abilities, which you like to see, but going forward he might be more careful with what he says. There’s no doubt that what he said was in the minds of the 49ers’ offensive players, especially Purdy. Regardless of whether there were tells there, Peterson wasn’t good enough and didn’t take advantage of them.
If you’re going to talk, you need to back it up. Peterson failed to back it up today, and with the Steelers struggling as a whole, it was noticeable. Obviously, the team’s failures are far from an indictment on him and his comments, but when the team gets embarrassed, comments like those Peterson made earlier this week really stand out.
The Steelers have no time to feel sorry for themselves with the 1-0 Cleveland Browns coming to town next Monday Night. They need to figure out what really went wrong today and make sure they fix their mistakes quickly. That especially includes Peterson, who needs to show he can be better in coverage, especially when lined up outside.
