There was a time that any wide receiver in the league would approach a matchup against CB Patrick Peterson either with hesitation or with excitement—either way, because they knew it would be a challenge.
Those days appear to be gone in the twilight of his career, which Peterson is now spending with the Pittsburgh Steelers. But he is in the midst of a transition in his role and should probably be the one hesitating before Sunday’s game.
Increasingly playing inside in the slot, he is likely to draw a good number of assignments against the Los Angeles Rams’ Cooper Kupp, who has been more than a handful since returning from injury. The 33rd Team panel discussed the upcoming matchup and called this one clearly in favor of Los Angeles.
“When I think about Cooper Kupp and who’s gonna cover him, Patrick Peterson has been jumping inside in the nickel and dime a little bit”, Rich Gannon said. “I don’t know that that’s a fair fight, Patrick Peterson against Cooper Kupp, when it comes to passing situations, which against the Rams is probably first down, second down, and third down”.
Now, that’s rough, going so far as to question whether it’s even a fair fight. But we still have to see what this all looks like. Peterson wasn’t seeing a ton of interior snaps prior to the bye week, but will that change now? And how will the rest of the cornerbacks hold up?
“Yeah, he’s a little bit long in the tooth”, Chuck Pagano said of Peterson. “Maybe [Levi] Wallace, maybe one of these other guys that plays in the back end, Joey Porter Jr., they’re gonna have their hands full, especially with the emergence of Puka Nacua, who leads the universe in receptions through six weeks”.
Nacua, the Rams’ rookie receiver, put up impressive numbers while Kupp was out, and they also have Tutu Atwell, so this is hardly a one-man show. It won’t be an easy day for Peterson no matter where he lines up, nor will it be for Wallace or Porter.
Especially if, as the panel speculated, the Rams will game plan around the Steelers’ potent pass rush to get the ball out quickly and to help out their tackles. Los Angeles has the skill-position talent to create separation off the line and hit passes in rhythm, so T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith might have an even tougher job on their hands.
“Cooper, he’s a handful. You can play some man on this guy, you want to double him in obvious pass situations, take him away”, Pagano said, but it won’t be easy with Nacua and Atwell also stressing the defense, and perhaps without much help from the pass rush against a quick-game passing attack.
The Steelers signed Peterson, a likely future Hall of Famer, to a two-year, $14 million contract this offseason. He replaced Cameron Sutton, the cornerback they groomed for six years who signed a bigger deal with the Detroit Lions. So far, the latter has looked closer to a bargain. And if Peterson can’t handle Kupp, it will only further fuel the retrospective debate.
